Highway Driving Tips

[popimp]

I'm moving from Biloxi, MS to Fairfield, CA on Thursday. It's about 2350 miles of highway driving. I normally engine on coast in Neutral from 65 to 55 on the higways but this might seem slow for such a long drive. I have scheduled stops in Houston, Ozona, Las Cruces, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Thanks for the help.

[1993CivicVX]

Get behind a semi.
Swap out your engine for a D15z1

There's not really a lot you can do as far as I know. Drive in packs of cars as opposed to driving solo. I believe that driving in a pack at 75 is just as good FE as driving solo by yourself at 65. So make sure you're behind someone! And it's even better to be stuck between two cars as that further cuts down on your drag as the turbulence created behind you gets cut somewhat by the car behind you. So, yeah, that'd be my advice. Stay in packs.

[GasSavers_Red]

Yep, draft a semi for most of the way

[DarbyWalters]

How about just enjoying the scenery? Air up, drive conservatively and enjoy!

[1993CivicVX]

Erik claims to have made a rather safe and worthwhile discovery:

Originally Posted by Erik

I was drafting a little last week on the interstate. It seemed like I could get a pretty good draft off a tall semi with the standard box trailer from about 4.5 car lengths back. I felt pretty safe back there and was surprised at how much it was helping.

I say I was getting a good draft just because of the decrease in wind noise and the reduction in throttle I had to give to maintain 70 mph. I also noticed a sweet spot that is behind and diagonal to the semi trailer (in the next lane over).

emphasis added.

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by 1993CivicVX

Erik claims to have made a rather safe and worthwhile discovery:



emphasis added.

safe? nada. if you stay there your gonna clog up the line behind you and piss off alot of other drivers...not to mention its prolly in the semi drivers blind spot....

but anyways, yea air up tires and set the cruise. 2.3K miles is a hell of a drive. might as well not get fatigued so just set he cruise and go.

[1993CivicVX]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

safe? nada. if you stay there your gonna clog up the line behind you and piss off alot of other drivers...not to mention its prolly in the semi drivers blind spot....

but anyways, yea air up tires and set the cruise. 2.3K miles is a hell of a drive. might as well not get fatigued so just set he cruise and go.

Hm.. good point vette. I have to agree. On long trips I get fatigued if I try to maintain FE for too long. I can do it for a few hours, but I don't think I'd have the wherewithall on a long trip like that.

[Erdrick]

Going purely off of what other people claim, I would say go for some aero mods. I say go for a full grill block, as the temps should be about right for one, but make sure that it is something that you could remove on the side of the highway if your temps get too high. I personally wouldn't be messing with neutral at highway speeds. You are just begging to have a blown transmission. Not something that you want on a 2000+ mile trip.

Other than that, make sure that your tires are pumped up, and that you are wearing some warm clothes... in other words, get ready to drive w/o heat!

[rh77]

On long trips, it takes stamina and consistence to keep on top of FE.

It's easy to hypermile on the first part of the trip, and become tired -- then end up hitting the cruise, and forget about it.

So, the first thing I would recommend is to get prepared mentally. Do some facts and figures on 55 MPH vs. 65 up to 75. See what happens to time vs. fuel consumption and decide which is most important to you -- so you have the knowledge when the road starts hitting back.

I do not recommend drafting semi-trucks for more than obvious reasons (several). They are good "Pace Vehicles" -- keep a safe distance, and make sure you can see the driver's mirrors.

I assume you're driving the van? If you have time, get some aero mods in there, change the oil, and get the vehicle ready. But at any rate, have a good trip and enjoy the drive

RH77

[Three6Eight]

I take 560 Mile Road Trips regularly.

Best tip is go 65 ( slower if you can handle it.)

I take my Regal when I take that trip and when I go 65 I get 33 miles per gallon. 75 and it drops to about 25 MPG

Thats 8 miles per gallon difference.

So going 75 I get there an hour earlier probably? I dont feel like doing the math

Anyway going 65 instead of 75 I save about $20 in gas. So its all up to you if the savings and lost time is worth it.