Hypermilers: Breaking the 100-MPG Barrier
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Hypermilers: Breaking the 100-MPG Barrier
Extreme Driving Techniques for Extreme Fuel Economy
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=126611
By Terril Yue Jones, Contributor
Date posted: 06-04-2008
Jim Kelly plods along a back-country road, hugging the right side of the right lane. He constantly looks for traffic, both behind him and far ahead. "That red light's not likely to change in the next couple of minutes," he says, pointing to the traffic signal hanging over the road 500 yards or so ahead, "so there's no need to hurry."
He builds up to 30 mph in his 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid, slows to 16 mph, accelerates to 28 mph, then slows back down again.
Kelly is using one of the techniques of "hypermiling," the fine art of wringing the greatest fuel economy possible from a vehicle through a selection of clever driving techniques. The 100-mpg barrier is the elusive goal.
It's All About Technique
Hypermilers conserve fuel meticulously by driving at or below posted speed limits, minimizing use of brakes, keeping their vehicles well-maintained and their tires highly inflated. They also plan routes that pass through the fewest number of traffic signals and stop signs.
Those who are experts coast in Neutral whenever possible, and use sometimes-complex driving patterns to keep their engines at peak efficiency. To maximize fuel economy, attention to detail becomes an art form.
Serious hypermilers park their cars nose out at the highest points in parking lots so they can maximize coasting and avoid shifting from Reverse to Drive. They even plan their drives to avoid left turns, which could leave them stopped by oncoming traffic.
"I'm going to make a left turn up here, so I don't want to go too fast and waste kinetic energy," says Kelly, an EMS planner with the Chesterfield County Fire Department just outside Richmond, Virginia.
His technique of accelerating, slowing, accelerating and slowing again is called "pulse and glide" — accelerating to a point of high efficiency, then coasting for as long as feasible to gain maximum fuel-efficiency. Done right, it can achieve remarkable results.
Kelly's best "score" is more than 78 mpg in his Prius, which is rated by the EPA at 60 mpg for city driving and 51 mpg on the highway. "Stoplights don't bother me so much, because as I learn my routes and know the lights, if I do it right I may never hit a red light," says Kelly.
Back on a major thoroughfare, Kelly gets stuck behind a slow-moving cargo truck and couldn't be happier. "This is great," he says. "Now I can go 20 mph on a 55-mph road." And without being the bad guy all the other drivers hate.
Happy in a Traffic Jam
Scott Davis also hypermiles in a Prius, in which he achieved fuel economy of 78.2 mpg on a recent commute to his job as an information technology specialist. Davis, who lives in Glen Allen, Virginia, plotted his route on a topological map to see where he could make downhill gains and face the fewest climbs.
On an empty road, he says, "I'll go 20 mph in a 45-mph zone in the right-hand lane, and I'm the happiest guy out there." When a hulking SUV roars past him, Davis just says to himself, smugly, "This guy's burning more fuel than I will for the next 20 miles."
Many hypermilers drive hybrid cars such as the Prius, which combine an internal-combustion engine with an electric motor. Others milk mileage from conventional cars. Davis does both, sometimes using his Prius and sometimes his 2001 BMW 325i.
Hypermilers are an obsessively organized bunch. They keep detailed records, entering them in spreadsheets hosted on Web sites such as Clean MPG. They'll squeeze the most miles per gallon out of a tank of gas, record details of their driving — and then do it over again, trying to break their personal record.
200 MPG and Still Trying
The acknowledged king of hypermiling is Wayne Gerdes, a former nuclear power plant operator who lives in the Chicago suburb of Wadsworth, Illinois, and who founded the Clean MPG Web site.
Gerdes has posted a lengthy treatise on the hows and whys of hypermiling, and attained more than 200 mpg in his Honda Insight hybrid over a 40-mile drive, and 127 mpg in a Prius on a 30-mile trip.
But he also recorded 66 mpg in his '05 Honda Accord and 85 mpg with his '03 Ford Ranger pickup. During his ownership of these vehicles, he has a lifetime average fuel economy of 48.6 mpg in the Accord and 38.5 mpg in the Ranger.
"A top-rated hypermiler will shave about half off the gas bill of a non-hypermiler in the same vehicle," Gerdes says.
Many hypermilers use a $170 device called a ScanGauge that plugs into any car's OBD-II port and calculates instantaneous mpg, as well as mpg for trips and for full tanks of fuel. A device for the Toyota Prius called CAN-view provides even more detail and flashes the information onto the car's dashboard display screen. The immediate feedback adds a video-game aspect that many hypermilers find appealing — score a personal best, then go back and try to beat it.
Hanging Up To Drive
Many hypermilers report that they have become better drivers. Attitude change is typical when one starts hypermiling, says Andrew McGuckin, one of the regulars on Clean MPG. "I actually notice probably twice as much out front as I used to," he says of his traffic-watching patterns.
"I'm not on the phone, eating, drinking, listening to music, or anything else," he says. "The personal relaxation was a surprise to me. This is time that I already have to spend every day, so why use it to work myself into a frenzy? On my 11-mile commute, I could arrive a minute sooner if I floored the gas all the way, but why?"
McGuckin has been hypermiling since January in his 11-year-old Honda Civic, which is rated at 33 mpg in the city, 38 on the highway. He averaged 57 mpg on his best-ever full-tank run. "That means I'm using only two-thirds as much gas, or saving $1 per gallon if gas is $3 at the pump."
Debra Watkins is a hypermiler, too, though she doesn't know it. She's never heard the term before. But in her '05 Jaguar X-Type, or even her '83 Porsche 944 Turbo, she uses driving techniques straight out of a hypermiler's manual.
She stays off her brakes as much as possible, tries to time her driving to hit green lights, turns her car off while waiting in line at fast-food drive-throughs and at lengthy stoplights, accelerates slowly out of full stops and regularly uses the pulse-and-glide driving technique.
"It's something I've always done, that my dad taught me," says Watkins, who squeezes 30-plus mpg out of her Porsche, which has a combined rating of 20 mpg.
Airborne Fuel Economy
Richard Keeler hypermiles on the road in his 1979 Nissan 280ZX, but also far above it — in the Cessna 172 four-seat airplane he flies on weekends. When aloft, he'll ascend and descend between set altitudes to gain speed on the gentle descents, much as a hypermiler on four wheels would do on asphalt.
On a flight in October from Riverside, California, to nearby Twenty-Nine Palms, California, Keeler climbed to 5,600 feet, leveled out, accelerated slowly to 105 knots from 85 knots, then descended slowly 100 feet, picking up some acceleration.
The plane was rated to burn 10 gallons of fuel per hour, but he used only four gallons in 52 minutes. "It is clear to other pilots that I achieve excellent fuel consumption consistently," Keeler says. "They haven't asked why yet."
Back on Planet Earth, Keeler will accelerate his Nissan sports car to 70 mph in a 65-mph zone, then ease back to 65 mph, then hold it as steady as he can. Doing so, he gets around 18 mpg. "It's not a huge gain," he says, "but it shows that thoughtful driving techniques can make a difference even in old gas hogs."
Date posted: 06-04-2008
Jim Kelly plods along a back-country road, hugging the right side of the right lane. He constantly looks for traffic, both behind him and far ahead. "That red light's not likely to change in the next couple of minutes," he says, pointing to the traffic signal hanging over the road 500 yards or so ahead, "so there's no need to hurry."
He builds up to 30 mph in his 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid, slows to 16 mph, accelerates to 28 mph, then slows back down again.
Kelly is using one of the techniques of "hypermiling," the fine art of wringing the greatest fuel economy possible from a vehicle through a selection of clever driving techniques. The 100-mpg barrier is the elusive goal.
It's All About Technique
Hypermilers conserve fuel meticulously by driving at or below posted speed limits, minimizing use of brakes, keeping their vehicles well-maintained and their tires highly inflated. They also plan routes that pass through the fewest number of traffic signals and stop signs.
Those who are experts coast in Neutral whenever possible, and use sometimes-complex driving patterns to keep their engines at peak efficiency. To maximize fuel economy, attention to detail becomes an art form.
Serious hypermilers park their cars nose out at the highest points in parking lots so they can maximize coasting and avoid shifting from Reverse to Drive. They even plan their drives to avoid left turns, which could leave them stopped by oncoming traffic.
"I'm going to make a left turn up here, so I don't want to go too fast and waste kinetic energy," says Kelly, an EMS planner with the Chesterfield County Fire Department just outside Richmond, Virginia.
His technique of accelerating, slowing, accelerating and slowing again is called "pulse and glide" — accelerating to a point of high efficiency, then coasting for as long as feasible to gain maximum fuel-efficiency. Done right, it can achieve remarkable results.
Kelly's best "score" is more than 78 mpg in his Prius, which is rated by the EPA at 60 mpg for city driving and 51 mpg on the highway. "Stoplights don't bother me so much, because as I learn my routes and know the lights, if I do it right I may never hit a red light," says Kelly.
Back on a major thoroughfare, Kelly gets stuck behind a slow-moving cargo truck and couldn't be happier. "This is great," he says. "Now I can go 20 mph on a 55-mph road." And without being the bad guy all the other drivers hate.
Happy in a Traffic Jam
Scott Davis also hypermiles in a Prius, in which he achieved fuel economy of 78.2 mpg on a recent commute to his job as an information technology specialist. Davis, who lives in Glen Allen, Virginia, plotted his route on a topological map to see where he could make downhill gains and face the fewest climbs.
On an empty road, he says, "I'll go 20 mph in a 45-mph zone in the right-hand lane, and I'm the happiest guy out there." When a hulking SUV roars past him, Davis just says to himself, smugly, "This guy's burning more fuel than I will for the next 20 miles."
Many hypermilers drive hybrid cars such as the Prius, which combine an internal-combustion engine with an electric motor. Others milk mileage from conventional cars. Davis does both, sometimes using his Prius and sometimes his 2001 BMW 325i.
Hypermilers are an obsessively organized bunch. They keep detailed records, entering them in spreadsheets hosted on Web sites such as Clean MPG. They'll squeeze the most miles per gallon out of a tank of gas, record details of their driving — and then do it over again, trying to break their personal record.
200 MPG and Still Trying
The acknowledged king of hypermiling is Wayne Gerdes, a former nuclear power plant operator who lives in the Chicago suburb of Wadsworth, Illinois, and who founded the Clean MPG Web site.
Gerdes has posted a lengthy treatise on the hows and whys of hypermiling, and attained more than 200 mpg in his Honda Insight hybrid over a 40-mile drive, and 127 mpg in a Prius on a 30-mile trip.
But he also recorded 66 mpg in his '05 Honda Accord and 85 mpg with his '03 Ford Ranger pickup. During his ownership of these vehicles, he has a lifetime average fuel economy of 48.6 mpg in the Accord and 38.5 mpg in the Ranger.
"A top-rated hypermiler will shave about half off the gas bill of a non-hypermiler in the same vehicle," Gerdes says.
Many hypermilers use a $170 device called a ScanGauge that plugs into any car's OBD-II port and calculates instantaneous mpg, as well as mpg for trips and for full tanks of fuel. A device for the Toyota Prius called CAN-view provides even more detail and flashes the information onto the car's dashboard display screen. The immediate feedback adds a video-game aspect that many hypermilers find appealing — score a personal best, then go back and try to beat it.
Hanging Up To Drive
Many hypermilers report that they have become better drivers. Attitude change is typical when one starts hypermiling, says Andrew McGuckin, one of the regulars on Clean MPG. "I actually notice probably twice as much out front as I used to," he says of his traffic-watching patterns.
"I'm not on the phone, eating, drinking, listening to music, or anything else," he says. "The personal relaxation was a surprise to me. This is time that I already have to spend every day, so why use it to work myself into a frenzy? On my 11-mile commute, I could arrive a minute sooner if I floored the gas all the way, but why?"
McGuckin has been hypermiling since January in his 11-year-old Honda Civic, which is rated at 33 mpg in the city, 38 on the highway. He averaged 57 mpg on his best-ever full-tank run. "That means I'm using only two-thirds as much gas, or saving $1 per gallon if gas is $3 at the pump."
Debra Watkins is a hypermiler, too, though she doesn't know it. She's never heard the term before. But in her '05 Jaguar X-Type, or even her '83 Porsche 944 Turbo, she uses driving techniques straight out of a hypermiler's manual.
She stays off her brakes as much as possible, tries to time her driving to hit green lights, turns her car off while waiting in line at fast-food drive-throughs and at lengthy stoplights, accelerates slowly out of full stops and regularly uses the pulse-and-glide driving technique.
"It's something I've always done, that my dad taught me," says Watkins, who squeezes 30-plus mpg out of her Porsche, which has a combined rating of 20 mpg.
Airborne Fuel Economy
Richard Keeler hypermiles on the road in his 1979 Nissan 280ZX, but also far above it — in the Cessna 172 four-seat airplane he flies on weekends. When aloft, he'll ascend and descend between set altitudes to gain speed on the gentle descents, much as a hypermiler on four wheels would do on asphalt.
On a flight in October from Riverside, California, to nearby Twenty-Nine Palms, California, Keeler climbed to 5,600 feet, leveled out, accelerated slowly to 105 knots from 85 knots, then descended slowly 100 feet, picking up some acceleration.
The plane was rated to burn 10 gallons of fuel per hour, but he used only four gallons in 52 minutes. "It is clear to other pilots that I achieve excellent fuel consumption consistently," Keeler says. "They haven't asked why yet."
Back on Planet Earth, Keeler will accelerate his Nissan sports car to 70 mph in a 65-mph zone, then ease back to 65 mph, then hold it as steady as he can. Doing so, he gets around 18 mpg. "It's not a huge gain," he says, "but it shows that thoughtful driving techniques can make a difference even in old gas hogs."
#4
![Screwy](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/screwy.gif)
Get a bicycle you douchebags
#5
Trolling Canuckistan
Interesting but :theghey:
If you try driving at those speeds on the highways in MA, you will actually start to get incredible mileage as soon as an 18 wheeler collects you on their front bumper.
If you try driving at those speeds on the highways in MA, you will actually start to get incredible mileage as soon as an 18 wheeler collects you on their front bumper.
#6
Burning Brakes
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Does no one realize time = money also? I'd rather get to my destination much much sooner and pay a couple buck's worth of gas more than this fuel-saving bullshit
![2 Cents](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/2cents.gif)
#7
I guess it's a cool concept, but driving 20 in a 45 is just dumb and dangerous. I have within the past month started driving 60 in the 65mph highways. Yea, cars pass me and I make sure and stay in the far right lane, but to be honest, I didn't notice until I started how many other people are driving their cars at similar speeds.
I've come within 15 miles of getting 500 miles out of my tank!!! I'm hoping maybe this tank it will happen.
I've come within 15 miles of getting 500 miles out of my tank!!! I'm hoping maybe this tank it will happen.
![Wish](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/wish.gif)
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#8
Registered but harmless
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Originally Posted by fuzzy02CLS
Yeah a MAJOR ROAD HAZARD!!!!
If you can't follow normal traffic rules you should not be driving. Go get a horse & buggy & live in PA.
If you can't follow normal traffic rules you should not be driving. Go get a horse & buggy & live in PA.
![Werd](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/werd.gif)
Anything less than 5 mph below the limit on a freeway or 45 mph+ road is a hazard to both passing and merging traffic.
I am trying to drive right at the limit, and that is only in the center and right lanes if it's not congested traffic. Driving at the limit rather than above it seems to increase my MPG by 1 or 2, mostly because congested traffic on the way home is usually unavoidable and does a number on my 3G TL's ave MPG.
#9
0-5 MPH under the speed limit
Dont start up quickly
Dont tailgate or use the brakes when you dont have to
Stay out of boost
On my boring commute I get 24.5mpg in a car rated at 19/23. Been looking into the Scangauge but I dont really need it. Common sense > $170 electronics
Dont start up quickly
Dont tailgate or use the brakes when you dont have to
Stay out of boost
On my boring commute I get 24.5mpg in a car rated at 19/23. Been looking into the Scangauge but I dont really need it. Common sense > $170 electronics
#12
The sizzle in the Steak
I get +40mpg without all that riff-raff
#13
Drifting
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Saving gas is no reason for these tools to drive way under the speed limit, not only do they become a road hazard they also make me angry as shit, which in turn makes me drive faster and more aggressively.
#14
2010 SHAWD
I've tested my 08 SI with some of these techniques. I've been able to achieve 40MPG on the highway. Most of the time with mixed driving, I can get 32MPG.
When driving the SI like it wants to be driven, I get 25mpg and lower.
Basically I just...
- Drive the speed limit.
- Shift under 3k
- Try to drive in 5th gear as often as possible in the city
- Smooth/slow acceleration
I noticed that I'm a lot calmer when I do this.
When driving the SI like it wants to be driven, I get 25mpg and lower.
![Tomato](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/tomato.gif)
Basically I just...
- Drive the speed limit.
- Shift under 3k
- Try to drive in 5th gear as often as possible in the city
- Smooth/slow acceleration
I noticed that I'm a lot calmer when I do this.
#16
Race Director
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Actually I have found something intersting about slowing down. I have about a 60 mile round trip commute to school and slowing down does make a difference. Going 65-70 vs 75-80 saves a TON of gas and makes about 3-5 minutes difference in time. However going way under the speed limit is just dangerous.
#18
In the Mid-South meow
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My navi has a MPG bar graph on it and ever since I discovered it I never use the navigation map anymore and instantly put the MPG graph up when I start my car. I use it to monitor my driving to see what gives me the best MPG. It really has helped. I also put a little more PSI in my tires but nothing crazy. Easy acceleration and coasting to red lights has helped as well. I've been averaging 28-29mpg in a mix of city and congested highway driving in my 03 Accord V6.
#19
Drifting
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by 2000TaffetaTL
Saving gas is no reason for these tools to drive way under the speed limit, not only do they become a road hazard they also make me angry as shit, which in turn makes me drive faster and more aggressively.
#20
Disinformation Terminator
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Going 20 in a 45 will inevitably end up with one of the following two results:
1. Accident
2. Ticket
If I tow my car with a donkey I won't use any gas at all. Nitwits.
1. Accident
2. Ticket
If I tow my car with a donkey I won't use any gas at all. Nitwits.
#21
Senior Moderator
Those idiots need to get off the road and quit holding up traffic..
#22
Trolling Canuckistan
There are many highways in NH where the speed limit is posted 65mph 45mph minimum. I'd love to see one of these folks get pulled over for going 20mph under the limit.
#23
Team Owner
I've slowed down to only going the limit on the freeway. I used to make a 4 hour trip from Vegas to Bakersfield every weekend. What was annoying is I would keep my car on cruise control right at the speed limit and have people blow past me in the fast lane but when we hit slow traffic these same fast drivers didn't know how to maneuver and would end up slowing me down. Making that trip late at night I've been able to keep it on cruise control and never come out of 5th gear the whole time. Best mpg to date in the TL was 36mpg.
I don't agree with the person who said to coast in neutral. That still uses the idle amount of fuel. Coasting in gear shuts the injectors completely off.
The people running 20mph under the speed limit should be shot.
I don't agree with the person who said to coast in neutral. That still uses the idle amount of fuel. Coasting in gear shuts the injectors completely off.
The people running 20mph under the speed limit should be shot.
#28
That's Racist
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On an empty road, he says, "I'll go 20 mph in a 45-mph zone in the right-hand lane, and I'm the happiest guy out there." When a hulking SUV roars past him, Davis just says to himself, smugly, "This guy's burning more fuel than I will for the next 20 miles."
#29
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I drive the speed limit, accelerate like a normal person under the age of 55 and get 15% better fuel economy than the EPA claims I will...
Its called common sense.
Its called common sense.
#30
SHIFT_over.so.I.can.see
^+1 I drive around 55-75 MPH on the highways depending on the speed limit here. I usually go somewhere around 5 lower or 5 higher at most. it really does help gas mileage.
#32
SHIFT_over.so.I.can.see
Originally Posted by Crazy Sellout
As long as they keep to the right and I can pass then im happy.
![Werd](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/werd.gif)
the rule for a lot of these folks is they WANT you to pass them b/c then their drive is more enjoyable so they make it easy to pass.
#33
Originally Posted by Moog-Type-S
I get +40mpg without all that riff-raff
![Bullshit](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/bs.gif)
I would be flogging the living crap out of that car. My car on the other hand can manage to get 22 mpg if I shift under 2k, or use the skip shift feature (1st to 4th) and drive at 60 on the highway (98% of the time = always in the slow lane)
Maybe if I go on a real long trip with my car I might manage 25 or 26
![Wish](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/wish.gif)
#34
all them priuses and insights...
now my car is a true hybrid, it burns gas AND rubber
hahahahahaha
all jokin aside, although it does save gas i dont find it too safe
stay below the limit, behind a truck in the right lane, coast, and no need to accellerate like speedy gonzales goes a long way
now my car is a true hybrid, it burns gas AND rubber
hahahahahaha
all jokin aside, although it does save gas i dont find it too safe
stay below the limit, behind a truck in the right lane, coast, and no need to accellerate like speedy gonzales goes a long way
#35
Uses turn signals in my
Originally Posted by TacoBellSauce
all them priuses and insights...
now my car is a true hybrid, it burns gas AND rubber
hahahahahaha
all jokin aside, although it does save gas i dont find it too safe
stay below the limit, behind a truck in the right lane, coast, and no need to accellerate like speedy gonzales goes a long way
now my car is a true hybrid, it burns gas AND rubber
hahahahahaha
all jokin aside, although it does save gas i dont find it too safe
stay below the limit, behind a truck in the right lane, coast, and no need to accellerate like speedy gonzales goes a long way
![rofl](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/rofl.gif)
Very true on the serious part, as well as regular maintainence and not idling when the car could be off (in a parking lot for example).
#36
is Pretty Much a Moron
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Originally Posted by I Go To Costco
On a Mini-S? ![Bullshit](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/bs.gif)
I would be flogging the living crap out of that car. My car on the other hand can manage to get 22 mpg if I shift under 2k, or use the skip shift feature (1st to 4th) and drive at 60 on the highway (98% of the time = always in the slow lane)
Maybe if I go on a real long trip with my car I might manage 25 or 26![Wish](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/wish.gif)
![Bullshit](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/bs.gif)
I would be flogging the living crap out of that car. My car on the other hand can manage to get 22 mpg if I shift under 2k, or use the skip shift feature (1st to 4th) and drive at 60 on the highway (98% of the time = always in the slow lane)
Maybe if I go on a real long trip with my car I might manage 25 or 26
![Wish](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/wish.gif)
If I'm not and drive however I want, I average about ~31
#37
Three Wheelin'
Firstly, I'm surprised that no one has pointed out that this is.....a bunch of BS. Technically, what that idiotic hypermiler is doing is LESSENING his fuel economy.
THere comes a certain point where a car is at its 'optimum' speed in terms of efficiency. On modern cars, this speed is said to be around 50-55mph, although I believe that due to a couple of factors this could now be 60-65mph.
- Cars are more slippery. See GT-R, LS600, Prius, etc.
- More gears - 7 or 8 speed trannys allow for super tall gearing.
Either way, driving at 20mph will simply NOT be as efficient as driving at 45mph
Driving at ultra low rpms will also cause the engine to lug, worseing efficiency and putting unnecessary stress on the engine.
Idiots...clogging up traffic and spewing a bunch of BS
EDIT: coasting in neutral is another famously idiotic myth. Modern cars don't consume a drop of fuel when coasting with the car in gear By contrast, when you stick the car in neutral, fuel is needed to keep the engine idling. Just look at the instaneous mpg readouts that some cars have....whenever you lift off the gas, the mpg skyrockets.
THere comes a certain point where a car is at its 'optimum' speed in terms of efficiency. On modern cars, this speed is said to be around 50-55mph, although I believe that due to a couple of factors this could now be 60-65mph.
- Cars are more slippery. See GT-R, LS600, Prius, etc.
- More gears - 7 or 8 speed trannys allow for super tall gearing.
Either way, driving at 20mph will simply NOT be as efficient as driving at 45mph
Driving at ultra low rpms will also cause the engine to lug, worseing efficiency and putting unnecessary stress on the engine.
Idiots...clogging up traffic and spewing a bunch of BS
EDIT: coasting in neutral is another famously idiotic myth. Modern cars don't consume a drop of fuel when coasting with the car in gear By contrast, when you stick the car in neutral, fuel is needed to keep the engine idling. Just look at the instaneous mpg readouts that some cars have....whenever you lift off the gas, the mpg skyrockets.
Last edited by vishnus11; 06-07-2008 at 09:23 PM.
#38
Senior Moderator
Remember how we used to compare our cocks by the horsepower we had under the hood.
Now its all about how much gas you can save.![Doh](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/doh.gif)
Wonder if im the only one who hasnt changed their driving style in order to save fuel.
Now its all about how much gas you can save.
![Doh](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/doh.gif)
Wonder if im the only one who hasnt changed their driving style in order to save fuel.
#39
I was always curious about the whole leaving your car in gear thing. I used to leave it in neutral a long time ago, when I first got my Integra and it got mediocre gas mileage thanks to a stuck open thermostat. I notice when I drive in mountain roads (I drove at Santa Cruz today) and usually leave it in 2nd or 3rd, with my engine turning around 3-4k while going 40 mph. Something like that, don't quote me.... but its pretty much 95% brakes/coasting for the downhill.
Anyways, every time I drive back from SC I usually notice my gas gauge isn't as low as it usually is. Its weird because the roads require you to downshift and accelerate up the hill to maintain speed, but the downhill really makes a difference.
Anyways, every time I drive back from SC I usually notice my gas gauge isn't as low as it usually is. Its weird because the roads require you to downshift and accelerate up the hill to maintain speed, but the downhill really makes a difference.
#40
i get tired of this stupid ass Hypermiler bull shit put on by the media claiming you can get like 50-60 mpg in a Accord or Camry. if you drive like grandpa, never turn on the A/C, or if you come up to a yellow light you don't punch it.
it's "fag style" driving.
it's "fag style" driving.
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