Joe

Guess who decided to wake up during my drive home last night?

Same road--same exit off the highway, in fact--and beginning at the same speed I normally drive, I could swear I had more acceleration this time. It also sustained its power to about 6000rpm (fourth gear). It is still not anything I would call fast, but at least it felt -awake-....

I filled the tank, and it did average 19.0 mpg (mixed driving). Had another happy drive before heading home. In fact the car finally felt good, and I wound up sitting in the driveway playing with the stereo for quite a while.

Much more optimistic, I expected the same behavior this morning on my commute in. Bzzzzt. Nope. At full throttle in second gear. I was accelerating, but at a Toyota Camry clip. Actually I find myself at full throttle quite often in this car. I can't wait to see what servce is going to say.

I have a wedding in RI this weekend, and quite a bit of driving to do afterward. I'm very curious to see what fuel economy it'll return. This trip will be almost 100% rural/highway, and I'll probably average between 50-70mph.

smiTTy

Very interesting--good post!
Please follow-up.

Andy W

It also averages 25 mpg.

Andy.

Marius B

We're both kidding, right?

Andy W

No I'm quite serious.. (nt)

mne

Its "lag-biasing" or handicapping. Been done by turboers for years. But its more perceived than real (nt)

Marius B

With throttle-by-wire it should be extinct. (nt)

mne

its almost like throttle ABS. You give gas at a rate that diminishes the perception of lag. Too much and you perceive a hesitance... too little and it feels slower than the lag-induced acceleration. The truth is its almost always slower acceleration than just planting your foot in it and holding it there. Human perception (inner ear mechanics) is that a smooth transition of power feels faster than a slight hesitance, then launch. But if you make some timed runs you'll see that it is in fact, almost always the opposite. But I, to this day, sometimes think my test equipment HAS to be wrong cuz it absolutely DOES "feel" faster to transition the throttle slowly til mid 2k rpms, then STOMP! And it never works out that way.