Fuel Efficiency Numbers for 2,600 Km Trip

Starting my Trip with a full Tank, Filled up at the local Shell Station - Dufferin & Wilson, at an Odometer reading of 11,276 Kms, I headed out at 13:02 - just after 1 PM on the 25th of June, 2009, and my next stop for fuel was at BFS Foods, in Morgantown WV - 387 miles or 619 Kms at 22:10 (10:10 PM). That leg got me 9.62 LHK (Litres per 100 Kilometers), or 24.56 mpg.

The Next leg took me to Kangaroo Express in Wytheville, VA - 260 miles or 416 Kms at 4:17 AM, for 10.7 LHK, or 22.08 mpg. I made it into Charlotte, NC at about 9:30 AM for another 197 Kms, and drove around town over the course of the Weekend on this tank some additional 230 Kms.

June 29, 2009 - Monday, I left by way of Concord, NC and filled up there at Pantry Gas Station at 12:40 PM, with a trip distance into Charlotte and around town of 288.4 miles or 461 kms, and a fuel efficency of 13 LHK, or 22.18 mpg.

Nothbound I did my first stop at WilcoHess in Wytheville, VA at 16:07 (4:07 PM) for a trip of 145.6 miles or 232.9 Kms, and got 10.76 LHK or 21.96 mpg.

The next stop was at Country Fair Gas Station in Grove City, PA at 23:37 (11:37 PM) for 405 miles or 648 kms, and it got 10.15 LHK or 23.27 mpg. My last US fuel stop, at the Angola Service Center at 5:16 AM, was another 138.3 miles or 221.3 Kms, and got 9.4 LHK or 25.14 Mpg.

I filled up back home with a trip distance of 210.8 Kms, or 131.75 miles, and a short trip of local driving, to end up with an Odometer of 14,087 and a fuel efficiency of 9.97 LHK or 23.7 Mpg.

For Reference - the Dodge Dakota has a Canadian Government Rating of
9.8 LHK Highway!

This Means that over the course of this 2,600 Km Trip, I never exceeded the rating by more than 1 litre per 100 Kms, and in a couple instances bested it by 0.2 - 0.4 Litres per 100 Km!

AeroCap enjoys a trip of over 2,600 Kms!

Wow! Having had the AeroCap test piece on the truck for a Drive from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, all the way to Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A. and back was an interesting experience.

If you saw the truck in traffic along the way - I'd be happy to see some of your comments posted on this blog! (I will get a few pics posted on the web page shortly!)

First - Just before I left home on Thursday, June 25, 2009, I had a Vinyl sign made for the tailgate of the truck and put the new domain name on it - I chose - www.aerocaps.info - in white letters for a high contrast with the blue truck colors. I set that home page up so that it redirects to this blog for now - as I have been busy and not able to put some core content in it yet.

My wife & I drove this route: Highway 401 West from Dufferin Street, to Highway 427 South to the QEW, and through to Buffalo, N.Y., and West on I-90 to Erie, P.A. Where we headed south on I-79 past Pittsburgh, P.A. To Morgantown, and then took US-19 to Beckly and picked up I-64S/I-77S there. We continued on I-77S until Charlotte, and picked up I-85N toward Greensboro N.C. until our exit for our Hotel, about five minutes up the road! About 1,230 Kms, (according to Google Maps) but it seemed a lot longer!!

Around Charlotte, we drove about 230 Kms over the weekend, and took I-85 up to Concord on Monday to see some facilities we were interested in, before leaving that area after lunch.

We drove up I-85 a bit more and then headed up the 601 until about I-40 and then zipped back over to I-77 for the drive back north. This time - we skipped the detour on US-19 and drove through Charleston back to I-79! Nice City!

We got back home Yesterday - June 30th, Just before 8 AM! I had to take an emergency sleep at the Angola N.Y. Service Center on I-90!

I will report on the Fuel consumption numbers in a later post. As many people who live along this route know - there are some areas with a lot of hills, mountains, and twisty roads, and some construction along the way too. Some of these things take a hit on best fuel efficiency results, but I tried to keep that under control.

As I said above, If you have seen a Blue Dodge Dakota Truck with a Pink Canopy on it, and the white lettered website - www.aerocaps.info on the tailgate, and been redirected here when you checked out that web site - I would be happy to have your comments here!