Say you drive 10 miles on the highway. Going at 70mph it would take you about 8.5 minutes, but 60 would take an extra 1.5 minutes. Since your MPG decreaces dramatically above 55mph. I only have about 5 miles on the expressway, so according to this site I can save about $60 a year by doing 60 instead of 75 and it will only take 1 minute more each day.

Speed VS MPG for some Euro Cars

All time worst was 24mpg pulling a canoe trailer to Grand Rapids and back. All time best was 37 on an all highway cruise down from the UP at 70-ish .

I also need to get better about taking the roof rack off. During the summer we carry canoes a couple times a week, so it usually gets left on. It only takes a couple minutes to put it on or take it off. A roof rack can drop MPG by about 10%.

Some tips on how to do better

Visually is is nice, it looks like a smart phone, simple and black. The interface is fast and the larger screen is nice. I used to have a Garmin 250W and it was nice, but didn’t have many features. I wouldn’t have paid for extra features, or at least I didn’t think I would. If/when I have to replace this unit it may be a tough call.

• Lane Assist - really cool. It actually can tell you that the right two lanes go right and the left two go left. That helps when traveling on unfamiliar expressways.
• Bluetooth – really cool. I always thought it was a cool thing, but using the GPS as a handsfree set comes in pretty handy when driving. Also cool with in conjunction with voice commands.
• Voice Commands – really cool. You can name the unit and it will respond to that name. Originally I called mine “Computer” that way I can say “Computer” before a command like in Star Trek. Then it was called “Rogue Leader” and now “Are Two Dee Two”. I tried for “Are Two”, there is some algorithm that test for length/uniqueness (?) so I had to use the longer name.  But the feature lets you do a good number of tasks without having to take your hands off the wheel or eyes off the road.
• Multi-Touch – meh. this basically means a touchscreen like an iPhone. It is better for scrolling and pan/zoom functions than the old style but not a must have by any means. Also it means you can’t use gloves with it.
• 3D Maps – pretty cool. So far I haven’t noticed this being helpful though.
• Speed Limits – hella cool. It tells you how fast you are going and what the speed limit is. If you are over it displays your speed in red. I have found this to be useful, but also advertises that you are speeding to everyone in the car.
• Traffic - unknown. So far I have seen the traffic icon come on the screen, but in my limited use it hasn’t been that useful.
• ecoRoutes - cool. With this enabled you punch in the city and highway MPG rating for your car and the price of Gas. It then uses the GPS ,accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc. to give you an eco rating (similar to those in a hybrid car) and also break it down into categories (braking, acceleration, etc). At the end of a trip it tells you how much it cost you. This could be depressing if you had a truck though.
• Trips - meh. Formerly called “routes” it basically lets you punch in multiple places you need to go and it will sort them for you or you can pick which order. You can save these for future or repeated use. It also has the function where you can input a arrival or departure time and it will tell you when you need to leave or when you will get there. It takes too much planning. It would  be good for delivery guys to program in the morning with the days trip.

I have had a couple of issues so far. When I first got it I was unable to update the maps or software from my Mac. I tried it on my PC and it worked fine.

Also when I initiate a call via bluetooth to my iPhone it calls, but nobody can talk or listen. If I switch to the handset I can use it fine and then switch back to the GPS it works. With incoming calls there is no problem either. My wives phone worked fine. A later update to the GPS fixed the iphone issue I was having.

Yakima has a cool iterative fit guide, but it is flash based and really aimed at selling the things that attach to the rack on the car you already have. I like to use the Dealer Fit Tool. It is much quicker than the regular guide and gives you all the measurements and even pictures for most cars. It also allows you to see options for older Yakima hardware, and can tell you what you can carry.

Most cars only have minor changes most years and big updates every few years. The Dealer tool groups the years so you can help narrow down options. For example: the Chevy Malibu 1997-2004 only has 25″ between the bars, which isn’t enough (in my opinion)  for a canoe.  However, the 2004-2007 and the 2008-2011 models both have 32″ between the bars, so they could work. It can also tell you quickly that the 2008-2011 models are rated for 25 more pounds than previous models so my be better if you want to carry two canoes.

Bob Lutz left GM and then came back as the head of Marketing. I thought this was a bad idea. Lutz appears as pompous and crazy. On the Colbert Report he said he didn't believe in man made global warming. Recently he boasted that he could beat any production sedan in a CTS-V. The awesome auto blog Jalopnik took him up on it and it turned into a pretty good publicity stunt. Lutz lost to a kid in a BMW M3, but a few GM ringers beat the BMW. But hey no press is bad press. I heard an interview with Lutz on NPR about it.

Ford announced today that they are actually making a profit. I wonder when GM or Chrysler/Fiat will be able to do that. Though Ford was also hit with the unions voting down concessions today.

Ford has a great lineup. I never though I would even consider buying a car with a blue oval on it, but they now have a few models I really like and would consider. The Flex, Fusion, Fiesta, and new Taurus are all great cars. If they brought the Euro spec Focus over that would be awesome too.

After looking at the whole range of options I settled on “winter performance” tires. They have a winter compound that stays softer in colder temps and have treads to deal with ice and slush more then feet of powder. They still work better in powder then an all season tire though. Reviews are difficult because the lines change every year and who puts multiple sets of snow tires on in exactly the same conditions? I was able to get an idea from tirerack.com and some magazine/newspaper reviews. The best article I found was this one.

After looking at the range of options I had it narrowed down to a couple options and then availability decided on which of the two. I ended up getting Yokohama Ice Gaurd IG20's. I called Discount Tire and asked about price matching because I found them online for about $15 less a tire then they were advertising, and asked if I needed to bring anything in with the price and they guy said that I could do that or they could look it up online from the store. When I went in I told the guy the tire I wanted and that I saw it for this price and he just said “we can do that.” Lesson learned, I am glad I didn't pre-buy them buy them online.

I have had them for a few weeks now and am really happy. Before I went to get them I did some informal stopping distance testing with the regular tires. Our side streets were plowed, but still mostly covered in snow and ice. It was basically go 25mph and hit the brakes when I pass the tree. With the snow tires I was stopping in about 60-70% of the distance of the all seasons. I also had the old tires and 3 stores worth of groceries in the car. We got a snow day before break and about 10″ of snow. I just had to take them out. I went down the street and back with some sliding around the culdesac, but it worked out fine. On the slush and ice covered roads they worked great. At highway speeds they are a little squidgy.

We will see how they handle the rest of the winter and how many seasons they will last. I am hoping for 4 seasons, but they wear quicker then all seasons, especially on dry pavement.

This is a map of manufacturing sites for the Detriot 3 Automakers. It does not even count the suppliers.

View Larger Map

So far my favorite comment has been:
“Even with the power of the Pope's prayer he wasn't able to keep a Fiat running.” – Maxxofor