Yeah that type gauge really grabs (and holds) your attention. Oil pressure gauges on a VMax are the same....s'posed to be about 10# per each K rpm so you're always going between the tach & OP gauge to make sure everything is kosher....could easily drive into a truck doing stuff like that!
I put in about 130 - 140 miles today using your early 6th gear method (about 2K tho cuz of the hills around here) topped off at 141 on the trip meter, took 3.2 gal....44.06 mpg!! Cruise control knows exactly how much throttle is needed when starting up a hill to keep a steady speed where I tend to over accelerate, then roll back when I realize I've overdone it.... I'm sure that KILLS mileage so the sooner you get on cruise the better IMHO.