Dr. WOT

So basially he wasted 2 tanks of gas to prove a point?


I have always thought so, the guy drives like a real a-hole for his own selfish needs.

One of the most thrilling drives of my life was in this very situation, I literally cheered as I came chugging and stumbling into the gas station on my last wisp of fumes.

Saki GT

Wow, I'm WOT all the time in the city and I still get 24 mpg with an aggressive alignment and tires. I used to hit 26 in the city by driving conservatively but its just not fun.

OH FO SHO

Driving cross country is more suited to a diesel than a hybrid. a tdi could pull these efficiency numbers without any of these hypermiling tricks.

vader1

Yeah the "hypermilers" go to extremes when getting that kind of milage and when I see them demonstrate shutting the car off (and risk locking the steering wheel) when coasting is too much for me.

I get about 10% better milage per tank than the average person I guess by doing a couple things. Never go balls out toward a red light, it amazes me how many idiots are all on the gas to get right up to a line of 15 cars waiting for a red and then hammer on the brakes.

I coast as far as I can when I see traffic conditions coming to a halt, coasting in nuetral always goes farther than in gear. Its fine to do with an auto as long as you ease the transmission back into gear when not on the gas. Accelerate sedately but not too slow either. I think C&D did a test and got best fuel milage accelerating in the car they were using at about 75% throttle but never going beyond 3500 rpm before upshifting. And most importantly, if stuck at a light you know will be super long or at the taco bell drive through when you are at the window and the food is not done, shut the car off. At a light I know takes forever, I shut it off and when I see the yellow for the opposite traffic, fire it up and be ready to go. Moderate speed (either the posted limit or +5 over).

Yes it is boring, but I only do most of this kind of behavior in my boring vehicle which is just an appliance and used for driving in congested traffic anyway, generally in the right lane.

My wife will need a replacement for the family fleet in a year or two and I'd like her to take a look at the Sonata Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid to replace her Mazda 3. But she does not have the same taste as I do. She gets a $700 a month car allowance from her employer and wants a Fiat 500 like we rented in Italy because it is "cute" but looking at adding to the family so a midsize eco family hauler would be what I would like to add. She loves tiny little cars.

vader1

Very true, but most people do mixed driving and few do long haul as the routine. But yeah, diesels are better for that condition. ANd what would hypermiling a diesel across country get you?

dogas

How does this improve MPG?

Driven

my guess, reduce the need to accelerate back up to speed.


btw, if anyone decides to try this on the street, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get video of it, as I wanna see the resulting accident.

dombey

not gonna happen - remember he was driving 15 mph UNDER PSL the whole time...so throwing yourself into a 90 degree corner at 15mph isn't that exciting

Mark355

This man must hate cars.

medicalstudent

I used to get 52mpg in my Civic Hybrid, but now down to 48 since the car's at 160,000 miles (and battery is dying). I tried extreme-hypermiling for awhile and could squeeze out 70mpg average, but this gets old real quick and I'm impatient. Just got the wife a 19-mpg M3 and currently looking at a 15-mpg C63 for myself since the Civic is dying Gas needs to be about $10/gallon before I consider a hybrid or electric car ever again.