I got a little over 26mpg on my last tank and I was quite surprised. I hope I can keep getting 26 or higher.

 

Have you actually compared the efficiency of shifting early vs. at 3500-4000? I've heard that bogging the engine is not the best way to save gas.

 

Ok, I took mine to Palm Springs and back yesterday. Prox. 225 miles round trip. Not much So Cal traffic. CC set at 70mph. Got 29.5mpg !!! I was in no hurry for the day so I really tried to go easy. I do not know how I could do any better than that. I will see how it goes going forward.
I have been shifting from 3-3.5krpm. I do tend to hold traffic up driving like that. I will try bumping it up about 500 rpm and see how that works.

Regards,
pwcfan

 

The funny thing is well how should i say this.... i drive pretty crazy in my S, i always whind out the gears and im always reving high downshifting and rev matching, i cant say i baby the car by any means i always feel like im beating it up but no matter how my driving habits are i always always get atleast that mileage. I attribute some of it to having intake, test pipe and exhaust but i dont no. Even when i went to a track event i believe then i got around 18 MPG which is insane. Believe me im not easy on my car.

 

I also read some post about how people shift below 2500 in the S unless you are not really going anywhere. The usable power under 2500 is nonexistant. I ussually shift between 3200 and 4200 and its a perfect balance of everything. Ive done the whole shifting at 2500 and it really does nothing for you exept be boring.

 

Or, just keep that $10k, since it will take you close to 100 years to realize the savings on gas.

Or, have a motorcycle, then you have to make the tough decision of what you're going to take each day, the fun two seater that gets 25 mpg on average or the fun two wheeler that gets 50 mpg, but isn't as fun in the rain.

 

Its also the gearing - it was revised for the AP2 to give you more squirt along with the revised cams and bored engine.

In traffic I shift at 3500 to avoid bog - plenty of power for traffic and you get good mpg until you can escape the slower cars.

 

I still need to plug in my Scangauge to the S2000, but I can tell you that the difference in MPG when climbing a hill in 5th versus 4th at ~55 MPH in my Accord is roughly 25%! Holding steady at ~55 MPH at 1800 RPM you can get roughly 20 MPG while climbing. Trigger a kick-down with the throttle, return to 55 MPH (grade-logic transmission holds 4th), then let the gauge settle, and it will read roughly 15 MPG. Nothing has changed but the RPM.

Higher RPM's might FEEL better (less bogging), might be more RESPONSIVE (more available power if you punch it), and might even take less physical pressure on the throttle when cruising, but the actual gas being used is higher. All else being equal, open throttles and low RPM give better mileage than less open throttles and high RPM. Hard to wrap your head around initially, but any hypermiler with a 1st-gen Honda Insight 5MT will confirm it. Throttle-body losses and powertrain friction account for most of this.

Of course, to get back the OP's topic, this is a sports car. So you really should drive whatever way you're going to most enjoy it. Saving gas can be fun if you work at it, but not everybody would agree!

 

Tell you what. Ive been driving my Fit for a year and I forgot how bad the S2000 really does soak gas down when you drive it like I typically do. It has a larger tank then my fit and I have been amazed at how fast that gas bar goes down.

 

Great point. Working at a goal is usually what makes something fun, might be saving gas like the likes of most the posters here, or squeezing that last bit of g-force from your favorite road.