Hypermiling on the 2015 Audi A3 TDI Challenge

We're inhaling recent forest air as we have a tendency to roll through the mountains south of Flagstaff, Arizona, during a shiny red 2015 Audi A3 TDI. Right around currently we'd sometimes mash the throttle with reckless abandon, grab tight the well-contoured wheel, and with a glint in our eye, see however the small German sedan likes to bounce.

But not these days.

Today we are the lead automotive during a line of furious and confused Arizona motorists, WHO we have a tendency to assume cannot fathom why this Audi with its hazards on refuses to accelerate past forty five mph except once going downhill. 2 livid blond ladies behind North American nation during a lime inexperienced Kia Soul gesture wildly. It’s unlikely they’d be any less angry if they knew the rationale for our plodding obstinacy -- that a bunch of perspiring, stubborn journalists ar engaged during a fuel-economy challenge, making an attempt to drive 834 miles from urban center, New Mexico, to San Diego, California, on one tank of fuel.

If you beat the EPA rating, it's hypermiling

With Associate in Nursing EPA main road rating of forty three mpg and a thirteen.2-gallon tank, basic math tells North American nation that the 2015 Audi A3 TDI ought to be smart for 567 miles, offer or take. to travel 834 miles, then, is Associate in Nursing bold challenge.

“You're gonna blow the EPA out of the water,” hypermiling knowledgeable Wayne Gerdes tells North American nation before the beginning in urban center.

“And once you beat their rating, that is hypermiling. I'd know, I coined the term,” he says with pride.

“Save your diesel on the primary day,” he advises. “Because thereon second day, once it's hot within the desert with no A/C and your indicator is reading low, that is once the pucker issue sets in.”

As another incentive, the primary team to dry out can have to be compelled to end the journey during a recently “rescued” 1994 Ford be after sporting bleach-white paint, a black decal on the facet that reads “IT,” a mismatched rear bumper, and 3 hubcaps. we've got no intention of setting foot therein relic of ’90s automotive detritus.

And we're off!

Overnight, Audi has flat-top off our tanks with recent diesel and sealed the fuel caps to create positive there isn't any cheating. we have a tendency to depart urban center during a 2015 Audi A3 TDI we have a tendency to dub Red Fury. Per Wayne's recommendation, we're feverishly upshifting the six-speed dual-clutch automatic drive in manual mode, making an attempt to achieve sixth gear as shortly as doable that the engine can lodge in minimum revs. fortuitously, the 2.0-liter turbodiesel four, shared with the new Volkswagen Golf TDI, offers a potent 236 lb-ft of force at only one,750 rpm. we will shift into sixth gear at simply forty mph, wherever the engine is barely turning one,200 rpm.

The donkeywork of competition

Chugging on at fifty mph on a 65-mph main road, our initial enthusiasm wanes. We're being gone along monumental 18-wheelers, rusty previous pickups, motorhomes, and even a rally of previous British classics from Panthera onca, Lotus, MG, and Triumph. It's brutal to examine them having most fun. Hypermiling, it seems, is sadly boring.On the brighter facet, our average fuel economy is rising steady. Our initial forty mpg shortly turns to forty five mpg, and things begin to appear even rosier once the digital readout says fifty mpg. Then, it happens: our initial major hill climb.

Watching the numbers

The steep hill looks to travel on endlessly, as we have a tendency to attempt urgently to remain in sixth gear. The A3 musters all the force it will to stay North American nation on top of forty mph, however once gravity wins out and that we fall below that mark, the dual-clutch gear case kicks North American nation all the way down to fifth gear. With the tach needle at concerning one,500 rpm, we have a tendency to gather enough momentum and speed till the automotive can allow us to shift back to sixth, at that purpose the cycle repeats.

Now our numbers ar falling, and fast. shortly we're backtrack to a meager  47-mpg average, and a shiver runs down our spine because the be after involves mind. once you are too targeted on fuel economy to even appreciate the wonder of the Southwest's landscape, seeing all of your progress soften away adds insult to injury.

We're on a single-lane road headed toward Sedona, and also the pissed-off blondes within the Kia Soul ar behind North American nation, waving their arms in our car mirror. once concerning quarter-hour of their fuming, we have a tendency to begin down a protracted, winding notch into Sedona and kiss the Kia good-bye. The 2015 Audi A3 TDI coasts down the total joyous hill in neutral, quickly gathering speed.

As much as we'd like to brake as very little doable to avoid losing momentum, there ar some seriously tight hairpins and that we have to be compelled to bog down. We're keen to create it to San Diego while not fueling, however we'd somewhat be sentenced to the be after than meet Associate in Nursing inglorious finish tumbling down the side.

All the whereas, our numbers ar with mercy convalescent. we have a tendency to end the day in fourth place on the leaderboard of 9 collaborating vehicles, recording a mean of fifty eight.7 mpg. Not bad, however we'd like to maximize our game for Day a pair of.

Battling the weather

The temperature has born thirty degrees nightlong, and also the measuring device reads forty one once we set out for the second leg of our journey at 5:30 a.m. It's pitch dark, and also the cold isn't nice for fuel economy, however we have a tendency to hope to urge on the far side the American state desert before it reaches peak heat within the daylight. After all, air-con is out of the question if we wish to maximise our mileage.

By the time we have a tendency to reach the open desert and drive through California's Imperial Sand Dunes, the 87-degree heat is thrashing down on Red Fury. Even with the front windows cracked to assist funnel air through the cabin, perspiration soaks through our T-shirts. The A3, on the opposite hand, hasn't broken a sweat. Six-hundred-forty miles in, the automotive is running swimmingly and predicting one hundred twenty miles of vary left. That’s not enough to create it to San Diego, however we're determined to prolong.

As monotonous as hypermiling is, the task takes a stunning quantity of mental focus. We're perpetually aware not solely of our speed, revs, and throttle input; we have a tendency to even have to appear way ahead to arrange for any future elevation changes whereas remaining cautious of speedily dynamic  traffic. Even within the desert, cars and semi trucks come back au fait you quickly once you are traveling 10-15 mph below the ordinance.

The dishonorable  finish

The real stress sets in once we begin to climb the mountains on California's interstate eight. Midway through, we have a tendency to get the readout we’ve been dreading: zero miles to empty. formally on reserve, we have a tendency to suddenly we have a tendency to notice the pucker issue is in impact, and ar feeling the anxiety and stress of presumably running out of fuel on this long incline. we have a tendency to reach the sixth of seven planned bailout points, and Audi's engineers suggest we have a tendency to don’t go farther. Regretfully, we have a tendency to heed their recommendation.

We say good-bye to Red Fury 758 miles in. We'd traveled forty miles roughly on empty and thought we have a tendency to might perhaps have created it another thirty, however not all the thanks to San Diego. perhaps we must always have unbroken going, however, as a result of 2 cars over up traveling quite a hundred miles on empty and truly created it the total 834 miles.

A tempting reason to decision it equal was as a result of there was a stunning 2015 Audi A3 convertible for North American nation to leap into, during which we have a tendency to might burn off some frustration (and fuel) for the rest of our journey to San Diego. once 758 miles of driving sort of a hoarder, we have a tendency to weren't on the point of pass up that chance on superb roads like California's Route ninety four.

59 mpg ain’t dangerous

Our final average fuel economy was fifty nine.4 mpg, that so lives up to Wayne's promise of leveling the EPA rating of forty three mpg. however we do not suggest, or ever wish to even believe, driving this fashion once more so as to attain such lofty figures. perhaps it’s Associate in Nursing ego factor, however you'll solely be gone along such a lot of Winnebagos before you are feeling like you’re going insane.

Still, it had been Associate in Nursing enlightening expertise to examine simply what quite vary and mileage a committed hypermiler might accomplish. particularly considering that the route's elevation ranged from 220 feet below water level to seven,900 feet on top of water level, the A3 place up some mind-blowing numbers.

We might not have won the TDI challenge, however we have a tendency to additionally did not have to drive the be after. Let's chalk this one up as a win in spite of everything.