Here in Indianapolis, in the middle of the country, winter is peaking, there's a foot of snow on the ground, and the gas mileage of my 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan is at its lowest ever. It's not surprising that when you mix snowy roads, temperatures around zero and E-10 gasoline that you're not going to post your best MPG numbers, and I'm averaging 15-16 MPG, down from 17-18.5 in normal in-town driving conditions.
I was surprised though, when I read a story at Allpar.com that was translated and reprinted from a Finnish (as in Nokia) auto magazine, Auto Bild Suomi. Auto Bild took four European model Chrysler vehicles north to the Arctic Circle on a maximum fuel economy run. The vehicles in question were the Dodge Avenger, Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Journey, and Jeep Patriot. none of these vehicles in their US trim are known for getting outstanding fuel economy, low 20s MPG at best. The results? Per Allpar:
Even the Dodge Journey managed to get 42.5 mpg on the trip (with a diesel and six-speed manual transmission); the Sebring, with its gasoline engine and five-speed manual, hit 44.4 mpg. The diesels hit 52 mpg (Avenger) and 58 mpg (Patriot). None of the four had 0-62 times of over 11 seconds, and all could reach at least 117 mph.
How did they do it? Read here. (Hint: all of the cars had 2.0 liter engines, three of them diesel. There were three manual transmissions and one dual-clutch automatic. None of these engines/transmission combos are available in the US.)
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