spotting fellow hypermilers on the road

[kitcar]

If they be doing 65 like me, they're saving gas.

If they're going 80 in the fast lane, they ain't.

In March when I started going to the shack, almost everyone was blowing by me.

In April when the gas went up some, it was about every 1:10 vehicles.

In April it was 1:6 vehicles.

On Memorial day weekend, it as about 1:2. Almost nobody was driving by me along I-94, U.S. 127 and I-75. It's now a line of cars, SUVs and semis in a line. Now that gas has dropped .50 a gallon I wonder........

Apparently the point is getting across.

As an aside, someone who is camping (a local resident) at Michigan International Speedway this weekend called me, they told me the in-field is empty when normally it is full with beer swilling rednecks.

I figure one of two things: either people are getting tired of NASCARs rules or gas is too high to drive a camper cross-country at 70+mph.

Another story you haven't heard. Warren, Michigan is the safest city in the U.S.. Allstate gave away FREE gas this Wed. in Warren. The lines were 14 miles long with people that couldn't afford gas. Move, stop, shut off engine; repeat. 4,000 cars with drivers that can't afford gas and ride a bike or take the bus or don't work drove and waited in line. In one city.

That should tell you what we can do at this site.

[baddog671]

Last summer when gas first went over 3 bucks a gallon (remember that? I think it was last summer), everyone was driving slow on the interstate. It was crazy, literally NOONE was going over 55 on the interstate. In my area gas hit 3.19 for regular at that time. I think that qualifies at hypermiling..

Even though we have new record highs, it never went over 3.19 this summer. Actually, right now I've heard its as low as 2.89 in one part of town..

[88HF]

I saw a metro driving I-10W from New Orleans once and he had a sticker that said "This car gets 47 mpg" I don't know if he was hypermiling, but he seemed to be going pretty slow.

[landspeed]

Today, I was drafting (from a distance so not dangerous) a truck, on the highway, and very old VW camper (it was a model I've never seen before), in showroom condition, passed me. It then attached itself to another truck and stayed there, for many miles until that truck (which was a little bit faster than the one I was following) disappeared. So he was hypermiling, even if he didn't know it (although he wasn't doing DAEMON coasting like me).

In town today I drove down a dual carriageway alongside a Prius, and both of us had the engine off! But I also wasted a Porsche Boxster later on, which the Prius couldn't have done (I had to work hard to regain the lost fuel - I had my SuperMID on so I could see how well I was doing).

In the UK, with our high petrol prices, you do see more cars going slow (below the speed limit) on the motorway, although most people still drive fast. Of the cars that go slow, a significant minority tend to follow lorries.

[baddog671]

I've heard that term before, lorrie. Any reason behind that name or something? :P

[landspeed]

lorry - it is just the UK term for '18-wheeler'

Also, 'DAEMON' coasting is a term I made. I know that a D-FAS is a draft-assisted Forced Auto Stop, but I have started doiing 'Draft Assisted, Engine Mainly ON Coasting' - because I can then drive 400 miles, using a pulse and glide draft-assisted technique while not shutting my engine on and off all the time (I guess I do well over a dozen pulses per mile, so 4000 start/stop cycles might not be that good for the engine)

[baddog671]

Got ya!

...crazy brits

[usedgeo]

"DAEMON"
Holy crap that is a lot of pulse and glide. I can do it for 10 miles at a stretch. There is a local stretch that I sometimes pulse and glide at 55-65. I use a 30 second cycle. One direction the pulse is 10 seconds and the glide 20 seconds. The other direction is 15 second pulse 15 second glide. This works out to two pulses per mile. I could do 4 p&g per mile but are you sure about that dozen ?

I have a slight uphill section I somes P&G and that takes a lot more cycles.

Originally Posted by landspeed

lorry - it is just the UK term for '18-wheeler'

Also, 'DAEMON' coasting is a term I made. I know that a D-FAS is a draft-assisted Forced Auto Stop, but I have started doiing 'Draft Assisted, Engine Mainly ON Coasting' - because I can then drive 400 miles, using a pulse and glide draft-assisted technique while not shutting my engine on and off all the time (I guess I do well over a dozen pulses per mile, so 4000 start/stop cycles might not be that good for the engine)

[jwxr7]

I see a silver newer honda sedan (accord or civic) on my way to work that drives slower than me (yeah, that's slow) . I haven't noticed any stickers or anything but I would guess they are driving for mileage. Hopefully not because they are almost blind or something .

[MnFocus]

Huh ...today's siting: an Insight (dark blue ) and a Prius (champagne color )at @ 50-ish mph . Guessing at the speeds as they barely snuck by my 48 mph .