the "it's been a while" 3-month update

I've been tracking my mileage via Fuelly for pretty much the whole time I've had the Sienna, and am pleased to say that, through a substantial investment in upkeep and learning to drive better, I've been able to maintain a solid 20mpg average gas mileage.

As I was reviewing my history on Fuelly, I got to thinking about this blog, and that I haven't been quite as dedicated to it as I'd intended, so figured I'd take a few minutes over this long weekend to share some experiences. Some of these aren't so much about the Sienna specifically as they are about an observant but novice driver refining his skills...

• I've put almost 7,000 miles on the Sienna since beginning this adventure, most of which has been since mid-April, when I started averaging about 600 miles per week
• about 5,000 miles ago, I put the van in the care of the excellent Missoula-based Master Techs and had pretty much everything flushed, changed, or fixed that needed it
• this included replacing the timing belt, which made a big difference in power and gas mileage
• in any situation where power and acceleration are important, keeping overdrive disabled is a good idea - yes, you use a bit more gas, but those 200 horses are pretty drowsy when overdrive is enabled
• related to the overdrive concept, I've also learned where and when to use cruise control - some of my best mileage has been using cruise control on flats and mildly rolling terrain, and then switching it off when the terrain becomes steep enough that it alarmingly kicks into overdrive and high RPMs to maintain the speed you've set
• for mountain driving, which I've done a lot of up and down Bridger Canyon north of Bozeman, shifting into the '2' low gear is super helpful for maintaining 30-35mph coming down from summit
• a front-wheel drive vehicle on moderate mud (say 1" or deeper) or a grade of more than 4-5% on loose gravel is pretty sketchy. A late spring cold snap about 6 weeks ago brought a good inch of snow down at 6000 feet, and pulling the trailer was suddenly a much more complicated proposition
• sadly, I put my first dent in the Sienna when backing up a little too zealously to hitch up the trailer; there's now a nice thumbnail dimple near the bottom edge of the back hatch where I ran it into the Jayco's hitch :(
• I've slowly refined the tire pressure and airbag inflation scheme that provides an ideal combo of smooth ride and good handling at up to 85mph
• cold tire pressure of 40 psi (Nokian EnTyre), which usually equates to 43 psi hot, at given air temperature
• and 20psi in the air bags
• the balance to be struck here is reducing the tendency to easily oversteer in crosswinds (tire pressure too high), the van 'jumping' slightly when hitting the leading edge of bridge concrete at over 75mph (also tire pressure too high), and the sense that the rear-end is livelier than the front end (air bags too high)
• generally, the Sienna has been a fantastic towing vehicle, assuming one can accept that acceleration is never going to be great with 2600-ish pounds of trailer - it was definitely a smart decision to install the Airlift 1000 airbags, as well as the higher-end Curt brake controller.