P&G, Engine On Coasting

[low&slow]

Hi, I attended my first mini hypermiling clinic led by SentraSE-R ( Darrell) and got to see an elite hypermiler in action. It was great! I also got to see pulse and glide with an AT performed by Kris, a fellow hypermiler. After seeing it done safely and effectively, I decided to go ahead and add this to my hypermiling efforts. I tried it out on the way home from the meet and have been using it when I get the opportunity to do so safely. No noises or other distress, just smooth engagement when shifting back into Drive!

I just refilled my gastank so I should be able to check my results in another 400 miles or so. I'll report on the results. My last few tanks have been in the mid 27mpg range. I drive a 2000 Jaguar S-Type ( 3L V6, 5sp AT ) that has an EPA rating of 19.
Kudos and thanks to Darrell and Kris for their assistance.

L&S

[rgathright]

The clinic sounds fun!

Getting 27Mpg out of a Jaguar is impressive. Have you thought about altering your driving routes to prevent idling/stop-go-traffic?

[low&slow]

The clinic was awesome! It was the first time I ever actually met another hypermiler face to face. To actually see the pulse and neutral coasting techniques applied helped me to overcome my reluctance to try it with my autotrans equipped car. I was pretty happy with my 27-28 mpg tank averages and a best tank of over 36 mpg but I think I can now shoot for a 30 mpg average and a best tank of 40+ mpg.
I try to avoid traffic and signal lights as much as possible but its not always feasible here in the congested SF Bay area. If I could travel more on the freeways without the backups, I'd easily be averaging 30+ mpg in a large, heavy luxury car.
best wishes, L&S

[FrugalFloyd]

We should get together again, L&S, and hook up my Scangauge to your Jaguar. Then we can do back-to-back comparison runs on the same route, comparing P&G to straight cruise control and DWL

I've driven my demo route in my wife's AT Elantra, and have topped 40 mpg with a mild 25-40 mph P&G routine. Accelerate keeping rpms below 2000, and coast in neutral. I managed 42 mpg for three tanks in a rental AT Yaris last Summer doing that, with my 15 yr old grandson and our suitcases.

[low&slow]

Hi Darrell, That would be awesome! Using the Scangauge would help me figure out the best pulse acceleration strategy. Please let me know a good time to get together and allow me the pleasure of buying you lunch.
Thanks again for all the great coaching.
L&S ( Vic)

[FrugalFloyd]

Wednesday or Thursday next week, or Tu/W/Th the following week? We could invite Kris and Mark again, or just Kris, on EM. We should check the weather forecasts for next week.

[spotaneagle]

are there any good videos on Pulse and glide?

[theholycow]

Videos would be nice, I don't know if there are any. However, P&G varies greatly in differing cars, drivers, traffic conditions, and roads so a video might send you off doing something that won't help.

It requires trial-and-error as well as analyzation to figure out what will work for you. For me, gliding downhill and pulsing up keeps my speed steady to work better with other traffic.

For transitioning between the pulse and the glide:

In my automatic, I rev-match and put it in D, then I have to wait a few seconds because there's no good indicator of exactly when the gear has engaged and I don't want to get on the gas until it's totally in gear. To glide again, I just simultaneously stick it in N and take my foot off the gas.

In my manual I can be much more precise. I half-double-clutch, since it's already in neutral anyway: rev-match, stomp clutch, flick it into gear, dump the clutch, and floor the go-pedal. Then, to glide, depending on my mood I clutch and neutral, or I just clutchlessly go to neutral (timing has to be perfect to do that).

[spotaneagle]

found a P&G video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAocw...eature=related

[FrugalFloyd]

I watched that video and went to a Toyota dealer to try the technique. My first time out, I drove an 8 mile route, and got 77 mpg. The salesman was very impressed, as he'd never seen anyone get hat kind of mileage during a test drive. So he asked me if I wanted to try it again. Sure. On the second time around the route, I got 67 mpg. Still, that averaged out to ~72 mpg for 16 miles.

Later that week, I went back to the dealership with my wife. We took another Prius out. I drove it 4 miles away, and got 75 mpg. My wife drove it back, and got 45 mpg. It was cold out, and I couldn't even reach my normal hypermiling mpg average of 38 mpg for my car that day driving to the dealership and back.