RAD

Took another East Coast road trip in my 04 E500 4MATIC from NYC to ATL and back (following NYC to ATL to MIA and back a couple months back). Car now has over 9,000 miles!

This car drives so well on the highway. The thing I noticed most about this trip was the higher MPG--avg 24.2 from ATL to NYC!--which is a good 1.0-1.5 MPG higher than the last trip, and much higher than the 20/HWY sticker. Lower than the non-4MATIC E500 and it's 7-spd gearing, but I'm happy.

F1Fan

Just curious what kind of speeds you were averaging? 24+mpg on a V8 is pretty impressive though.

cte430

I did a drive from Long Island to Columbus Ohio a few months, and I had a blast (once I got out of this disaster of congestion we call NY). In parts of Penn. and Ohio, when it was just me and some 18 wheelers there were stretches of HOURS at a time where I averaged 120 mph. I got about 19.5 or so. Did a much shorter run to PA and got about 20, however I rarely got above 100 mph

RAD

F1Fan,

According to the trip computer I averaged ~70mph, which included frequent stops (we have a baby).

BudC

The trip computer MPG average will be optimistic. On a recent 4,600 mile trip I kept track of the computer's calculation of MPG and average speed each time I filled the tank. When I compared those averages to the actual mileage I got (total miles/total gallons) the computer calculated close to 29 MPG while I actually got 27.

Where possible, I drove at least 80 and crossed many high mountain passes (some to 10,000 feet). The computer averages for each tank ranged from 24.5 to over 30.0. Many days I averaged 70 MPH according to the computer.

I was driving a brand new E320 with 200 miles on the clock when I left. As near as I can tell, I would have averaged about 32 MPG with a CDI or maybe a bit more. Driving a CDI, I would have saved $70 for the trip assuming a $.20/gallon difference in the price of fuel.