Is it Legal?

[GasSavers_theCase]

Shutting off the engine to save gas is outside my comfort zone, but has nothing do do with the legality of it. With the loss of power steering and braking ability I'd gladly keep the engine running and in gear.

I dunno maybe I'm just paranoid. but I'm always a bit worried about the inability to avoid a potentail accident (e.g. deer/turkeys/children "suddenly' appearing on the road). Granted, having the engine running and in gear doesn't magically prevent such things from occuring either.

Anyway, I get a comfortable 42 mpg. It's "good enough" for me.

I guess it boils down to personal preference.

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by theCase

Shutting off the engine to save gas is outside my comfort zone, but has nothing do do with the legality of it. With the loss of power steering and braking ability I'd gladly keep the engine running and in gear.

I dunno maybe I'm just paranoid. but I'm always a bit worried about the inability to avoid a potentail accident (e.g. deer/turkeys/children "suddenly' appearing on the road). Granted, having the engine running and in gear doesn't magically prevent such things from occuring either.

Anyway, I get a comfortable 42 mpg. It's "good enough" for me.

I guess it boils down to personal preference.

yea i agree i like having the ability to romp on the brakes if i have to in an emergency(especially turkeys, almost wiped out a family of 10 the other day)

ill coast in neutral (manual tranny) on a hill to save a bit and if i let off too much i engine brake like mad or if i barely press the gas it kinda surges(usually not but when it does ) so its just easier...

[cfg83]

VetteOwner -

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

yea i agree i like having the ability to romp on the brakes if i have to in an emergency(especially turkeys, almost wiped out a family of 10 the other day)

ill coast in neutral (manual tranny) on a hill to save a bit and if i let off too much i engine brake like mad or if i barely press the gas it kinda surges(usually not but when it does ) so its just easier...

When I do EOC, I assume I have "one good stomp" on the brake pedal, either a hard brake or a long continuous slow brake. All during that EOC I am on high alert for any reason to hit the brake. If I am still moving after using that brake, I bump-start the car. I could try to see how many brake-pumps I have, but "one stomp" is an acceptable margin of safety for me.

CarloSW2

[basjoos]

Originally Posted by GeekGuyAndy

For instance, when I look at Basjoos' car, I immediately thought that would get pulled over all the time for looking different. I started making a boat tail, but making sure that the blinkers stay outside of it. I guess I have to hang the license plate somewhere also.

Thanks!

I installed a trailer plug on the back of my car and installed a full set of trailer lights inside the tip of my boattail under a clear cover that are connected to the trailer plug. My (lighted) licence plate is mounted on the underside of the boattail behind the muffler/tailpipe. I haven't had any cops bother me since Feb (the cops along my normal routes know who I am and they've read the article about my car in the Greenwood paper). The two cops that pulled me over earlier were bored small town cops who pulled me over mostly to satisfy their curiousity about my "funny looking" car. Never had any warnings or tickets and each time one pulled me over, I would ask them if anything about my car was illegal. One pointed out that it is illegal for the licence plate to be covered by anything, even by a clear cover or a metal frame or by the glass of the back window (which means a lot of car's driving around are technically illegal). So I moved my licence plate outside of my boattail to give them one less reason to pull me over, although they can always find something to pull you over for. The second cop pulled me over for "having my rear window obscured (I had neglected to wipe the morning dew off the back of my car before driving into town, figuring that the sun and wind would take care of it before getting too many miles down the road).

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by GeekGuyAndy

So when I read descriptions of hypermiling, most cite a few tactics like drafting trucks and EOC, and most of those also make a little claim that some tecniques may be illegal in certain areas. Does anyone know more about the legallities of hypermiling?

For instance, when I look at Basjoos' car, I immediately thought that would get pulled over all the time for looking different. I started making a boat tail, but making sure that the blinkers stay outside of it. I guess I have to hang the license plate somewhere also.

Any ideas where to find the legal information on something like that? I'd hate to get a ticket for trying these things out.

Thanks!

Following a truck too closely , or any vehicle for that matter is a ticket, at least in Ohio. In many states its illegal to coast downhill with the motor off. Also in Ohio, the minimum speed on the expressways is 45. YMMV from state to state...

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by diamondlarry

I think the coasting without the engine thing is very much outdated from a time when cars weren't as reliable as they are now.

My experience is that engines today really aren't any more reliable than the simple engines of yore...they just cost a lot more to fix. One reason this is going to be my last late-model car.

As for coasting, I'm still mystified about what part of not being in gear constitutes a lack of control. I was extremely surprised when I first heard it was largely illegal - although I have since come to realize that governments love to control, legislate, and regulate things just for the sake of doing so.

OK, OK sorry. I'll get off my soapbox now...

[GasSavers_Ryland]

the other day I was fallowing a cop down the big hill on my road and for the hell of it switched my engine off, they didn't notice, of course a good friend of mine didn't notice, even after I told him about engine off coasting, and the 2 mile long hill I found, but he did ask why my oil presure light and alternator light came on, because he hadn't realized the engine wasn't running, and coudlnt' tell without watching what I was doing, that I bump started, all while sitting in the passenger seat! so at that point I don't worry.

[GasSavers_DaX]

I put the illegalities of most hypermiling techniques in the same category as I do the illegalities of some activities that are deemed "lude" - they're never going to find out you're doing it.

[Telco]

Engine off, you can't accelerate in an emergency, and that might be the difference between an accident and a near miss. Even coasting in neutral takes away the ability to accelerate in an emergency (an emergency being something you don't forsee happening until it's already happening) although it's a lot easier to pop into gear so you have a better chance. I've had about 3-4 instances where being able to just punch it with a split second's notice over the last 5 years or so has meant not being hit by some jackass with a cell phone not paying attention to what he was doing. Luckily for those people, I am one of those that pays close attention to what everyone is doing within a quarter to half a mile around me, right down to keeping track of color and make. I've seen a few instances where said people came across someone who is not always prepared to make emergency maneuvers, and the results were not pretty.

If you normally do a neutral coast or ICO coast, try a tank or two where you coast with a hair of throttle applied to see if it makes a difference in your fuel economy, seems like I can coast longer with a touch of throttle than with no throttle. Might be close enough to where you can retain the full control of being in gear without losing much mileage.

[skewbe]

Originally Posted by Telco

...Might be close enough to where you can retain the full control of being in gear without losing much mileage.

I just did an experiment that demonstrated that (roughly) at 50 mph, half my fuel is going into keeping the engine turning.

Safe? That's an argument from myopic SUV'ers. Legal? Didn't slavery used to be legal too? Gotta think a little harder than that folks.

Quote of the day:
'Exactly,' said Bergeron. 'The difference is that we have the misfortune of knowing what's really going on,' said Bergeron, 'which is no fun at all. And this has given rise to a whole new class of preening, narcissistic quacks like yourself who say in the service of rich and shameless polluters that the state of the atmosphere and the water and the topsoil on which all life depends is as debatable as how many angels can dance on the fuzz of a tennis ball'.