Hypermiling - best base car..?!

[Draigflag]

Good going Ben. So are you saying that having a Scangauge constantly feed you data makes you want to drive more economicly?

[benlovesgoddess]

Ha ha ha! I m saying a lot of what i thought of as economical driving can be improved upon!

[benlovesgoddess]

Please excuse me if i m giving it Scangauge for dummies, but despite me having heard of Scangauge yonks ago i had no idea that it;
A.) plugged in as easy as a cigarette lighter
B.) does what it does re instant live feedback to the max!
All i heard was that people had one, and said to get one.
No thread or comment i saw actually told me the basics of scangauge.
Now, the truth is only out when i fill up and get real world mpg next time. Anecdotally though, its looking good.
Drove to Leeds today, and i was suprised to see my mpg supposed heartland of 56 mph dual carriageway show lower mpg than my rural slower hilly route (now that i m slowing on it).
Its a tricky one, as mostly i have the missus with me, who (rightly!) thinks i m a slow driver anyway.
Conversely i was able to show we got to work in the same time despite my seemingly even more glacial pace.
I wouldn't have been able to simply dawdle further, except by having the scangauge figure i m chasing as a valid reason...!
She really doesnt want me putting it in the honda, though Scangauge lady has asked me to test it in the CRV to see if that pinpoints my fault with it.
Kids are playing lasertag, i can hardly hear myself think, let alone compose a reply!

[itripper]

BTW to answer your original question the absolute best hypermiler to date is the Gen 1 Honda Insight. If you really geek it out with aftermarket computer and switches the really dedicated hypermilers get 120mpg (~144 UK) out of them, factory rated 70 mpg (~84 UK). That is by using every trick in the book. Google it for details or go to Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum for details. The gen 1 Insights can be picked up in the US for $3000 to $6000, less with dead batteries (replace for $1800 with better than factory). They are 1700lb cars with the lowest frontal drag area of any (common) car made. Average full-size passenger cars have a drag area of roughly 8.50 sq ft (0.790 m2). Reported drag areas range from the 1999 Honda Insight at 5.1 sq ft (0.47 m2) to the 2003 Hummer H2 at 26.5 sq ft (2.46 m2). The drag area of a bicycle is also in the range of 6.5–7.5 sq ft (0.60–0.70 m2). (Automobile drag coefficient - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

EDIT: Stick shift only!



Right now they are a great deal; when the batteries die average people just freak out and sell them cheap, it is a very simple mod to make them run without batteries, or just $1800 to replace the pack. When the batteries die a bunch of dash lights pop up and it scares most people.

[benlovesgoddess]

Scangauge result is in - I have spent the last 660 miles chasing that high live feedback figure.
Overall, it has slowed me, more 40 mph than 50 mph.
My car has an eco gear shift indicator, but following Scanguage I have often left it in 4th or 5th, rather than following the arrow up to 5th or 6th.
I got 69.5 mpg, almost all miles local rural hilly route, except maybe 70 miles of motorway.
My recent pre Scangauge fill ups on the same route were 55 mpg and 60 mpg.

[Draigflag]

I just replied to you in your other hybrids topic

[benlovesgoddess]

Yes - i ll reply to you here! I tried 70 mpg + (pre Scangauge) on the motorway, as we wanted our hotel, and got less than 60 mpg. Is it easy to post photos here? Parked at filey brigg last night next to a similar clio as yours and took a photo!

[Draigflag]

Ha cool, the Clio's are very popular, this is the first common car I've owned, I usually go for something different. My last car was a Fiat 500 Abarth, pretty rare. If you click the go advanced button next to reply below, there is an option to add attachment. Clicking that will open a new window where you can add pics from your phone. Click upload, then once the file name shows in the box, click close window and it should be attached to your post

[benlovesgoddess]

ScangaugeE results in after 4,000+ miles!
I have averaged 70.2 MPG over 7 fills while using Scangauge.
Prior to installing it, the cars lifetime MPG was 62 point something - so I've achieved 7-8 MPG improvement, the equivalent to a free gallon of diesel each tank.
As the Scangauge cost £75, since the end of April I've recouped about £42 of it, soon be into pure profit...!
Annoyingly I lost the better pic taken from the Clio's near side...!

[benlovesgoddess]

Now I've had 11 full tanks, so 7,000 miles and still just over 70 mpg average for this time period. Honda CR-V effectively has a built in Scangauge as the live and average figures display together and are visible while driving. Been getting as high as 46 mpg - happy with that from a big 4wd (-ish!) estate.