Anyone ever get tired of Hypermiling for a day?

[Project84]

For now, the only drastic differences I've made have been my interstate travel speeds. I REFUSE to go over 60mph. Before, I was averaging about 71-72mph, then they raised the local interstate speed limit to 70mph and I was averaging 75mph.

Changing that to 60mph has yielded me a steady MPG calculation, even as winter fuel has entered my area. I hope that before winter is up, I get off my lazy butt and make the hot air intake, IAT sensor mod, and PCV catch can. Perhaps it'll happen this weekend? I can only be optomistic.

[101mpg]

As above - I HATE being tailgated. Without affecting my mileage noticeably, I first a) let off the pedal. Dropping from 60 or 65 down to 55 on a 70 stretch will remove the offenders. MOST people will pass as they are in such a hurry to get to & from work to pay off their insane debt. (A noticeable feature of those who are careless with their MPG. They run up so much debt and pay so much interest they have to work harder and more for their money, causing them to spend more to fund it, needing more debt, etc.)

My rule of thumb is if I cannot see the license plate, I jam on the brakes. 2 MPH loss when there is unsafe distance between me and the idiot behind cures it in 99% of cases.

And I am not pronouncing judgement on those of you who tailgate semis. I feel that unsafe - I don't partake. YMMV.

I have stopped dead on the freeway twice, however. Both instances were idiots who felt they had better reflexes than me, so their tailgating was "totally warranted" in their eyes. They felt that if a deer jumped out in front of me, insert other emergency here, they could stop, even with less than 10 feet between us, if I had to jam on my brakes.

Nothing like an enraged 6'3" guy with a totally ticked off look, goatee (I apparently look ferocious with it, I've been told), and being puffed up due to the upset - uncoiling out of a car and heading backwards to make people roar off.

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by Erdrick

My car has such a small engine, that even just coasting will noticeably make the temp guage start falling.

Gotcha. makes sense. not enough oomph to do all the basics.

Originally Posted by Erdrick

Oh, and most hypermilers are nuts. Perhaps you would oneday like to join the club?

So I guess I'm the pillar of reason? I guess my cost/benefit crossover point is just lower than yours. I'd rather enjoy the time I spend in my car than dread it. Lifes too short to make it any harder. plus I'm a theatre tech and mechanic so I've got my own brand of crazy. lets compare sometime.

Originally Posted by Erdrick

On a related note, it seems like gassavers.org has been inundated with people who are only half into saving gas.

such is life. everyone hears about this great thing and wants to join up. that and you can either maintain a huge dichotomy and a few people save a lot of gas or average it out and everyone saves some gas. the net result will be higher if everyone does some.

[JanGeo]

Forgive me my fellow hypermilers for I have driven a 2007 Prius today and liked it. The trip computer showed about 276 miles at 49.8mpg and when I returned from my trip it was 309 miles 50.3mpg. Looks like from the increase that I was getting about 53mpg average on this trip which included a lot of stop lights and a high bridges. I had no idea that the newer Prius could run on electric only at 55mph even if only on a slight down hill it added up on this trip. I also found that the initial acceleration pretty good for the first 15-20mph and then the acceleration dropped off but I managed about 37mph on only electric pretty consistantly. I did max the battery charge going down the Newport Bridge again. I also got a bit of an eye ache and neck ache looking through the windshield - definately not the same as my xB. There has been a big improvement in the gas pedal control from the 2005 model allowing much better control of coast - electric accelerate and a good deal of pedal travel before the engine starts.

[jBubb]

I stop hypermilling when I'm late for work.

Otherwise I generally never get tired of it..... I find it's fun and gives me something to focus on while driving, hehe.....

[basjoos]

I'll occasionally let loose and travel with the speeders in the fast lane. Fortunately my cd is low enough that I get very little loss in mileage as long as I keep it below 80mph.

[8307c4]

I think general fuel economy (as in, gallons per week) is as if not more important than miles per gallon... Because I can boost my mpg by 20%-35% easy so long I take the traffic-less long winded detour, but if it consumes more fuel for the trip what's the point?

Say I have to go across town from one end to the other, big city.
Take the roads right through center, or take the beltways?
Which is better, 100 miles at 17mpg, or 140 miles at 23?
5.88 gallons the first way, 6.09 gallons the other.
Ok, bad example, the distance is a bit extreme and the difference is minimal, but to make the point that greater mpg isn't always better per se.

That and there are times it just aggravates me to no end, every once in a moon by god I'm going to do a WOT acceleration and the hell with it, now that it's out of my system I can leave it parked longer.

So my mpg has gone down, but I'm staying within my fuel dollar budget.

[oneinchsidehop]

Originally Posted by Erdrick

...

Oh, and most hypermilers are nuts. Perhaps you would oneday like to join the club?


On a related note, it seems like gassavers.org has been inundated with people who are only half into saving gas. This used to be a really dedicated and hardcore website... but it seems like most of the top performers have moved on. Perhaps it is just the winter that scared everyone away, but I can't help but feel that the caliber of interest in hypermiling is going downhill.

I think I may fit that description and may have been a bad influence. Sorry all.

Actually I love hypermileing, I just made the mistake of buying a car that is very poorly suited for it, but does fit my transportation needs well. So to clarify, my goal here is to save gas, but most driving techniques (which are the fun part for me) just aren't working with this car.

AWD is unnecessary and wastefull, Automatics are horrendous, they remove the controls needed for hypermileing, never buy a car that you have to lock the steering column to restart the car.

Changing cars to save gas is expensive but maybe that's the only way I'm going to get back to what we are really here for.

[bzipitidoo]

I'll do the easy things. But some hypermiling is very difficult or time consuming. For instance, it would take me days to rig up some of the aero mods. Then you have the problem of finding out how well it worked. An improvement of 1 mpg can be pretty hard to see in all the noise. I did do the grill block on one of my cars, and have thought about the wheel skirts. Come the day after election in November, I'll be grabbing coroplast signs I've cased.

I think what you're really wishing for are cool new ideas to try out. And more solid research and information about the techniques we do know. I for one wish someone, somewhere, would offer up FE performance parts. Mag wheels that aren't super wide, carbon fiber body panels altered for better aero and availavle for econobox cars, not just sports cars, that sort of thing.

[DRW]

I'll admit that I enjoy a brief WOT blast once in a while. I'm usually hypermiling though. I rarely find myself driving in the middle ground where I'm going too fast for good FE, but not fast enough to have any fun. For me it's either maximum hypermiling, or maximum accelleration. Hypermiling wins out. The thrill of max accelleration is what my other car is for.