Uhhhhh . . . to put it tactfully, I am most likely a more conservative driver than YOU are. When I learned how the Otto Cycle engine is supposed to perform, I realized that my own vehicle was made for high-speed cruising. And thus, my own vehicle is not the most appropriate choice of vehicle for the way I -usually- drive. If you look at my driving record over the past thirty years, it is spotless. I mean, spotless as in no accidents, no speeding tickets and no parking tickets. That's not bad considering that I've averaged 100K per year of driving for many of those years.
I know what the EPA estimates are for my car. I also know that EVERY automobile I have ever driven has EXCEEDED EPA estimates for fuel economy . . . in some cases significantly exceeded EPA estimates for fuel economy.
The Otto Cycle internal combustion engine is most fuel-efficient near 40% of redline. That's not a calculation, and certainly not my calculation. If you own an Otto Cycle engine that is NOT most fuel-efficient near 40% of redline, then you have an Otto Cycle engine that is not acting like an Otto Cycle engine. I won't presume to speculate on why your Otto Cycle engine does not act like an Otto Cycle engine. But every car I've ever owned has had an Otto Cycle engine that performs like (DUH!!!) an Otto Cycle engine. My current car with an Otto Cycle engine is no exception. But now that I know why it behaves like it does, I'm seriously thinking of trading it for something that is more fuel-efficient at lower speeds. -Dave
