Having just completed a trip to CA and back in the ML430, I have my first real analysis of it’s highway mileage average. Keep in mind that about 1/3 of that is on mountain roads from Roseburg, OR to Red Bluff CA.
Even hauling the ML and gear up and down those mountains repeated times still netted a pretty decent average for a 4300LB V8 powered AWD brick.
Mileage by the numbers |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total gallons consumed: | 102 | of premium, once I had to pay $3.41 per gallon in NorCal for it.. ouch! | |
| Miles traveled: | 1825 | Bremerton, WA -> San Jose, CA -> Bremerton, WA) | |
| Average: | 17.9 MPG | Note: EPA estimates are 14/17 under new test standard (old standard was 15/19) | |
| Approximate Fuel Cost: | $318.00 | ||
| Bremerton to Eugene: | 18.1 MPG | Mostly flat freeway driving. Significant stop & go due to fog and traffic leaving Bremerton. | |
| Eugene to Grants Pass | 19.2 MPG | Very heavy fog, but little traffic congestion. Able to keep a pretty steady highway speed, despite mountains an fog. | |
| Grants Pass to Del Rio | 18.2 MPG | All 66% 2-lane mountain driving to the coast, and into the Redwood forests of NorCal. | |
| Del Rio to Ukiah | 17.5 MPG | Split between multi-lane and 2-lane mountain driving. | |
| Ukiah to San Jose to Vaccaville | 18.0 MPG | Mostly multi-lane highway. Very little traffic outside San Francisco. | |
| Vacaville to Weed | 15 MPG | Massive headwinds, crappy CA gas from Valero might play a factor too. | |
| Weed to Salem | 18.5 MPG | That was crossing two 4000′ passes and multiple others at uh.. a spirited pace, and also included about 30 miles of stop & go driving in dense fog with heavy traffic. That number really surprised me. | |
| Salem to Bremerton | 18.9 MPG | Flat freeway driving. Very little stop and go. | |
What I found most interesting about this analysis, is that the mountains, despite the perceived effort required to get over them, did not seem to impact overall mileage to a great extent. See Weed -> Salem vs. Salem -> Bremerton. From Weed, several passes, including the highest anywhere on I-5 was crossed, yet the different is a 3.5% loss in mileage.
Also of note was that those headwinds in the central valley alone (it’s flat) cost roughly 17% loss! And looking at the other numbers, even though Weed is in the mountain passes, climbing them seems to have only a small impact on overall performance (in the mileage sense).
Another upside, is that extended duration of more than 3/4 throttle climbs of the hills seem to have cleared out some of the vehicles cobwebs. Maybe the catalytic converters became hot enough to burn out some of the crud building up in them from around-town delivery / hauling.
I’m very heavily re-considering my plan to sell this vehicle. It costs me more to maintain and drive, but insurance is lower, winter driving conditions are almost a non-factor with it’s amazing AWD/4×4 capabilities (well tested during last seasons endless winter). It’s comfortable, quiet and reliable enough for long distance driving. It also has fantastic brakes (by Brembo of course, they are the same components that were on my ’95 Porsche 911!), is not lacking in the acceleration category (thanks to almost 300HP) and offers some nice luxuries.
A subsequent test of mileage while commuting is now underway. I should have the results of that by week’s end.
