Hypermiling is saving me money in other ways

[cfg83]

Snax -

Originally Posted by Snax

Yup, the morning Starbucks drive-thru routinely sapped about 2 mpg from the efficiency of our truck. But you know what? You can always park the car and go inside. I usually have my coffee in hand before the last person in line at the drive-thru when I arrived has even ordered. That alone makes it worth getting out of the car.

I've been that way all my life. It's also healthier for stretching your legs.

I love In N Out burgers, but I won't use the drive-thru. I want to redesign their drive-thrus to have a downhill slope so people could turn their cars off and use the e-brake to move forward.

CarloSW2

[mpg_maniac]

That sounds about right. Although I think on my round trips to & from work I can do better then this. I have already improved on my coasting since "learning" my route and can time the lights almost perfectly as well. I think I'm mostly hitting my sweet spot for speed but have to get a SG2 to make sure. My tires are at max pressure and I'm getting ready to tackle a grill block in a few weeks.
Any other advice people might have for me?

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by cfg83

<snip>so he should have a handicap .

Well, he does have a handicap. He's driving a VeeDub...

Heh heh heh...

[rh77]

Turns out I had the same leak in the cash flow. Several years of the same espresso drink ended up coming with a jolt to the system in the morning, and a the afternoon "sleepies". It was a routine, a morning ritual.

A few weeks ago, I decided to brew at home -- nothing fancy. The result? Although my FE went down (fewer miles on city streets and less EOC), overall fuel consumption is down as fewer miles are driven with fewer starts and stops. With the additional money saved, maybe I can get that manual transmission I've always wanted Plus, the gradual caffiene intake isn't such a shock to the system Never thought I'd quit (even on the road, I just brew the cheap stuff in the Hotel).

The biggest savings seems to be in Time...

Originally Posted by cfg83

I love In N Out burgers

OMG, so do I! Anytime I'm out West, I have to have at least 1 "Double-Double". I agree, though -- the problem is the drive-thru. Even with Starbucks, I'd go in most of the time because of idling. I always saw it as hard hypermiling effort slipping away -- getting out of the car is healthier too a small degree too...despite the purchase

RH77

[88HF]

Originally Posted by mpg_maniac

2. I'm "actually" having gas pump withdrawals.
I want to go to the pump and fill up to see how close to 60MPG I'm at right now and have to stop myself.

I'm having this problem as well. I was used to a 60 mile commute and now I'm trying to fix my gas mileage and hardly go anywhere. I have to convince myself out of wanting to drive for no reason. I want to test my work, but I tell myself that if I don't drive, I can spend the saved money on improving the car.

[atomicradish]

It's so ironic that we all share some of the same idiosyncrasies. I too got into the habit of starting my car after I have my seat belt buckled, CD in the player, sunglasses on, and am completely situated to begin driving. It's probably overly obsessive of me, but each and every second that I am in the car with it cranked yet not moving, I am constantly thinking about my fuel consumption. Now when I stop at the mailbox, it's a quick quick stop. In fact, it's almost a hit and run. I already have the window rolled down by the time I get up the mailbox. I then quickly open it up, grab the mail, shut the box, and go.

Today I was stuck at a stop sign with a huge line of cars ahead of me. I was getting so impatient as they were going one at a time, with a marked gap between each car. The line was too long to keep the engine running, so I just sat there and let the majority of them go, creating a considerable gap between me and the car ahead of me. People were probably yelling "GO ALREADY" but whats the point of cranking up and going until you can assert yourself all the way to stop sign itself?

[88HF]

Its hard to tell the difference between stopping your engine with others idling behind you. Averaging multiple 0s and 1 infinity. Then again, average some 0s some 2s (barely moving). Its all the same.

[GasSavers_rGS]

I too used to do the drive through thing and realized that even though the meal may be the cheapest, the added costs of idling probably outweighs the benefits of the cheap meal. So I too park in the parking lot and walk into the restaurant. One definite benefit is that instead of you paying for your car's air conditioner being on while waiting in a hot drive through line, let the restaurant pay for the "free air conditioning" and I get a water with my meal. I make sure I fill up the water cup with as much ice as it can hold to further help me reduce on the need to use the air conditioner in the car to cool me down. On the topic of cooling, if there's a mini-commute between your driveway and the freeway on ramp, open up all your windows to let as much hot air out as possible. Then, if you still need to use the air conditioner, then it should take less fuel to cool from warm to cool temperature than from hot to cool temperature.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

am I the only one who gets in their car, puts on the steat belt and all that, starts moving then starts their engine? at first I thought our flat parking area on our gravle driveway was to flat to bump start, but I was wrong, bump starting in reverse is my favorit.
I've taken my bike with me while doing things like laundry, so I could leave my car in one spot while crusing around town, when it's nice and I don't need to haul stuff I often take my motorcycle (20mpg better then the car), and I've ended up with a cell phone thru my job, thus cutting down on all kinds of trips, like going home to check messages, or repeat trips to the store, or to a job site.

[rh77]

Can't bump-start the auto...but I do go through the "pre-flight checks" before startup. Used to get in, start it -- you know, the usual.

What seems to help with heat extraction is opening the hatch. The routine at work seems to be:

Open the hatch, driver's door, roll down the windows, put the work bag in the back and close the doors. Good cross-ventilation to help evac the heat. Then crack the sunroof to let heat out as I drive (but not full-open -- too much sun exposure heats it up again).

I've been driving with the A/C off most of the time now. Even in the "off" position, I was still feeling hot air. Turns out it still takes the incoming air and directs it through the selected vents. The solution has been to send the air to the floor outlets and close the side vents. The heat rises closer to the rear instead of in your face.

RH77