I give up, It's not worth my time...

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by Kuripot

The only reason I started trying to save gasoline was to save money. I'm not interested in saving the planet or any other grand plan.

With the Hyundai I bought, I can drive conservatively and get about 39 mpg or I can drive aggressively and get about 35 mpg.

The savings for me at 4$/gal. amounts to less than 20$/month driving conservatively.

The time savings driving aggressively amounts to about 20 minutes/day.

My driving style will probably be somewhere in the middle and I'll probably end up getting around 37 mpg.

I know it's kind of a hobby or obsession for some. For those who enjoy the challenge of getting the most out of their vehicles, more power to you. I'll still keep my stats in the garage area and maybe go for good numbers once in awhile just for fun but as far as an ongoing effort, I don't see it happening. It's just not worth my time.

How does everyone else feel about the effort it takes vs. the time involved?

Kevin

You are still doing better than most who do nothing. At least you have learned some techniques, and I bet you still use them even when driving aggressively. I know I do. I never seem to drive fast up to a red light anymore. You also have an efficient car. There are many here where I live who drive super large SUV's and dwarf my little civic in traffic. But i often tipple their mileage.

[nlife]

Originally Posted by thisisntjared

oh, thats how i hypermile try 44-51psi. 37 really isnt much at all... and could you define "coast"?

Just plain ol' put it in neutral and let out the clutch. Part of it is P&G and part of it is down hill. Although, like I mentioned earlier, the difference works out to about 1 mpg.

As for tire pressures my g/f doesn't care for pressures higher than 37psi. It's not a comfortable ride and I WILL hear about it every time she drives it . She's happy the way it is and so am I

[litesong]

Originally Posted by thisisntjared

try 44-51psi. 37 really isnt much at all...

If you pump up tires over the recommended pressures, you must monitor those pressures carefully. A 51 PSI cold tire pressure at sub-50 degree temperatures on a western Washington morning in the shade, can be sky high on a 111 degree eastern Washington afternoon in the sun driving 75 MPH with a heavy load.

Without carefully advising people such, your instructions are dangerous & people must ignore your post.

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

heh, I like that argument, you won't have to replace the car sooner if you drive aggressively, but I had to replace mine because I was driving too aggressively to allow idiot room .... yeah, yeah, it was the other guys fault, but I'd have written off 20+ cars by now if I ever got into the mindset of letting it be the other guys fault.

However, if you maintain a modern car meticulously you can pound on it every day with no apparent ill consequences to the engine, the ring packages and bore finishes in modern use are highly wear resistant. You can destroy an engine by the other extreme of not running it long or hard enough, like buy a new car and only go to the grocery store in it twice a month (Watch out for the ridiculously low mile ex-seniors cars for that, if it's done less than 2K a year be as suspicious of it as one that's done 30K a year, and the one that did 30K a year might be better than most if it was a fleet vehicle maintained on a severe service schedule)

yes usually those senior cars have alot of carbon buildup cuz they dont floor it to blast the cobwebs out so to speak...

heck my grandpa has 1996 f-150 with 15K miles on it...hasnt been driven the last few months...(possibly year?) he cant see and my grandma cant climb up in it so it rarely ever gets driven...

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by litesong

If you pump up tires over the recommended pressures, you must monitor those pressures carefully. A 51 PSI cold tire pressure at sub-50 degree temperatures on a western Washington morning in the shade, can be sky high on a 111 degree eastern Washington afternoon in the sun driving 75 MPH with a heavy load.

Without carefully advising people such, your instructions are dangerous & people must ignore your post.

Everyone should check their pressure once per week, either way; but the excess pressure from ambient temperature isn't much, and the increase in cold pressure means that the tire won't heat up anywhere near as much from the high speed/heavy load. In fact, if you're going to run high speeds and heavy loads, you're supposed to increase your tire pressure, sometimes beyond the tire manufacturer's maximum cold pressure rating. See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=72 (titled "Air Pressure/Load Adjustment for High Speed Driving") for example; in a part about driving on the Autobahn, it says:

In order to accommodate higher speeds, the tire size and inflation pressure recommendations are tuned beyond what is branded on the tire's sidewalls.

That means that tires are safe when overinflated even beyond their stamped maximum, though I still don't support exceeding that number in the US for insurance/liability reasons. Just the same, there's no need for fear when increasing inflation.

Like I said, I don't recommend exceeding the maximum pressure rating; but I know it is safe to do, probably up to 200% or more of the rating (that's an educated guess). You will feel the uncomfortable ride and bouncy handling LONG before you risk tire failure, which would most likely happen in the form of the tire bead coming unseated from the rim.

thisisntjared's suggestion of "try 44-51psi. 37 really isnt much at all..." cannot possibly be dangerous on any common modern US-market automobile.

For more links and information on common tire pressure concerns, see the tire pressure link in my sig.

[thisisntjared]

Originally Posted by nlife

Just plain ol' put it in neutral and let out the clutch. Part of it is P&G and part of it is down hill. Although, like I mentioned earlier, the difference works out to about 1 mpg.

i never do that because i think its too annoying. but if you are leaving the car on you are better off leaving it in gear for fuel economy.

Originally Posted by litesong

If you pump up tires over the recommended pressures, you must monitor those pressures carefully. A 51 PSI cold tire pressure at sub-50 degree temperatures on a western Washington morning in the shade, can be sky high on a 111 degree eastern Washington afternoon in the sun driving 75 MPH with a heavy load.

Without carefully advising people such, your instructions are dangerous & people must ignore your post.

who is dumb enough to not accommodate for taking off a few psi for filling tires when they are cold?

anyway most new car tires that are worth something have a max psi of 44 or 51. and lets be perfectly clear about this, i am talking about the max pressure on the sidewall of the tire, because the car manufacturer gives a recommended psi that is based on compromise not fuel economy.

i dont think anybody would ignore my posts because of bad advice. if anything they would work to seek truth or correct me. your response is a case in point.

EDIT: i didnt notice theholycow already backed me up.