TTAC Desert-to-Burning-Desert Eco-Challenge Day 4: City Driving and Ferraris

Trying to eke out the best mileage whilst in a major city proves difficult. Trying to get the best mileage possible while on the Strip in Las Vegas proves downright impossible. No matter, as my car has Oklahoma plates and I’m in the biggest tourist destination in Nevada. So I consign myself to appear confused and lost as I trundle down to the Mandalay Bay for their awesome buffet.

I discovered an incredibly important part of urban hyper-miling: timing the lights. If you hold a steady 30 – 33mph down the Strip, barring any heavy traffic, you can cruise the entire thing without slowing down. Really. I did this once, on a Wednesday Morning, much to my chagrin. Try it any other time, especially when the Los Angeleans in their shiny BMW’s and Mercedes-Benz CLSs show up, and you’d better get used to start-stop, clutch in-clutch out style of driving. No matter, I discovered the best way to conserve gas in this manner: walking. Plus, walking from casino to casino burns off those extra calories you accumulated in the pastry section of the buffet.

And while walking, you notice a lot more things about Las Vegas, namely the sheer number of high-end car dealerships. Penske Ferrari in the Wynn Hotel (where I’m staying) has quite the selection. The manager was not in yesterday, so cross your B&B fingers in hopes they will let me take out the 430 Scuderia at a later date.

However, there are several used car places with slightly loved vintage Italian steeds of menace. For example, one 1985 Ferrari 328. They were willing to let me take it out on the side streets for a bit in the name of journalism. However, one snag destroyed that plan: Italian reliability. Various electrical gremlins wreaked havoc with the silver bullet, and no amount of jumper cables were going to solve that problem. Oh well, at least now I can sell a few carbon credits.

.75 Gallons diesel used while in Las Vegas

37 miles driven in Las Vegas

49mpg while in Las Vegas

13 Starbucks Soy Mocha Lattes drunk

$67.00 won

8 “working girls” spotted

1 Broken Ferrari 328