My forest-green 1998 Chevrolet Venture minivan is a gas guzzler, sucking up a gallon of fuel every 19 miles -- at least according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
But according to me and 3,000 miles of road, it actually gets a surprisingly thrifty 26 mpg -- only one fewer than the fuel-economy rating the government assigns to the 2008 Chevy Aveo, a subcompact.
I tested it the hard way, spending my vacation time driving from New York to Los Angeles, along with my wife, my panting dog, a huge bag of the panting dog's food, suitcases overflowing with summer clothes, my wife's art supplies, a closetful of shoes, bulk rations of beef jerky, a potted cactus and an oversized orchid (try fitting all that in an Aveo).
Despite the load, the worst tankful of the whole drive got me 22.6 miles per gallon, and that was while crossing the Rocky Mountains.
With gasoline still hovering near $3 a gallon in California, squeezing every last mile out of our favorite hydrocarbons has become a priority, and many people are considering whether to dump their SUVs and buy hybrids.
But on my road trip, I discovered there's more to fuel economy than the numbers on a window sticker might imply, that even with gas prices creeping steadily downward, saving gas is a good idea, and that there are more rational ways to deal with volatile fuel costs than borrowing from your 401(k) to buy a Prius.
And as we crossed the nation, obsessing over how soft to go on the throttle and whether to run the air conditioning, everyone we saw wanted to talk about gasoline. From South Philly to North Platte, Neb., to the Motel 6 just off the Strip in Las Vegas, filling up was agony we all shared.
"Everybody is outraged. Everybody is panicked," said Ralph Justice, who works the afternoon shift at a Citgo station on the north side of Pittsburgh. "People blame the government. They blame the oil companies. I have people paying for their gas in change these days."
We didn't pay in change, but we did our best to keep our trip inexpensive. All told, we drove 3,040 miles, from Brooklyn, N.Y., to West Los Angeles. This was a summer vacation, when gas was at its peak, so filling up was tough.
Still, with an average gas price of $4.04 per gallon, I would have spent $646.50 if my minivan had gotten its rated mileage. Instead, my total fuel bill was just $470, a savings of more than $175. And we got home right on time.
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Low-speed strategy
