518 miles round trip.
Last time I drove from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara- I achieved 31.3 MPG with 2 adults and 1 baby.
Link to that thread- http://www.traverseforum.com/index.php?topic=1859.0
On this trip I achieved- 28 MPG- to the general area as above. Once again 55-60 MPG. (The highest I saw right before Santa Barbara was 29 MPG).
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The difference-
4 adults,2yr old, 6 month old, 2 strollers, playpen, baby seats, change of clothes for everyone, toys, baby stuff, etc.
6 seats occupied. The 3rd row 60 portion folded down to allow space for playpen and strollers.
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But Our final destination was actually further ahead. In Santa Barbara- we turn off the highway-leave the coast and turn into the Los Padres National Forest.
Plenty of Hill climbing here. The 28 went down to 24 MPG. Once past the mountains we drove on- and eventually reached the motel I have made reservation at.
At this point were at
202 miles into trip
26.2 MPG
7.7 gal used
The next morning
We did more in town driving. Some more hills - Did some shopping. You know women and shopping- multiple shoe boxes,new clothes, 12 new water bottles.
We drove on to our next destination-
Now were at
261.2 trip miles
25.3 MPG
10.3 gal used.
Note the gas needles position after 261 miles.
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For the return trip- I gassed up.
291.1 trip meter.
11.5 gal- DIC.
25.2 MPG-DIC
11.4 gal- auto shut off pump
25.5 MPG hand calc. NICE! DIC is accurate.
The trip meter is now reset to 0.
The return trip was a little more straightforward- no major stops- except diaper change for kids and Coffee for us (McDonalds). But we had more cargo as mentioned above.
225.7 trip miles.
26.9 MPG- DIC.
8.3 gal used.
301 miles- RANGE still left !!!! (after already doing 225 miles!) (when I refilled- the DIC showed 555 range).
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This is the cargo hold when we got home. (I covered up stuff so prying eyes couldn’t see purchases). But note that the 60 portion of the seat area no has more stuff piled on.
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Note that I stay in the lane with Semis. 55 is the law for larger vehicles in CA. Very easy to join in the convoys. Theres 3 ahead of me.
Also makes hill climbing easier- as you can easily climb the hill.. no need to do 80 MPH going uphill--- that uses gas—big time.
![]()
Last time I drove from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara- I achieved 31.3 MPG with 2 adults and 1 baby.
Link to that thread- http://www.traverseforum.com/index.php?topic=1859.0
On this trip I achieved- 28 MPG- to the general area as above. Once again 55-60 MPG. (The highest I saw right before Santa Barbara was 29 MPG).
The difference-
4 adults,2yr old, 6 month old, 2 strollers, playpen, baby seats, change of clothes for everyone, toys, baby stuff, etc.
6 seats occupied. The 3rd row 60 portion folded down to allow space for playpen and strollers.
But Our final destination was actually further ahead. In Santa Barbara- we turn off the highway-leave the coast and turn into the Los Padres National Forest.
Plenty of Hill climbing here. The 28 went down to 24 MPG. Once past the mountains we drove on- and eventually reached the motel I have made reservation at.
At this point were at
202 miles into trip
26.2 MPG
7.7 gal used
The next morning
We did more in town driving. Some more hills - Did some shopping. You know women and shopping- multiple shoe boxes,new clothes, 12 new water bottles.
We drove on to our next destination-
Now were at
261.2 trip miles
25.3 MPG
10.3 gal used.
Note the gas needles position after 261 miles.
For the return trip- I gassed up.
291.1 trip meter.
11.5 gal- DIC.
25.2 MPG-DIC
11.4 gal- auto shut off pump
25.5 MPG hand calc. NICE! DIC is accurate.
The trip meter is now reset to 0.
The return trip was a little more straightforward- no major stops- except diaper change for kids and Coffee for us (McDonalds). But we had more cargo as mentioned above.
225.7 trip miles.
26.9 MPG- DIC.
8.3 gal used.
301 miles- RANGE still left !!!! (after already doing 225 miles!) (when I refilled- the DIC showed 555 range).
This is the cargo hold when we got home. (I covered up stuff so prying eyes couldn’t see purchases). But note that the 60 portion of the seat area no has more stuff piled on.
Note that I stay in the lane with Semis. 55 is the law for larger vehicles in CA. Very easy to join in the convoys. Theres 3 ahead of me.
Also makes hill climbing easier- as you can easily climb the hill.. no need to do 80 MPH going uphill--- that uses gas—big time.
