[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', '
')Odds are good that this technology won't be ramped up in time; it will take at least a decade if we have a WWII style crash program in place.

[xrotaryguy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Doly', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', '
')Odds are good that this technology won't be ramped up in time; it will take at least a decade if we have a WWII style crash program in place.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('xrotaryguy', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Doly', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', '
')Odds are good that this technology won't be ramped up in time; it will take at least a decade if we have a WWII style crash program in place.

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'I')'m glad our manufacturing base is as robust and extensive as it was during the 1940s.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jdmartin', '
')So true, our manufacturing base sucks, but even sorrier is our potential workforce...

[JoeW]

I decided to try it...getting back to the subject at hand...hypermiling. On my first attempt, I managed 407.7 miles followed by a 10.56 gallon fill-up, or better than 38 mpg. My "normal" driving yielded about 27mpg, which I know is terrible for my car. I also replaced my plugs and wires a couple weeks ago, which could also have something to do with the improvement, but WOW.

43% improvement in fuel economy.

I have my sights set on 40mpg for this tank of gas. I already have 110 miles using a little less than 1/4 tank, so I could be on my way. The 38mpg was achieved despite a 10-mile traffic jam on the way to work one morning, so there is definite room for improvement.

Anyone thinking about hypermiling, my advice is: try it. You might like it.

Also, don't be fooled by the Smart Fortwo in my avatar. That is not my car. My car is a Ford.

[AirlinePilot]

I just finished with my first tank of gas using some of these techniques. I drive a 6 cylinder VW Passat and I have been getting just about 22-23mpg avg since Ive owned the car.

I have a lead foot, but the avg advertised is very close to what I was getting.

After this first attempt I got just a bit better than 32mpg. I normally get about 320-330 miles out of a tank and with HM I got about 425 miles out of this tank. IMHO that is a huge deal and a significant savings in gas if and when it does get "out of hand". For now its well within my budget, but knowing I can stretch it easily is handy.

It does tend to piss folks off and I could probably do better if I do less "conformal" driving. Conformal driving is where you kind of have to do what others are to avoid road rage. It could become an issue. For the most part, im just coasting when possible, conserving momentum and not doing jack rabbit starts. Also utilizing my fuel flow computer helps to utilize my gears better or more efficiently.

I've found its kind of a challenge and makes you a bit more alert of a driver. It also helps to understand energy states and how to manipulate conservation of momentum.

[jdmartin]

I also tried it this past week on a tank of gas (2 days) just to see what I'd get, because I drive the same 100 mile round-trip every day over the mountains and back, in a deserted mountain area. I go down several huge hills that are more than 5 miles in length, so I can do the ultimate hypermiling - shutting off the engine for infinite MPG. I have a Mazda Miata.

Normally I get btwn 32-35MPG anyway, depending on how I drive. Running 14 miles each day with the engine off (!!), I managed to gain an extra 4MPG - 39.4MPG, but I also had to drive consistently below 65 on the interstate. I also had to use my pop-up headlights to slow the car down in order to preserve my power brake reserve, or else I'd have manual disc brakes - not fun. Steering was fine.

All in all it was a waste of time in my opinion - you've got to drive like an asshole, and the 4MPG I could gain was by doing something really unsafe. I would have never tried this if I didn't live in the middle of nowhere, with deserted roads so that I could only hurt myself if something went wrong. I can easily get 35 by just keeping my normal speed down, and not have to be constantly thinking about how to preserve gas mileage. It made constant driving that much more miserable, really. If I had to drive a car every day that got sorry gas mileage, I'd just get another car.

[AirlinePilot]

Thats what Im going to do Jd, get a car with better mileage. Im rather dismayed though as there are few cars which routinely get more than 30 presently on the market. I'm probably going to get a Civic.

[I_Like_Plants]

If you don't mind the (lack of) safety factor and dressing like you have a leather fetish, there's always the motorcycle option.

[AirlinePilot]

Ive been thinking about that one too, but I usually have a travel bag and a uniform on when i go to work. Its not impossible, but it would be difficult. I've had a few bikes in my time and I do like the idea.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jdmartin', 'A')ll in all it was a waste of time in my opinion - you've got to drive like an asshole, and the 4MPG I could gain was by doing something really unsafe.

[Terrapin]

I suspect the JD’s Miata already has a 5 speed and unless it is revving over 3k at 60mph there isn’t much if anything to be gained by another gear. It simply moves the cruising RPM out of the efficient power range. The wind resistance alone at 60mph (particularly with the top down) takes some power.

Many things that hypermilers do (drafting trucks, coasting down to 5mph a couple hundred yards before red lights, not slowing down for turns, turning off the ignition etc) are indeed too rude or dangerous for most of us who feel nothing to prove. Some of the other things they do like never turning on the air conditioning (or the defogger if it cannot be done without turning on the air conditioning) or opening the windows are simply too uncomfortable.

None the less many of us use our break pedal and gas pedal more than we need to get from A>B. Awareness of this alone helps.

The Honda Insight (manual transmission models) will likely remain the high mileage champs for awhile to come. They weigh less than 1900# and have the lowest CdA of any mass produced car. Among their other uncommon features is one that allows the engine to go into a “lean burn” mode when there is little load on it. This can be achieved with most any significant tail wind, going down hills etc, drafting etc. Because of this it is really not difficult at all for an experienced Insight driver to achieve freeway mileage of greater than 70mpg (round trip). Tucking obnoxiously behind a slow moving truck is good for 10mpg. I am not aware of any motorcycle that can beat that.

Their major downsides to the Insight are that is strictly a 2 seater with a load capacity of 400# total, it has a rock hard ride on its low rolling resistance tires and the cost of a battery replacement. The battery is warranted to 100,000k miles most places and now that many of them are reaching that there is a developing battery rebuild business that offers a reasonable product at much less than the $3k dollars for a new one from Honda. They are much safer to drive than motorcycles if not quite as much fun, I can maintain 70mph without difficulty crossing the Sierra over highway 80 (as long as I don’t slow down).

I should mention that because of several of its unique features most Insight owners don’t trust any service (including an oil change) to any one but a Honda mechanic unless they do it themselves (it is very easy to strip the oil plug out of the aluminum pan).

They are safer than a motorcycle, but obviously not as safe as a Hummer.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Terrapin', 'I') suspect the JD’s Miata already has a 5 speed and unless it is revving over 3k at 60mph there isn’t much if anything to be gained by another gear. It simply moves the cruising RPM out of the efficient power range. The wind resistance alone at 60mph (particularly with the top down) takes some power.

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou can *shutoff if you want to, but if you feel that's being an asshole, the only asshole there is you.

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AirlinePilot', 'T')hats what Im going to do Jd, get a car with better mileage. Im rather dismayed though as there are few cars which routinely get more than 30 presently on the market. I'm probably going to get a Civic.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jdmartin', 'N')o, being an asshole on the road means driving in a way beyond the normal expectations of the majority of drivers in such that they cannot anticipate your actions or are forced to alter their own actions as a result of your action.

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yesplease', '
')If you do something you feel is unsafe, you're the asshole because you feel it's unsafe, but do it anyway.

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jdmartin', 'O')k, listen, shit-for-brains, you decided to make it personal 3 posts ago. You did not make it clear that you advocate driving the minimum posted safe speed, which is different than simply driving slow for fuel economy's sake.

[BlisteredWhippet]

I agree with yesplease.

Do a little thinking and you'll realize the vast majority of risk, accidents, traffic jams and basic shit on the highways and byways is caused by excessive speed and following too close.

People drive too fast because they are trying to make the person they imagine behind them "happy". Fearing a "jdmartin" on their tail, and his frumpy disapproval, they sink their foot into the accelerator.

I can't understand why people cannot step back and just observe the self-defeating mechanisms of their own behavior. Jack rabbit starts, stops, tailgating, speeding... its all useless. I just see them at the next stoplight... and they call me an asshole because I'm going 40-50.

Conformity, uniformity, and placing responsibility on others that belong to oneself is the name of jdmartin's game here. Jdmartin imagines a utopian vision where he telepathically "knows" what other drivers will do. In this vision, all drivers behave completely predictably. No one ever makes a sudden maneuver, a deer never runs into the road, no one ever changes lanes without signalling, and no one ever disagrees on just how fast is appropriate for conditions.

In effect, jdmartin's dream is that his big fat mouth and the admonitions bellowing out of it are the magic fairy dust that causes everyone else on the road to suddenly fall in line.

Poor jdmartin. Crammed in his invisible little Miata, eating shit everyday on his shitty commute, all he can do is bang his forehead into his steering wheel and seethe at the ignoble idiocy of the people he is passing. He sweats bullets as SUVs pass, careening into his lane, loads his shorts as a Semi fills his rear view.

"If only everyone behaved in a predictable, reasonable fashion!" he mutters, as he slings mental bullets at the Minivan which rockets past him on the right at 80mph.

In town bicyclists put him in apoplectic shock by hopping curbs in and out of traffic. His heart skips a beat as they sprint through red lights. In the neighborhood, from the ankle-chopping vista of the Miata cockpit, his forehead breaks out in hives as children leave pedestrian sidewalks and run out onto the street.

The Anarchy! The Chaos! Its all too much.