38.12 MPG

360.8 mi, 9.464 gal @ $3.859 = 38.12 MPG

62,195 total miles. TA Travelcenter in Buttonwillow off of I-5.

Much of this tank was driving north on I-5 through LA and was accompanied by plenty of traffic and slower speeds, which definitely makes the MPG go up. Early on in our weekend trip to SD the onboard computer's average bumped up to 37.8 MPG, and it stayed there the entire trip.

In college I drove back and forth between San Jose and San Diego many times in my old Volvo 240 wagon. My fuel efficiency typically ranged from 18 to 22 MPG, and only once did I get more than 300 miles on a tank. I usually stopped twice for gas and/or food. Surprisingly the Escape can carry about the same amount of stuff but gets nearly double the miles per gallon (of course gas prices have nearly doubled since then too, so I guess I'm about even overall). It's really nice to be able to do the entire trip on one tank of gas! This time through I noticed that the prices at some of the stations in the middle of nowhere were over $5 a gallon! I was glad that we had plenty in the tank and were not forced into one of those options.

37.08 MPG

468.9 mi, 12.644 gal @ $3.879 = 37.08 MPG

61,834 total miles. 76 in San Diego on Rancho Penasquitos off of 15.

I'm surprised this tank isn't higher, as most of it was spent driving south on I-5 from Gilroy to San Diego. House to house we are exactly 450 miles, and it is awesome that I can now do this trip on one tank of gas! In my other cars I usually had to stop twice, and only once got over 300 miles on a tank. Of course now other things force the stops, like small hungry children...

36.80 MPG

496.3 mi, 13.486 gal @ $3.999 = 36.80 MPG

61,365 total miles, Shell in Gilroy on 152 West and 101.

This was the first stop on our road trip to San Diego. Much of this tank was spent moving and hauling, and I had the roof rack cross bars on most of the time. Still pretty good mileage, but slightly down from the record last tank.

38.76 MPG

496.1 mi, 12.798 gal @ $3.999 = 38.76 MPG

60,869 total miles, 76 on West San Carlos at 280.

Wow, a new one tank mileage record! Nearly 39 MPG, that is awesome. I knew it was a good tank so I decided to try 76 again. We'll see if there's anything to it...