Epilogue:

Ron Cogan, Editor and Publisher of the Green Car Journal

“With our 1,000+ mile ‘Eureka!’ drive completed, we’ve had a chance to relax and reflect on the trip. Our primary goals were to drive an extended period on Rentech’s synthetic fuel to see how it performed in Audi’s A3 TDI, our 2010 Green Car of the Year. As noted in our earlier posts, it was seamless and impressive. What we didn’t do was undertake a fuel economy run since our schedule was tight and we needed to be at specific places for press conferences and other media activities. Plus, driving in the way that we did illustrated real-world fuel economy that anyone should be able to achieve without effort.”

Todd Kaho, Green Car Journal

“Still, it seemed a shame that we didn’t explore the potential fuel economy that could be achieved with more focus on that specific goal. After all, high fuel economy is of increasing interest these days and a primary reason why more people are considering hybrids and clean diesel cars. So, since we still had the car up at our offices in San Luis Obispo, California, with 100% RenDiesel in the tank, I headed off on nearby state highways and two-lane canyon roads on a 30 mile loop, traveling speed limits at 45 to 55 mph. This time around, I used the frugal driving techniques I’ve learned over the years to optimize fuel economy, without resorting to ‘hypermiling’ extremes. No surprise: My fuel economy over those 30 miles was over 53 mpg. Mission accomplished.”