Day 4 - Austin to Big D

Sometimes I wish I never left Austin after I graduated from UT. It is such a nice city but it has certainly grown since I moved away in the late 80's. More people means more cars and that means more traffic and you know what that means...better fuel efficiency while driving a hybrid car!

I think our point is starting to sink in as we reached the third stop on our Hybrid Tour of Texas. Austinites did not seem to be turning their heads as much as Dan and I rolled our Toyota Prisus' into the capital city. In fact I spotted about half a dozen other Prius' during our brief time there.

But since we were barely halfway through our trip I had to leave Austin behind once again. The good news is that I was headed to my hometown of Dallas. I know Interstate 35 well as I drove that stretch of highway countless times to see my grandparents who lived in Austin and during the four years I was in college. Like the San Antonio-to-Austin part of I-35, this section also became very saturated with businesses, schools, gas stations, restaurants and hotels.

We hit a bit of traffic as we drove through Round Rock and Georgetown. These towns used to be quite a bit away from Austin but they are now considered northern suburbs. I was running at a constant speed of 62mph and starting to apply some of the hypermiling tips I have been hearing Dan talk about all week.

They actually seemed to work. I found myself coasting down hills and slightly pressing on the gas pedal instead of gunning it to pass cars. Every so often I watched the energy monitor register a higher number on my average MPG. I can see why Dan gets so excited.

Dan pointed out that he had used only 2/10 of a tank to get to Austin. That's almost 500 miles if you are counting. His goal of reaching Houston on one tank of gas seems to be within reach. I filled up my tank for the first time while on the road and don't expect to pull in to another gas station on this journey.

We made a quick stop in Waco for our own energy - Coke Zero and protein bars. Dallas was just under 100 miles away and we wanted to reach downtown before rush hour (of course Dan was hoping to hit traffic the whole way back to gain ever better MPG). I arrived at City Hall around 4:30pm and didn't see much congestion until the last exit.

My total driving time from Austin to Dallas was 3 hours. Dan's trip put him about 31 minutes behind me. Final tallies:

Dan's 4th day average MPG: 74.6
My 4th day average MPG: 40.5

Our final day takes us back to Houston where we began with a landing downtown at Discovery Green. I am going to try my best to hypermile during this last leg but since I know I'm heading home to my own bed I may be inclined to put the pedal to metal. And Dan is debating whether he wants to do the whole circuit one more time until his tank runs dry.


Hybrid Tour of Texas - Dallas from Michael Garfield on Vimeo.