Off-the-Wall fuel economy question(s)...

[2of9]

No A/C? Even better. According to my fuel logs, it's most likely possible, even at those speeds. I don't have Cruise Control though. There is a stretch of highway where the average commute speed is 80-90mph (which is INSANE).

But, on a full tank of gas, warmer weather, decent wind conditions, good tires, no A/C, it's definitely possible. I've taken my Mirage on several road trips but I rarely stay at 80-85mph for the drive. There will be the occasional 80mph but usually on the road trips, I'm at around 70-75mph. And according to my fuel logs, I was getting between 38-42mph. I'm going to say, Yes, 250 miles is definitely doable if conditions are good and your car's engine/trans isn't a mess, lol.

[Eggman]

I put 8.507 gallons in mine on the 4th fillup. 354 miles. But that wasn't running 85 mph.

Anyone who can fill up at 85 mph has got my respect no matter how much they fit in their tank.

[Dirk Diggler]

I'm pretty sure my car has never been over 65mph...lol.

85mph in a stock suspension Mirage with Enasave tires? Yikes!

I daily my 2014 Mirage going 75 mph, it's really not bad at all. I just have to turn the volume to about 38 to hear my podcasts.

[7milesout]

Eggman - You've got a strange sense of humor. But so do I. Mine is strange and stooopid.

The issue is not the speed or the noise. It is whether it would make it 250 miles running that fast (85 mph).

I'll mention again. I've got an old Dodge Ram with a Cummins, and a straight pipe. No cat, no muffler, no resonator. No nothing but a 5" diameter pipe from the turbo back. And I ride down the interstate 70 - 80 mph with the windows down and it rides like an Abrams tank. The wind doesn't blow it around because it has a 155" wheelbase and weighs 7,140 pounds empty. But, the point is, it is LOUD. And I love it and the all the noise.

So the little Blueberry is quiet at 75 mph. Rides nice, barely sips dinosaur juice. It might get blown around a bit but I'll live. I'm sure it would be pleasant enough at 85 mph.

So ... I'll get to the point. I'm almost embarrassed about it because I find the most pointless things, VERY interesting.

I've been reading about the Cannonball Run. And no way in heck do I think I would get ANYWHERE near a record. Not even close. But I think it would be an absolute BLAST to do the Cannonball Run in stock Mirage. I could do it all by myself. I've got some vacation time from work that I MUST take or I just plain lose it.

But after further analysis, I would be putting ~6,000 miles on a (nearly) brand new Mirage. And it's not like I would be doing it and setting any kind of warp speed record doing it. It would be a 37 hour drive. I *could* do that drive, and would have a blast doing it. In the end, it would be just plain pointless. Now if Mitsubishi had any interest in it being done, if there were some incentive to do it FOR Mitsubishi, then I could be swayed. But I think I'll just pass.

The reason for the 250 miles at 85 mph is: I've already got my maps made, with stops ~250 miles apart at 24 hour gas stations. And 250 miles would take me ~ 3 hours. I have no desire to pee in a bottle. So I could stop for gas, hit the restroom, come back finish pumping and jump back in the car and hit 85 to 90 mph and go.

But I think I've gone as far as this thread needs to go.

[Loren]

I've been reading about the Cannonball Run.

This is the kind of dumb idea that I can get behind.

I've done my share of road trips, TSD rallies, economy challenges, and competed in the One Lap of America twice. I'm down! When do we start?

Now, reality check... you're not going to average 85 mph over 2800 miles in the Mirage. Not gonna happen. The guys who were making that run in 36ish hours were averaging 85 mph driving REALLY fast cars. To keep that kind of average speed, they were hitting 140-150 or more in places where they could to make up for the slower pace through cities/construction/rain/whatever, and to make up for time stopped.

You might make 75 mph in a Mirage by cruising 85-90 where you can, but even that would be a challenge.

And doing it solo would be just plain dumb unless you're only counting "moving time" and give yourself some time to rest.

If you want to do it straight through, you need a co-driver to alternate with. I'd do it.

[MIMirage]

Guys,


What is the fastest speed the cruise control will hold the car's speed? My truck is 85 mph, no faster with cruise. I'm wondering if anyone knows this.

I've had it set at about 83 on some 75 mph roads. Not quite 85 but I don't think it would be an issue.

[7milesout]

This is the kind of dumb idea that I can get behind.

I've done my share of road trips, TSD rallies, economy challenges, and competed in the One Lap of America twice. I'm down! When do we start?

Now, reality check... you're not going to average 85 mph over 2800 miles in the Mirage. Not gonna happen. The guys who were making that run in 36ish hours were averaging 85 mph driving REALLY fast cars. To keep that kind of average speed, they were hitting 140-150 or more in places where they could to make up for the slower pace through cities/construction/rain/whatever, and to make up for time stopped.

You might make 75 mph in a Mirage by cruising 85-90 where you can, but even that would be a challenge.

And doing it solo would be just plain dumb unless you're only counting "moving time" and give yourself some time to rest.

If you want to do it straight through, you need a co-driver to alternate with. I'd do it.

Loren my mention of 85 mph average was from one gas station to another. I mentioned it would take me over 37 hours to do the whole thing, that's at a lower overall average than 85 mph. I want to say the 2nd or 3rd fastest Cannonball Run time is from a dude who rented a Mustang and did it solo (somewhat recently). 25 or 27 hours or something. By himself. I think he just threw some gas tanks in the trunk, shoved the pedal to the floor and hoped for no problem from the law ... and got lucky. I've driven 54 hours constant before. I wouldn't want to do that again. 37 hours wouldn't be bad because I would be "entertained" and motivated to get to the end.

It would be WAY cool if 10+ mirages all showed up on the sidewalk of the Red Ball garage in NYC and headed out in 10 minute increments. Just a (crack) pipe dream.

Doing this seems to trip no particular records. So I'm not sure what the point may be. Perhaps if Mitsubishi got wind of it, they might find some incentive to pay attention. For example Doug Decrapo and the like are always crapping on the Mirage. If Mitsubishi had something they could gain from running the Cannonball Run and could communicate that with me, I would entertain whatever their idea may be. That would give the run a point.

I take your offer to ride with me very seriously. As that would be mo' bettuh and mo' safuh. But keep in mind, I would want my / our time to be "OFFICIAL." And I would want it to be done in a STOCK Mirage. No 500 gallon fuel tanks! With that awesome Porsche-esque handling stock suspension. And of course the Enasave bicycle tires.

Lastly - It would take a fair amount of preparation so I'm not sure I could even be ready any time soon. The plan for me would be to ride to NYC, spend the night, do a big ole smokie burnout heading west from the Red Ball garage at a certain time (of the day), pack 36 hours worth of junk food and high octane drinks, hit gas stations right off the interstate, use the bathroom there (not in the Mirage) and do that at a lunatic's pace until I finish. Then spend the night, and then have to mosey back to Atlanta. But that's ~6,000 miles. Not something I'm enthralled about on a brand new Mirage. So I'm thinking this sounds like a 2021 thing maybe.

At least one cool thing is: If 10+ Mirages were to do this, and they were stock Mirages, we wouldn't be seeing a lot of pressure from law enforcement (because it's not like we would be hitting 150 mph). And the danger level is fairly low to us and other citizens on the roadways.

[7milesout]

I've had it set at about 83 on some 75 mph roads. Not quite 85 but I don't think it would be an issue.

My idea is to set the cruise on 85 mph (for example), and then if the conditions were right (roads clear, vision good, no apparent law enforcement), let my right foot push down a bit more on the throttle pedal. When I let off, the cruise would keep it to no less than 85 mph.

[Fummins]

Instead of trying to make record times see who can get there by a predetermined time and use the least amount of fuel?? Maybe Mitsu would sponsor it, they could show how cheap it is to drive a Mirage across the country in a cheap ass car?

Or just giver and see who gets there first. That's probably way more fun lol

[7milesout]

Fummins - Both ideas sound reasonable. I tend to prefer to have something to attempt to achieve. There's no telling what might be beneficial to Mitsubishi in this case. In the U.S., the Mirage doesn't have such a good reputation. What could be achieved by doing this that could potentially swing that reputation back in the other direction (at least somewhat)? I don't know right off hand, that would take some thinking.

The cost of, or the amount of fuel used to move across the country may be an interesting tidbit of data. But in the grand scheme of things, Americans don't care. We just blow fuel through our cars like it's water at a waterpark.

I don't believe any OEM would want to sponsor something where speed laws are broken on public roadways. So there's that to consider.