Speed vs. Fuel Consumption

When I was driving at 80 mph (~130kph), my Honda CR-V consumed half a tank of gas in about 2 hours. My gas tank capacity is about 15 gal (~57 l), that meant my fuel consumption is about 21 miles per gallon (mpg ~ 112 ml/km). On a long quiet stretch, I went up to 90 mph (~145kph). I went through the same 1/2 tank in about 1 hour 15 min. That's 15 mpg! A full 6 mpg drop! Sure, I'm going faster, but I'm also wasting more time and money topping up my gas tank (10-15 min) more often, every 2 1/2 hours instead of every 4 hours. Not to mention tempting fate and highway patrol. Sigh.

630 Miles x 2

It was Jia Nin's birthday last week and we also needed to transfer furniture and miscellaneous stuff to my apartment. Therefore, I drove my Honda CR-V 630+ miles from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Stillwater, Minnesota. A 10 hour drive at an average of 75 mph ( about 120 kph). And back again yesterday. Other than a few minor aches (left shoulder/arm, right wrist/foot/calf) which disappeared with a good night's sleep, there was surprisingly little discomfort. I must be getting used to long trips; good training for the 20 hour plane ride from Detroit to Singapore. The main driving irritations were left-lane hogging drivers and the Chicago highway system. Chicago because their highway system is a mess with constant construction, too-late traffic signs and GPS navigator confusion. Other than that, driving in Chicago was like driving in Singapore: tailgating, sliding into one-car-gaps, too much speeding, jamming brakes when we see traffic cops and paying toll. The return trip through Interstate 94 in Michigan on Sunday afternoon/evening was frustrating. There were oblivious slow-pokes hogging the left lane, passing 70 mph trucks at 72 mph. This meant that there was a long stream of cars in the blind spot of the trucks, which must have made them really, really nervous when they had to go round a curve with their heavy trailers. The segment in Wisconsin was actually the most pleasant with very little traffic and polite drivers. If only the speed limit was higher than 65 mph.