Well, I just completed my first long trip......

I started the trip with about 3800 miles and ended with 6700 miles on it. My gas mileage was GREAT in my opinion and much better than I could have imagined!

First some background data..... 245/40-18 front and 275/35-18 rear, Pirelli PZero Rosso's, 34lb's psi front and back. Wife and I and packed up full (suit cases, golf clubs, snakes, etc. - both trunk and rear seat full). Temp South US high 80's, low 90's, North US High 70's/ low 80's. Ran BP/Amoco 93 octane gas and installed new K&N airfilters just before trip.

My trip started in Golf Shores, AL (Gulf of Mexico coast) to central PA and back. Trip north was very different than return trip south. Going north, we took seconary roads, site seeing, took 4 days. Avg speed was 50's and about 30% interstate (intersate speeds about 70 to 80) with many stops along the way. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway through N.C. and seconary roads (e.g., Rt 39, 219, 55, 20, 15) through VA and WVa. Very windey and hilly roads. With all stops, back and forth visits, etc. we averaged 23.6 mpg! That's over 30 hours of driving and over 1600 miles.

The return trip south was 95+% interstate, traveled 1200 miles in one day @ 16.5 hours, only three stops (gas and quick food), avg speed of ~75mph and got 24.7 mpg!

I even checked with a calculator at each fill up, i.e., miles traveled since last fillup / by gal's used. My calculation was always within 2 tenths of the "E's" computer systems calculation.

I'm an aggressive driver also. I drive fast, accelerate fast, pass fast and come out of tight turns fast...... I love the massive torque you fell with the E500!

In any case, I have NO complaints with the performance or the MPG's. All other aspects of the cars were fine also, e.g., climate control, sound system, etc.

Mark

 

cool, sounded like one of them car and driver 1 year tests glad it was really fun

 

congrats and I agree with you. I have had similar results on a shorter trip, 700 miles, and not nearly as loaded down as you and your wife. The E is a great car and such a pleasure to drive!

 

we will get our car next week. i was just wondering if you guys have had any problems with the new cars...we will be taking a 1200 mile trip at the end of august, and were discussing if we should drive or fly, my family has no concerns about the car, but i do....i dont want anything to go wrong..we have to be there on time...no exceptions..what do you guys think? thanks a lot

 

The only things with my replacement car is the interior lights don't come on when the door opens even though i have selected that option from the menu and i think the car needs an alignment. It's scheduled for next week. Both minor issues. Good luck.

 

And I, knock on wood, have had ZERO problems!

Gooooooooooooo for it.

Mark

 

Scottsdale, AZ - Palm Strings, CA - LA - and back to Scottsdale. Flawless! Fantastic ride, great power (even though "only" a 320), and surprising mileage. Unfortunately, I had to blow away several A holes on the way trying to strut their abilities on the road. Needless to say, they disappeared very quickly in the rear view mirror!

 

Welcome back from the trip man!!!

 

If you want to drive, I would have no hesitation at all with your E500.

Since picking mine up last November:

Seattle to Las Vegas and return
Seattle to New Orleans to Charleston to North Carolina to Laughlin, Nevada and back to Seattle..about 8k miles
Seattle to Lake Tahoe and back

No problems. Fantastic car to drive. Comfortable and safe.

The only problem I had was a little rock thru the A/C condensor somewhere in South Dakata. Had it replaced (under warranty and with a free loaner car) in Kansas City.

Drive if you and your family want to. You will enjoy it.

Note: Bmms...why do you have the "unsafest E500" in your sig?
If you explained before, I missed it.

 

o, cool, thanks for your input. its my cousins wedding, so if one thing goes wrong...we might miss it, but we'll give it a shot, im sure there will be no probs.
the comment on the bottom is just a little joke, one of the mods told me that because i didnt get xenons with my car

 

rayscar said:"The only things with my replacement car is the interior lights don't come on when the door opens even though i have selected that option from the menu"

rayscar: It may be only how you phrased it in your post, but I believe the interior lights with doors are controlled by one of the switches on the overhead panel, not the "menu" on the instrument display.

 

Just got back from a quick 2 day trip with the wife and kids. About 260 miles each way. It was my first opportunity to use nav in unfamiliar waters. I never had a nav system, and could never go without one again!! Great tool. I thought it would be kind of a gimmick but it worked great. No more messing with maps or driving directions in the dark. The POI's are also a great tool. I can't count how many times on a trip we wanted to find something to eat, and would just drive hoping to find something. The other day, we decided we wanted Italian, keyed it in and got a list of all the restaurants. Very neat. As with most systems like this, It doesn't always give you the quickest route. It would be nice if it gave you alternate routes. Coming home we were on this one lane highway for about 50 miles. It was a GREAT road with lots of room, turns, hills, etc. did 80 mph with no problem. I saw a sign for NY Thruway but that was not the navigated route. I looked at my wife (who does not really like long rides) and she said, "your having so much fun on this road, stay here." It's not often I get a road llike this on Long Island. No traffic and no potholes! The car handled awesome (especially with the AMG's and SO-3'S), was comfortable, very solid in the rain (the tires), and got around 20mpg. It was worth the aggravation with the nav system.

 

nice, thanks for the great review. that is kind of wierd how you mentioned it always dooesn't get the shortest route. do you know if it gives you the # of the restaurants and stuff? thanks

 

Bmms, yeah if you highlight one of the restaurants on the list and click detail, it will give you the address and phone number. The list will also go in order from shortest distance to longest. For example the first one on the list might say 0.3 miles, then 1.2 miles and so on. All routes will / POI's will give you the total miles and anticipated time of arrival. The only thing, unless I missed it, you have to cancel your current route to bring up the POI screen. Not a big deal, you just click on last destinations and your last routes will already be there. Just click on it and your back on your way. I guess to get POI's and navigate it's reading the disc and can't do both simultaneoulsy.

 

ahhh, thanks for the clearup, i cant wait

 

Thanks Jim. I figured that out after I posted. I wanted to make sure it was a problem before I took it in to the shop next week. I must have hit that switch by accident at some point. Until I was playing with it, I didn't even notice that switch was there and what it did.