Normal Driving vs Hypermiling - Experiment.

[OliverGT]

I'm going to do an experiment, to try and see what the difference in MPG is between driving normally and Hypermiling in my car.

I have just filled up and got 53 MPG which is just about average for the car. Best has been 57 MPG and worst was 47 MPG (this was with a lot of motorway driving).

Unfortunately it's not going to be truly scientific, but will hopefully show some differences.

Before Conditions:
Average over the last 10 tanks is 53.8 MPG.
Tyre Pressures - 50 psi.
Hypermiling techniques used
1. Drive With Load (DWL) - I do this all the time, slow down on the up hills, speed up on the downhills.
2. Coast in Neutral - There are a couple of reasonable hills that I will coast down, always engine on though.
3. Slow acceleration - I would never generally go above 2k rpm, except in top gear where 50 mph = about 2.5k rpm.
4. No Braking - I read ahead and very rarely have to use the brakes. I leve about an 8-10 second gap between me ad the car in front.

After Conditions:
I have just filled up and will do the following for this tank.
1. Tyre Pressures are now at 35 psi.
2. No Coasting - I will "drive" everywhere.
3. Accelerate like the rest of the traffic, including up hills etc.
4. Braking - I'll use the brakes to slow down rather than engine braking or coasting.

Additional Notes:
1. This tank is a different fuel brand to normal, but I will re-fill with the same brand and Hypermile the next tank to get another reference point.
2. Weather is getting a little colder, but not much.

I'll post updates if I notice a difference during the tank, this would be based on miles travelled and needle on the fuel gauge, I do have quite a bit of detail on where the gauge should be given the miles travelled, so I should have an idea as I go through the tank how it is working out.

I'll definitely report back again, when I fill up, with the difference, if any.

Oliver.

[Draigflag]

I'm going to guess and say you'll get 72 MPG. I saw roughly a 50% increase in fuel economy when hypermiling in the Clio, low 60's average V's mid 90's. I've never practiced these techniques over an entire tank, the epic range would mean more shorter trips inevitably. Look forward to your results, I may even do my own experiment soon

[OliverGT]

Draigflag, not sure if I explained my experiment properly. I'm currently hypermiling and getting mid 50's MPG, this is a test of "Normal" driving, to see how much lower it is.

I don't think I could ever hit 72mpg, I could in the 1.4 HDI diesel version I had, that was easy, I managed 81 MPG out of that for one tank. This is the 1.1 Petrol version.

I'm thinking it will drop to Mid 40's.

Oliver.

[LDB]

What kind of car? How many miles? Any upgrades or modifications that would be a factor?

[OliverGT]

Car is a Peugeot 206 1.1 Petrol, see my Fuelly page for details.

The only upgrades for hypermiling that I have done are:

1. Small ares of the grill is blocked off to help with warming up.
2. Tyres are pumped up to 50 psi.

For the experiment, tyres are back down to 35 psi but the grill block will remain in place.

Oliver.

[Draigflag]

Ah I see, most people do it the other way around, normal driving for so long, then they start to hypermile in efforts to save fuel/money. There will no doubt be a bigger drop than you got in the diesel, I find diesels more consistent regardless of techniques and driving conditions. Just a note of warning though, I wouldn't recommend pumping the tyres up to 50 psi, a tyre at normal pressure only contact the road in an area the size of the palm of your hand. Pumping them up that much will mean very little tyre is in contact with the tarmac, grip, braking and wet performance will all be compromised, as will feedback through the steering wheel so I wouldn't recommend it at all.

[LDB]

One of the things I most like about this forum is the global participation. Learning about vehicles we don't have here is quite interesting. I'm looking forward to your reports on this.

[OliverGT]

ok, so the results are in!

Last tank was 44 mpg exactly.

So how does that compare with hypermiling?

My best tank ever was 57.2 mpg
44 to 57.2 = 30% improvement.

My average, before this tank was 53 mpg
44 to 53 = 21% improvement.

I do about 13,000 miles a year in this car and with petrol prices around €1.30 this gives me an annual saving of around €295.

Conclusions:

Is it worth it? Well I save nearly €300 for driving a slow car slowly. So yes, I'm commuting in and out to work, sitting in traffic and most of the time, there is no opportunity to go much faster. I have an Alfa 156 which is my fun car, and the €300 can be invested in that.

Also, I have to say, the poor little 1.1 engine did not sound happy been driven that way, it has 130,000 miles on it already and I would guess that hypermiling will ensure that it lasts a lot longer than driving normally.

So for now, I am back to hypermiling for two reasons, it's saves me money and i actually enjoy it.

Oliver.

[Draigflag]

Interesting results, although you'd have to do more than one tank, in all seasons to get more accurate results. I'd like to do a tankful myself like that, drive a bit quicker, floor the throttle more etc but as I only use a tank a month, I'm not sure I could do that for such a long time.

Don't forget, you'll be slashing emissions by 20-30% too, if everyone did that, we could help make the World a cleaner place. I think at €300 a year though, the extra concentration, time and effort would just be too much to endure for most people. On saying that, that's about what my annual insurance premium is, so driving carefully could pay for my insurance!

[OliverGT]

Draigflag,

Have to agree, it wasn't the most scientific experiment. But does give an idea of what is possible.

Also agree on other people struggling to "endure" driving slowly. I think someone else suggested on here that cars should have a "Cost per Trip" indicator as well as an MPG indicator, that might focus the mind little more.

For me, I enjoy the challenge of driving economically, it doesn't add much time to my journey and makes it a little more interesting. For longer journey's I don't tend to hypermile as much as it can add significant time to the journey.

I'll be pumping the tyres back up shortly as well for the current tank. Or maybe I should run a tank of Hypermiling at 35 psi and then pump them up for the next tank... I think that is a plan, for another very unscientific test! Might take a few weeks to get the results in as I have trip to Dublin coming up and I'm not doing that at 50mph!!

Oliver.