I agree with that under most longer trip conditions to a point. There was a time when I would not hesitate to drive extremely fast to cover the 900 miles between here and southern California. I've done it in 13 hours multiple times with only stopping for fuel, food, and porcelain. Going the speed limit would require a hotel stay, jacking up the cost and time of travel significantly. The hit on fuel economy simply isn't enough to detract from the time saved.

Around town it comes down to just a few minutes difference - sometimes seconds, that are simply not worth fussing over.

A vacuum gauge works for me! Summitracing.com sells a nice one for $20 and it pretty much behaves as a Throttle Position indicator.... Much much cheaper than a Scangauge...

This sounds like a very interesting idea. Please keep us posted on your progress. I have been interested in a "throttle lock" ever since I saw it on the dash(factory installed) of my grandpa's '52 Ford F2 truck. I'm wondering if I could get it to work on my Prius without the ECU have a major fit.:)

Edit: Something else I've noticed, especially when out in the country, is that the slower you go the quicker people are to pass. It works pretty well in the city and highway as well. For example, if I'm going 40-45 in a 50, people(proctologists:D) are more likely to hang on the bumper. If I'm going closer to 30 in that same 50 zone, they are much quicker to whip around and keep going. It's kind of like working with other people's tendency to want to speed more than be inconvenienced by going slower.

Really? Thats wired. Here in Ohio, if too many trucks are passing, the highway patrol will probably pull them over. On the open highway here, away from the cites, its 65 for cars, and 55 for trucks. and I do 60.

I'm going to be coming through your area tomorrow and Saturday. We're going to Cedar Point. I plan on going closer to the truck limit if at all possible. I'm assuming there is a minimum of 45 in Ohio?

I'm used to driving slow in the Metro. Only having 55hp is part of that, plus it's really easy to remind myself, especially being what kind of car it is, that I'm getting great FE by not speeding. I'm hoping the 'being used to it' factor along with the SG2 and cruise control will aid me in getting better-than-rated FE in the Prot?g

jharbert, the sad thing is that's 55hp at the crank. I think it'd be very depressing to know what it is at the wheel

I used to drive mine at 70-80 and I would get very very poor mpg. I tend to stay about 60 now if on the highway but I stay on backroads as much as possible where I can drive 50 and do lots of coasting.

How about a really small one on your bumper that reads: "you can read this because I am trying to get a bazillion miles per gallon!"

On a multi-lane freeway (as in 3+) stay in the lane left of the rightmost lane, and do whatever you want. In the right lane you have to worry about merging traffic, but in the next lane, you don't. If its a two laner, stay in the right lane.

I usually go between 55-60 on the freeway, and around 40 (the most efficient speed for the van) on the 35/45mph streets. You can't go less than 55 in ATL without a Chevy 3500 banging you in the rear.

The best way:

Determine what your morals, wallet, and mpg are Then drive that way. You're damned if you do and your damned if you dont.

Skale7, the lane you are talk about is typically the middle lane on many freeways and that is often the truckers lane for passing smaller traffic which we often seem to be. You may be forcing them to pass you on the right, which is also where other people are merging.

Well the speed limit on the highway I take to work is 55. I can't bear to drive that slowly, so I do 60. I'm pretty lucky because everybody in the right lane is driving 60, since they're all going to the same exit;
exit 9.
So I just follow this train. It makes me think of a cycling peleton.
I try to stick to back roads/secondary highway, where I can travel 45-50 without people harassing me. Also, I can coast.

55 for trucks !!!!!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS. No way it must be a taping mistake. Here in Quebec, Canada, if I'm doing 55 I'm getting pushed and passed by trucks again and again, and they to at least 65, if loaded, if not, damn they do like 70, I cant believe that, it pissed me off. When I was young (10 years ago) all the trucks had a badge in the back saying 55 mph MAX. Today, NO ONES got one and they all pushed their trucks like it was a F1. Its so stupid, and cops, cops dont do ****, its bisness as usual for them. This really got to change, we should take example on our neighboor of the south on this one.

And about the hole thread, I do 55 (sometime 60) and I really don't give a damn about other people, and everybody in here should do the same. WORD

I find that it feels really good to drive fast after eeking along like a geek for days on end. I find I don't have to go very fast for very long before I'm ready to go back to feather footin' at forty.

If you go over the speed limit then you're breaking the law. The speed limit is the max you can go not the minimum. People don't realize this. Maybe some tickets will help them.

Nah, it's seven lanes. I see trucks on the first four lanes. No truck has passed me on the right yet.

Good point though, thanks. So it's 4+ and not 3+. I don't really know.

I just sit back and enjoy the scenery. If other people want to pass me, that's their perogative. They aren't paying to fill my tank.

Brilliant. I love it. Quoted from the first page of this thread.

Handling the On-Rampers
 

The challenge of the right highway lane is, of course, the "On-Rampers". On the 3 lane highway, I'm in the middle in light-to-moderate traffic, and right lane in heavy traffic. In the right lane, slow "mergers" can break decent momentum and that confusion or lack of merging skills 90% of people have.

You've seen it before: one car attempts a merge. The vehicle on the highway slows down as does the merger. In the meantime, both vehicle slam on the brakes (I've seen it to the point of almost stopping).

I've tried something new in the past 2 weeks (flashing high-beams only works for trucks, it seems)...

If someone needs to merge, I slow slightly to let them in as usual (if I can't safely or politely merge to the center lane). If they appear skiddish, then I drift slightly to the right, into their on-ramp. So far, each one immediately merges without slowing, then I track back to the lane as they come over. It's something to do with the Psychology of not being forced off of the road or getting hit on a merge. Also works better than the frantic wave of "@$%&, come over already!!!".

RH77

Hmm, interesting tactic. I usually just moved over a lane or two especially when coming up to an interchange, let the sheeple over on the right do their thing, then scoot back into the right lane when the confusion cleared itself up.

Ya, this works well. It's a way of telling them that they are in front of you, and you are not going to fight them for it.

jcp123 -

I try to stay in the right lane as much as I can. I may try the "drift right" tactic though, because I do lose some good glides when there's no room to pop one lane over to let them in.

On my drive home, I stay in the far right lane on the 710 North until I see the Atlantic/Bandini exit. When I am near that exit, I pop one lane over. The reason is, the on-ramp for that is the most dangerous I have seen. The cars and trucks sometimes zoom on in blocks of 5 to 10, like a mini convoy, and just *fight* their way onto the freeway. This on-ramp is near the rail yards that serve as the gateway to the rest of the county (maybe 10 sets of track side by side), so that is why I think it has heavy traffic.

The funny part is that just before the on-ramp is a big sign for a Spanish radio station, El Piolin! The picture of the d-jay dude is really creepy (I think on purpose), so I call it the sign of El Diablo. Soooooo, the on-ramp is the on-ramp of El Diablo!

CarloSW2

Of the known 'El Diablo' ramps on my usual drives, I just match the speed of the center lane (take an FE hit on accel/higher speeds) and let them do their thing...then it's back to the right. No guarantees that foolish accelerators will perform the 2-lane slide and force harsh braking (argh).

'Clench -- if they're Yiddish, then they generally have the chutzpah to accelerate and make it over, or perhaps schmooze their way in. I then bid them "Mazel tov" and they're on their way :)

HEY!! I resemble that comment!

My speed limit is 60mph most of my trip to work. Seldom does anyone do under 70mph in the morning. I keep it 65mph to try not to impede the flow of traffic since it is a totally backwoods country road with a high volume of traffic. What cracks me up is at least I catch up EVERY morning to a little old lady in a Nissan Sentra that sets the cruise on 52mph (I suspect she is mileage guru queen and that's here "sweet spot") and has a HUGE line of traffic behind her.

Good thing is almost everyone seems content with the speed limit in the evening. No bobbing and weaving behind you, riding your rear etc. I can normally set at 60 and be content........of course this is nearly winding out my little NA diesel VW. :p

I just remember that even tho I drive a SUV (diesel tho)...at 60-62mpg I am getting 30+mpg and everyone that is passing me is most likely getting much less at 70mpg. Of course that doesn't include some members here

+1 for all the above.

I had my mind right after I started riding my Harley, after having a fastbike. It's a whole 'nother world. You save money on watches since you no longer have any interest in getting anywhere fast.

Be a rock in the stream and let them flow around you. But I wouldn't quit looking in the rearview! I always know what's going on around me and it can really come in handy.

I was cruising along at 65mph on the open highway last weekend and looked up just in time to see some dark car coming up FAST behind me. There was somebody with a map open in front of them and they (she) couldn't see the road in front of her. I had only enough time to recognize the situation and jerk the car over to the shoulder. She went right through where I just was.

Just go the speed you want and let everybody else do their own thing. But, my need for speed is still there. Just....gotta....control....it........

So it begs the question: If poeple aren't really in any need to speed, why do they do it?

And further: What would it take to correct it besides so called 'education' and higher fuel prices?

Here's my list-

1.) Anger management courses
2.) Take the fun out of driving

3.) hmmm

err

well . .

Oh wait, I got it - put more fun into driving slower

;)

I've done the math, and I still do drive fast. If I had more money, I'd do it more.

I also feel like I want to reduce fuel consumption. I do that, too.

Same line to draw, only drawn different places for different folks...

I see your point, but I disagree that it affects you and people like you most of the time...and me when I'm puttin' along. Except for tailgaters and people that pull directly in front of me. There's a special place in Hell for them.

When I'm puttin' along, those people (speeders) just aren't involved in my drive. I stop. I start. I move along. They move around me. What kind of bother is it except for bruising the sensibilities of "greener" people?

The simple act of them going fast doesn't affect my driving slowly and carefully, only the bad drivers do that. And, for sure, bad drivers drive all kinds of vehicles including high mpg ones.

It doesn't bother me so much... until a clump of fast moving cars all have to slow down for some reason -- standing wave traffic :thumbdown:

Long story short, we never could get the electronic cruse control to work right on my car, so we just sent it back (for a refund). And that was AFTER talking to the tech support for the CC maker, which advised us on how we needed a relay because we used LED lights (although no mention of that issue was in the instructions) and it STILL didn't work after that mod was made.

So we just "gave up" and put in a low cost mechanical (locking) hand throttle (this thing: https://www.redrock4x4.com/shop/products/263.html ). Downsides are its not as fancy as a full "cruse control", although it makes a great cheap "throttle lock", and it doesn't have an auto-off safety feature (when you step on the brake or clutch). But it does work surprisingly well (especially on more level ground), and it puts zero additional load on the car (no electronics to supply power to), as it's just an extra mechanical throttle control. So from a FE standpoint, the thing is great (and it's a cheap mod to do, as well)!

As to the safety issues, I think the thing is "safe enough". After all, if I ever forget to turn the thing "off" (set it to the non-throttle position) during an "emergency", the worst that will happen is I'll have a little extra throttle when either stepping on the brake or the clutch (or both). If it's the clutch the engine will just race a bit more, so there is no safety issue with the clutch. And while in theory there is a safety issue with the brake, in practice that isn't a concern either, because a hard/emergency brake (in gear) tends to kill the engine anyway, and as soon as the engine kills you are back to no extra braking distance (due to the extra "locked" throttle).

And yes, I do now sometimes use the hand throttle when driving to/from work (it depends upon what mood I'm in, as to if I use it or just control things manually with my foot). And if I'm in a relaxed mood, I'll sometimes use that as a way to keep a slightly slower speed.

BTW: One minor irritation, was that the "handle" of the hand tension screw (on the hand throttle lever itself) would vibrate (making noise) while driving down the road. My "fix" for that was to put some rare earth magnets (I had around the house) on the throttle, to keep the tension screw "handle" attached firmly to the hand throttle (while still allowing me to move the magnets when I wanted to adjust the throttle lock tension). Voila, no more rattling tension screw handle to annoy me!

I quite agree. I keep a moderate pace in rush hour(s) and have a buffer in front of me to absorb some of that accordian effect. There's always a few fast drivers that zoom around everybody and zip into the space, but I try hard not to take it personally.

While I've been driving slow for some time (the truck CAN stop and start quickly, but I don't like being so rude to it...and with the power of the LS1, I don't feel a need to exercise it constantly) I've learned and entirely new world by driving the CRX. It's a world I haven't seen before. SLOW-slow is quite a change.

I think probably the biggest part of learning to drive for FE has been un-learning being territorial on the highway. I can't close off a space in front of me quickly if I have no revs (or power) like in the Camaro. I'm not big enough to intimidate people into politeness like in the truck. I have no power to be territorial. I may still have to occasionally to thwart dangerous moves, but it's always dangerous itself.

On particularly bad drives I feel like a bunny rabbit being buzzed by a squadron of hawks. Not a comfortable feeling.

in traffic I'm a lot more concerned with safety and traffic flow than squeezing the last 2 mpg out of my car. I find it a lot less detrimental to my mental calm to use a hair more gas to keep up with traffic than dealing with people avoiding my obnoxious and interfering backside.However, when I was getting paid by the hour to transport vehicles for a dealership, I matched the slowest person in traffic. course I wasn't paying for gas then either, still helping my wallet proportionally tho.

I think it helps that my car kinda looks like a POS. That and the fact that it only has 62HP in stock form. I'd guess the new Weber carb bumps that up to 67, so I'm not going to keep many people happy even if I floor it everywhere. Most get a clue before I'm ever able to hold them up and simply go around.

Well, I don't even try to drive slow. I guess it is just too hard for me to do, given (1) my need for speed, and (2) my desire not to block traffic. I try to do the best I can with hardware. The 30-35MPG that I get from the ITR CRX may not be that good compared to what some folks here get from more economy-oriented cars driven in more economy-oriented ways. But the way I look at it, it is quite a bit better than what MOST folks out there get. Even if they are lumbering along at 55MPH in their Suburbans, I'm probably getting close to double what they are getting (while screaming down the road at 80+MPH). There is also my prject Civic, which, at this time, is running an HF transmission. Some day, I might swap a D15Z1. And it will be interesting to see what ind of mileage I can get from a car that is driven like everybody else does.

Dropping from 65MPH to 60MPH raised my tank averages to 62MPG from 57MPG. The 6 handle feels so much better. On the interstate I set the cruise control to 60 and forget about it. My I-40/I-95 (65-70MPH speed limit)drive to work is from 6:15 to 7:05 AM so there is not much traffic. Going home 5:00 to 5:50 the traffic is thicker but there is always another slowpoke in the area slowing things down so passing traffic is rarely exceeding 75MPH.

I found that I used to speed because I was bored - my mind wanted stimulation.

If you pulse and glide it tends to provide enough stimulation on your brain that you don't need to speed. In fact, it's really like riding a bike as a kid (i.e. you are even more underpowered than an adult, the weight/power ratio is higher, and so is your frontal area/power ratio.) Or riding a bike on a hot day. Pretty much all the lessons you learned as a kid on a bike apply to fuel efficient driving, since it's all about energy conservation. i.e. don't stop unless you absolutely, absolutely have to, don't go too fast in general, take corners fast because if you brake you will only have to peddle more later, and each time you peddle when you know you will have to slow down means that you are getting hot, tired and sweaty for no reason at all.

Basically, you want to coast as long as possible, usually only using the engine on the hills or on the flat after you have coasted down. And you will want to start that coast from as low a speed as is feasible. Technically, you may find you need to coast going up a hill, you don't have to have the engine on going up the hill. The critical thing with P&G is not that you pulse up hills and glide down them, but you keep your engine in the most efficient range (i.e. 75% throttle at about 2k rpm), or in neutral/off.

This turns your ride home into a game - how can you extend the coast as long as possible without pissing other drivers off too much, and during the pulse it's keeping the throttle in a position to give you about 75% of the power of full throttle, for as long as you need to and won't have to brake, preferably being able to draft for a little bit as well.

If you do all that, you will find that it's enough of a mental exercise. If you find yourself getting bored, learn some more techniques and try to apply them. So instead of trying to be in the top 5% of cars speeding (while not getting caught), try and be in the top 5% of fuel efficient cars (without getting beeped at).

For me, the epiphany came from riding a charter bus to a concert an hour from home. By nature, the bus can't accelerate or brake anywhere near as quickly as the cars surrounding it but it can (and really must) focus farther in the distance. What I found was that at the end of certain stretches of road we were still amongst the same groups of cars that we started with despite their efforts at accelerating, lane changing, etc.
Since then, I've found that the trucks and buses in the traffic mix generally do as well for arrival time as the surrounding traffic while avoiding most stops and starts.
So I drive my BMW as if were a charter bus (sort of) :) .

werd. I spent a summer a few years ago working in CT commuting I95 from fairfield to norwalk basically about 15 miles with the NYC rush hour. avg speed 20-30 mph. I watched people swerve and slam the gas and brake and get so pissed off and waste so much gas. I tried slightly aggressive driving the first day but gave up when I noticed the crazy bastards creating a hazard for everyone and wasting gas gained about 2 carlengths over the 15 miles. after that I sat in the middle or right lane (depending on upcoming exits and merges) mostly idling in OD managing to get 25-26 mpg in my cressida rated for 24 mpg (uncorrected epa hwy rating) with horrible blow-by, no stem seals to speak of (10w40 high mileage oil leaking into combustion) leaky tires, and auto trans.

Driving Backwards
 

Driving backwards I refer to my old days of driving a commercial truck cross country for a living. I was in a slow diesel cab over Type B that had a 40 foot box and a wheel base the same as a city bus. When I passed other trucks, it was a slow waiting game. Since traffic behind and next to me was moving much faster I used my mirrors to look for a hole behind me and jump in that hole to catch a draft off a passing car to help me accelerate around another truck.

I use this technique today, I avoid 70 and look for trucks that are cruising around 65 mph, semis move slowly and can really teach you some throttle feathering to keep an even speed. But there are times I'm out there alone, without any trucks to draft and I stay close to the limit 60-65. I do get tailgatted every so often, but still some people can't figure out the right lane is the slow lane.

In my quest for better mileage I totally focus on my mpg read out. When I first discovered Gas Savers, I spent one whole 250 mile trip glued to MPH vs. MPG. I found my best mileage is at 64 mph, on level gounds without anything in front of me I can maintain 34 mpg. Go up to 70 and I go right to 28 mpg, go down to 55-60 and I do about 30. Some where is an rpm, wind resistance marriage that likes 64 mph. At 55 the engine is spinning too low and lugs around 2200 rpm, 70 is 3000 and 64 is 2800 rpm.

I also found disturbed air is good too, if I find a line of moving traffic, the turbulence around that group of cars gives me 2 to 3 better mpg, than just breaking wind on my own. A couple of car lengths behind a semi still gives a good mpg boost, rather than being right behind a semi, that's dangerous and your blind.

I make sure I signal allot and look for gutter ballers who like to speed in the slow lane. Some times I see a guy bullet behind me and I move over a lane, its an old racing thing that's a courtesy. They don't know it, but its kind of an ebb and flow thing. I like to drive and since I'm driving for MPG and not setting a personal speed record anymore, I find my drives to be very relaxing.

Things I can recommend is XM or Serius, I have XM and hit the 60's thru the 90's, 7 channels of rock and retroactive and then there is a station that plays movie sounds tracks I can listen to all day. In the old days of trucking before DVD's I used to listen to books on tape and tape movies. I'd listen to the entire movie through a couple hundred watts and 4 speakers. Try ro achieve the Zen of driving.