60 mph - how do you do it?
 

I'm considering lowering my spead to 60 mph, but I will admit that it is already a challenge driving 65 mph, so I was wondering how other people do it. Some music might help, but then again sometimes it works the opposite and instead stimulates me to go faster :)

Rather than making myself comfortable, I think of staying out of others' way as much as possible. I look in my mirrors as much as out the windshield. A SuperMid would keep your mind on FE.

60 should not be a big problem, some here go a lot slower than that.

How far do you drive each day? Where are you located?

Get a volkswagen naturally aspirated diesel :D

Get a ScanGuage and keep an eye on Throttle Position, Gallons per Hour, or Instantaneous MPG. That should give you incentive to let off the throttle. And, it will also make you want to coast further and more often . It did for me :-)

BTW, I was behind a guy in a Prius the other day, and boy was he driving like a jerk. Going slow and coasting; he must have been going for FE. LOL. I guess I've got a ways to go in my driving habits to reach my car's potential. But I hate do that during rush-hour traffic. :-S

Lowering your speed takes great effort. Getting used to people riding your bumper and passing you was the hardest part for me to get over.

Yeah, it takes willpower to go slower than the flow. I go 55 in a 70 for part of my commute, but it's usually not too busy. Gotta watch the mirrors like they said.

wow! a car with less horsepower than mine :D . Probably has alote more torque than mine though.

Exactly ! FE is a concentration game for me , avoidance as well as politeness are part of that game . For semi's I try to give a 1/4 mile notice of my slower speed with the E-flashers (as well as headlights when they are clear to return to the slow lane ) . They seem to appreciate it A LOT .

The ScanGauge really helps with instant feedback as well as 'rewards' ( SuperMid would of course be same/same ) .
60!?? would seem like warp speed for me LOL :p My daily avg speed is 48 ! I haven't been over 57 in weeks !!


DaX ...do you *ever* really get over it ? I haven't yet and it really irks me - especially when the left lane is clear for miles !

Yeah, especially with trucks passing you. It's almost like I need an excuse and tell others it's not because I feel like 90 years old :)
mnaybe I should make a sticker saying something like 'going 60 mpg" or something :)
That Scangauge i read a lot about, but one of the reasons for buying the VX is out of economic reasons as well, and I am not sure how much a Scangauge is but I am sure I could buy quite some gallons of gas for that.

My wife will start driving it to work once the AC is fixed and she drives about 40 miles a day. I will drive it myself taking longer trips like the one thonight going up to Michigan where we unfortunately own a house that just doesn't sell and which I am fixing up. All in all I think my wife will put around 10K a year on it and myself, with family trips and such included, another 10K.

I use to really sweat it when someone rode my tail......now, if I'm not changing lanes or merging, I don't look in the mirror at all. I run 55-58 on a 65 and 70 mpg divided highway.

It is my little 'head game' with myself.

Eye on the scangauge, and looking for the next great draft.
Its not as hard as I thought it would be.

I've gotten used to having FE as a priority. Too bad for them if they think I should be going faster. I got honked at two days in a row this week but I didn't respond in any way. If they can't see the "MPG" sticker on my back window and figure it out that's just tooooo baaad.

I'll go faster when they buy my gas. OK, that's a quote from a FE message board post. That's how I feel though.

It's a constant struggle. I've recently taken on the tactic of sitting more forward when I see a car approaching rapidly. This way I don't see them in the mirror, therefore they are not there and I can continue saving gas! :)

A Scangauge won't work on your VX. You'll need a SuperMID. https://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=3953

I'm waiting till the new one arrives with a MPG display.

I just spent some time looking for bumper stickers that will let my fellow road user know "what the heck he's doing driving THAT slow".

I found this one:

https://jitcrunch.cafepress.com/jitcr...Jlc3Npb249OTV8

And there are more here:

https://www.cafepress.com/peacetrain/1780576

Anybody know of more cool bumper stickers, beside the one from Gassavers.org of course ? :)

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

i don't use cruise control because i don't have any ... but keeping your foot on the gas, making adjustments keeps me alert more constantly watching speedo. I'd probably fall asleep if cruise was on, i wish they made auto pilot.

it's pretty easy... @ 65 my rpm's are roughly 3000, my redline is 5000. i hate going over 65 because my engine has so many miles(303,7xx). I think i'm going to kill it and be tempted to replace it with an D16A6. :)

You just need to get in the habit of driving at slow speed. It takes some time to adjust. Remember to look in you rearveiw mirror more.

Okay, and what do you do when you see something in the rearview? DaX, I see your tactic is to stop looking :D and MnFocus uses emergency flashers for a heads-up. What do others do?

It seems to me the risk's the worst in light traffic. During the morning commute there's always cars behind me swinging left to pass, so the folks behind them get a warning that something ahead is moving more slowly than the pack. But when the highway's lightly loaded, someone who's not paying attention can be on top of you before they know it.

MnFocus, I'm with you on the politeness thing. If there's not a lot of traffic and I see someone coming in plenty of time, I'll go into a gentle pulse so I'm not as much below the posted limit by the time they catch me, then I'll glide after they pass. I've also tried the ridge-riding thing as a visual cue. In heavy traffic I've been caving and picking up my pace to a little under the speed limit. (Maybe as I build my nerve, or get more cynical, or gas prices continue to climb I won't do that as much :) but I'm still new to all this -- I've been a "speed limit plus five" driver for as long as I can remember.)

Let's hear methods from the rest of you, please.

Rick

P.S...

With gas prices what they are, not as many as you might think. :p

You just have to force yourself to do it. No other way really. It is hard sometimes but when you fill up and see how many more mpg's you just got, that makes it worth it. I'm not like most of these guys though. I never drive that much below the speed limit on an interstate. I do 55-60 (speed limit 55) and just try to cruise at a steady speed. Some people pass me, some follow behind. I'm just trying to drive more sensibly. I'm not as into it as some of the others here, but I have made great increases in FE. I went from 38-40mpg to now getting 47-50mpg. Pretty good for just slowing down a little on my commute and airing up the tires. :thumbup:

I make sure they are paying attention due to the speed diff. If they don't look like they are going to go around early, then I ridge ride and make sure my LED markers are on so they don't run into me. It's better to know what is happening behind you with that kind of speed difference especially since my car only weighs about 1600 lbs :eek: .

Hazard flashers work well for people following too closely.

Or add some rear fog lights. That's what I have on the Volvo; I use them to give a heads up to people behind me.

They are red taillights, but have the brightness of brake lights, using the high-wattage filament in an 1157 bulb. In fog you can be seen from a greater distance. In daytime I normally drive with all lights off but the fogs are set in "on" position so as soon as I activate the headlights the taillights + "rear fogs" come on all at the same time. Usually this makes close followers back off quickly.

In the past I would let them see my brake lights work if the above didn't do the trick. Now of course I avoid using the brakes... I did use them yesterday though, on a newish van that was about 6'-8' from my bumper. For some reason he backed off quickly and then passed me....

A bumper sticker saying "Driving 60 mph in support of our troops" should keep anyone from getting too angry. Cutting our dependence on oil will help keep our men in uniform at home a lot more in coming years.

I look out the side windows more and enjoy the scenery. No sense looking at the guy behind me. That might make me mad and feed into a road rage kind of thing.

Once I know a car realizes how slow I'm going I pretty much ignore them and relax. They can follow me close as long as it's not dangerously close, it may help reduce drag on my car :D .

When SUV's start tailgating me I smile knowing I'm helping them save some gas
:D

Its not a problem if your in the right lane. Now if your doing the limit in the far left, different story.

Just drive your game. I run 50 to 60 on 65 and 70 mph hwys all the time. They dont like,,, tuffy toe nails. I really dont care. They get to close to my bumper tail grabing. The last thing they might see before the steering wheel hits them in the face is my brake lights.

Ive also started reporting folks that road rage, use hand signals, tailgate, and such. It is against the law here and the Troopers want to know about it. We have min and max limits here. If you are between them the pissed off one has no case.

So drive your game. Dont worry about the so called normal folks.... LMAO,,, I even pick up slow travelers like myself.

psy

Let's say a car is behind you and it's getting too close. Pretend you're going to change lanes. They will speed up and drive past you. It's a psychological game.

It's the same as when I want to change lanes. I turn on my blinker. The person in the other lane will almost inevitably speed up. That's when I slow down and enjoy a wide-open lane to change into.

Spot the drivers who have less than average manners or intelligence (usually the same drivers). They are the easisest to control because they have tunnel vision and everything is a race to them. The best thing is, they even think they are winning. But I'm still getting them off my tail or getting them to clear a space so I can change lanes.

I just laugh and tell my wife, "It's like I have a remote control or something."

m

You can always give them some free wiper fluid!

m

I have to admit that doing 50mph on long trips is hard. Doing that speed in the city is easy because the freeway is only about 7 miles long anyway.

My car is visually startling enough when seen from behind, that drivers coming up behind are already alert by the time they reach me. My main problem is the person sitting in the passing lane next to me while they are checking out my car while traffic continues to pile up behind them. Even worse is the guy who comes flying past me, then slows down until I pass them so they can have a double take, and then sits there inspecting my car. Boy, does this type of behavior piss off the people behind them, but they have never taken it out on me. I haven't had a case of road rage since I extreme aero-modded my car. Then again, I'm usually going at or above the speed limit except on the uphill climbs, where I'll usually be at to 5mph below the posted speed limit.

I use cruise control on the freeway, and don't look in the rear view. The freeways I travel are mostly 3 lanes, so they have room to pass. Since I started this hypermiler thing, I always do 60, unless I get a good draft, or I am on the turnpike. The freeways here are 65 on the open road, and 60 in town, with trucks 55. On the turnpike, its 65 for everyone, so I do 65, and try to draft. But my rule has been 60mph max. Oh and the "GasSavers.org sticker helps, well it helps me anyways...

No offense but they probably think you are driving an alien space pod and are the way back for reinforcements ...;) :p

YEA! f-em I say. I just try not to look. especially if I'm doing the limit. It don't take much for any vehicle to slow from 75 to 60. If they cant deal with it, they shouldn't be paid to drive, and the rest are just motorists like me, with even an SUV 75 to 60 is a .5 second brake tap. Yes at first it "felt" really weird. but then I saw MAJOR FE improvements, and to me its worth it...

except TurboDiesels can get way better mileage because diesel can run so lean.

Some of the tuning of my CRX (good synthetic lubes, indexed spark plugs, greased wheel barrings, etc.) have not only helped FE some, but have also resulted in even less pedal pressure (then before) to maintain a given speed. As a result, it now requires a real light touch to keep a slower speed (even 60), as so much of the (potential) pedal movement is no longer routinely used!

For the time being, I just have to "force myself" to have a very light touch on the pedal (and if I'm extremely careful, I can actually get down to 25MPH or less in 5th gear, but it requires the lightest of touches/taps to do it), but in the future I plan to make these mods to help things:

1) Modify the tension on the throttle cable (which in my case will require re-stringing the entire cable, as some previous mechanic added in "spacers" on the cable before I got the car), so you need a little more foot movement (then previously) to keep the slower throttle positions I'm now routinely using. This should hopefully make it harder to accidentally press "too hard", by requiring a little more foot movement before the first throttle responses occur.

2) IMHO one of the easiest ways to keep a slow steady speed, is to use a "cruse control". I know this, as I've driving other cars (including my wife's Civic) with cruse controls, and it's really easy to set a speed (even a slow speed), and then just worry about pointing the car where you want it to go! And since my (stick-shift) CRX (which now has over 280,000 miles on it) didn't come with a cruse, I've often found myself missing that option (especially on long trips). However, you can still get (generic) after-market cruse control kits (even for manual shift cars, such as mine), so you always have the option of adding in a cruse control (for the roughly $200 + installation the kits will run you). And in my case, I finally decided it was "worth it" to me to have that option on my CRX, so I recently instructed my mechanic that I would pay him to buy and install a cruse control (he has bought the cruse control, but he hasn't yet installed it, likely soon).

NOTE: A cruse control on a stick shift obviously can't change gears for you. However, the cruse can handle the throttle as long as you stay in the current gear (often you would want to be in "high gear" when you engage the cruse on a stick shift). Furthermore, a cruse on a stick shift varies slightly from a automatic, in that the (properly installed) manual transmission cruse will automatically disengage when you press on the brake pedal OR the clutch (whereas in the automatic you don't have a clutch, so only the brake pedal does the automatic disengage).

3) While discussing cruse controls (and fuel economy) with my mechanic, the point that constant throttle pressure (what used to be known as a "throttle lock") is often (in many driving situations) even better for fuel economy than a traditional "cruse control" (which maintains a constant speed, by varying the throttle pressure) came up. It was at that point, that I mentioned a hack that a fellow gassavers forum member made, whereby they added a power switch to the servo motor in their cruse. This (apparently very simple) mod allows you to take a normal (constant speed, but variable throttle) cruse control, and convert it (at the flip of a switch) into a (constant throttle, but speed may "drift") "throttle lock" (and back again, as needs arise). And in either mode, the original "safety features" (of automatically disengaging the cruse control when you step on a pedal) are fully retained! Once my mechanic heard about that mod (and how it worked), he thought the idea was fantastic! So we plan to also add in this "cruse control to throttle lock" switch to the cruse control we put on my car (so I can choose either operating mode whenever I wish, even switching modes while driving down the road)!

NOTE: If you are really cheap, there are mechanical "throttle locks" on the market for much cheaper than full cruse controls (some mechanical options costing $40 or less). However, the reason I finally decided to go with the cruse (with the "throttle lock switch" hack), instead of one of the mechanical options, is that the cruse/hack combo gives me both options, and retains the full (automatic cutoff when a pedal is used) features of modern cruse controls. So I really get pretty much the best of all worlds this way, except for the initially higher cost of this option.

And remember, in either mode (normal "cruse control" mode or hacked "throttle lock" mode) my cruse control (once it's installed, which will hopefully be "soon") will do the work of maintaining a slower speed (if that's what I want), instead of me having to force my foot back when my foot naturally wants to step harder. So I should be able to "relax" (with my foot off the gas pedal) and just make sure the car is pointed where I want it to go...

Can't agree enough on MI drivers. Cruising 55 in the right lane with two other lanes of traffic passing me. A Lady driver swung all the way from the left to the right, at high speed. Right on to my tail slammed on the brakes banging her hands on the steering wheel, yelling not so nice things at ME. What did I do, I was in the correct lane minding my own business. What did she think I was doing passing everyone else? I've actually had people pass me on the median! Then they flip you off like your at fault?
As to your ? I've been at this a couple of years now like 7 and you just get use to driving slower. Check out the deer and other wildlife arrive in a good mood for a change.

I don't know how you people do it. I have a 400 mile drive from SF to LA for 4th of July. At 60mph it would 6 hours and 30 minutes. At 80mph (normal speed on i5) 5 hours flat. Thats an extra 3 hours on the road for the round trip. My time is more valuable than the gas I would save.

I don't mind other people driving below the speed limit as long as they don't do it in the left lane. If you drive more than about 5mph below the limit or if semi trucks are passing you the CHP will pull you over. I've seen it happen more than once. At some point you become a hazard to other road users.

Ya, I guess it comes down to ones priorities. I think I could get 30 mpg at 55, but can't bring myself to go that slow for a whole tank. When I am on the interstate, I just want to get where I'm going. So I have started using the old US highways and enjoying the trip a little more. If we all do what we can stand to do, it will make a difference.

Driving a long distance is one thing. I drive 70 most of the time in the Buick. My commute on the other hand only adds a very few minutes, and saves a ton of fuel. 70 to 60 was good for 4mpg.

I just experienced that on my way home friday. Got passed on the highway by a truck and got off at the same exit. He pulled off to the side and let me by then followed me behind, then in the other lane , then beside. I could see the people pointing and talking all while cars piled up behind us. At least they didn't seem mad at me, I saw him road rageing other people before and after that incident.