Hypermiling techniques WASTE lots of fuel?!?

[brucepick]

"Hypermiling techniques WASTE lots of fuel?!?"

Yikes.

I appreciate the thoughtfulness and consideration that went into the concept.
However this is right up there with the claims that slower drivers are unsafe because they foul up the faster drivers' pursuit of rapidity.

Those other drivers need to figure out how to get better FE. Their numbers are their responsibility, not ours. We are setting an example. My car now has a sticker saying "MPG". Short and sweet. This should help answer any following drivers' questions re. "WHY is that guy driving so slow, and how come he's speeding up on the downhill?"

We hypermilers are the leading edge of what should become the new fuel economy patterns. To quote another thread somewhere, I'll modify my driving patterns to suit other drivers when they pay for my gas.

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by theclencher

if they have their wits about them they can easily pass and not even dis-engage their cruise control (surprising how many will brake and sit back there for a while even though I'm riding the ridge ).

I noticed this on my latest long drive, and was quite surprised. I was on 2-lane back roads, where the speed limit was 65 or 70 mph, and even though I was going 55 or 60, people would just poke along with me even though there were ample passing opportunities. I had expected everyone to just blow around me. Actually, I was hoping that they would pass and then I could draft them. :-) But instead they just hung out with me, not even riding my bumper or anything. Weird.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

... I was hoping that they would pass and then I could draft them. :-) But instead they just hung out with me, not even riding my bumper or anything. Weird.

Maybe some are starting to learn that they can save gas by driving slower.

True that there are plenty out there who don't want to change or learn anything new. But we have to hope and expect that some are "getting on the train" every week. Um, last summer I was driving 70 and enjoying high revving downshifts. This summer I'm enjoying nice coasts and tight s-curves at 40 mph.

[Snax]

I've ridden with enough people to know that some of them simply don't pay allot of attention to their speed. Many don't really intend to exceed the limit, but in a relatively quiet and smooth riding car, it tends to go that direction if left unimpeded. They only realize their error when somebody does slow them down, or during that 'oh-sh*t moment' when a cop is spotted ahead.

[Telco]

Brucepick has it down. We can only be responsible for our own actions, not the actions of others. The only thing you can do is discuss it with anyone that will listen, and the easiest way to convince them is through their wallets. I know it worked for me. After I figured out what it would cost me to get my 96 Tahoe into the 30MPG range, I ditched it for a minivan. Once my old teenagers move out, it goes in favor of a small sports car. Looking to have both vehicles in my family well into the 30s by 2010, at a minimum. This isn't high by this site's standards, but is twice what I was getting just 5 years ago.

[GasSavers_bobski]

Originally Posted by brucepick

However this is right up there with the claims that slower drivers are unsafe because they foul up the faster drivers' pursuit of rapidity

IIRC, studies have found that to be true. The safest speed to travel is that of the surrounding traffic. Faster or slower increases your likelyhood of being involved in an accident.

[landspeed]

If you slow traffic to the speed limit, that should be no problem! (note - posted before I saw the post above)

I have to admit, I do sacrifice my economy 'for the greater good' if I am going downhill, to turn off a major onto a minor road, with a lorry (=18-wheeler) behind me. I will go up the hill slightly slower than he wants (but still accelerating so he isn't braking), then go downhill at e.g. 45mph, put the indicator on, then accelerate to 60mph, then brake to 3mph and turn when he is significantly behind me. If I didn't do this he would slow from 60-0mph, which is probably enough CO2 emissions to power my car for many miles of normal driving!

[GasSavers_jkandell]

And let's not forget by choosing certain routes you can easily increase you mpg at the expense of total gas used.

[JanGeo]

Well I will push my speed 5 over if someone wants to go a little faster but not on the highway unless there is a lot of traffic then you end up getting enough drafting effects to offset the higher speed. Get a couple of trucks cooking down the highway and I will fall in behind them in a second if they are going my way - only a few seconds on the throttle to get up to speed then ride their wake for a while at a few hundred MPG isn't hard to take. With the VVTi engine the P&G doesn't really work in my xB that well only the updown hill stuff where I can hold the speed and throttle steady up the hill and coast down the back side and sometimes the fuel cutoff with a little speed limiting is better than the coasting fuel useage when I have to stop anyway. Got one light that I get that turns green in 10 seconds after a car arrives at it if it hasn't turned recenty so that one I watch from a distance and get someone else to trip it. The trick is to get there in time or I end up waiting longer for it to change again.
If we all could behave ALL the time (I know I don't) we could have a sticker that says . . .

"Drive like me for better MPG!"

[Hockey4mnhs]

people just need to slow down thats about it