On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:02:45 +0000, Art wrote:

> AC is off during tests. That is why hybrids results are ridiculous. As for
> the Hemi, perhaps it was optimized to turn off extra cylinders during the
> test and your driving habits do not mirror those test circumstances.

Hard to believe that AC makes a 25% difference in a 4000lb car. The flat
surface for the government tests could be the reason for the huge
difference. 300Cs are very heavy and New England (where I live) is very
hilly even on highways. Lugging a 300C up a hill probably puts enough
strain on the system that all 8 cylinders are engaged which means that you
are going to use much more energy going up a hill then you get back going
down the other side because the engine is operating in it's less efficient
mode on the upside of the hill. I wonder how hybrids behave on hills. On
the one hand a true hybrid like the Toyotas will have to engage it's
gas engine more on the other hand they recover more energy on the down
side of hills because of the regenerative breaking.