To What Extent?
 

So I guess being new to hypermiling and never seeing anyone else doing it directly, I haven't really picked up how much effort people put into this. I've read some articles in the news about the "experts" that always make them sound crazy by pushing the car out the driveway, or pulling crazy speeds around turns instead of using brakes. My question is: to what extent are you trying to hypermile? If my average now is ~33mpg and I'm not doing anything "crazy" than what would it be if I went all out focusing on hypermiling? Are you pushing the car instead of backing up? Do you ride curves at high speed?

I feel like to get even more mpg I would be really annoying other drivers on the road, and I try to remember that they aren't paying my gas and that I'm not braking any laws but sometimes that's hard for me to not feel bad for holding up traffic for my sake. Currently, if there was a strech that I could get better FE by going 20 under, I wouldn't do it if anyone was around, would you?

I'm pretty moderate. Of course, my automatic makes some of the simpler techniques difficult or impossible. I try to stay at 60 on the freeway. Mostly I try to bleed whenever possible and to anticipate so I can coast as much as possible. This weekend I tried a little moderate-distance drafting and it seemed to work. I'm waiting to gather together some cash to do some mods. In the meantime, I'm going to try blocking the upper two sections of my grille and devising a partial bed cover.

I impede traffic on secondary roads very little as long as the speed limits are only 45. On the 55 mph section I run 50-55 if someone is behind me. If no one is there I run 45 -55. The recent freeway driving has been at 60 mph. I make a serious effort to not get in peoples way unless someone is in front of me controlling the speed. I do vary my speed a bit for the coasts but that is all. I like a little more space in front of me so when some one nearly stops to turn off the road I don't have to stop too. I don't know if I am radical as I am fairly new to this scene too but I am doing pretty good.

I won't go so far as to pull corners at high speeds, since my little truck would probably barrel roll into the ditch, but I do try to time my arrival at red lights to allow a rolling takeoff. It's always good to conserve your inertia, so scrubbing 20 mph from your pace a few hundred yards away from the light is definitely going to save more fuel than holding high speed, then slamming the brakes.

I drive a diesel straight truck for work, so I use this technique to prevent having to press the clutch - it's pretty heavy. I just slide along in 2nd or 3rd gear for a few hundred feet and arrive at the stop bar as the light is turning green. :)

Colin

I don't do anything I would consider dangerous. EOC is pushing it for me. I tried it for the first time today, and although I got considerable gains, the idea of not having assisted breaking after the first few presses really makes me worry. Maybe I just need to get more comfortable with it.

I usually drive exactly on the speed limit. Only exception is if I'm trying to push FE and I'll do 60mph in a 70mph zone. We have wide shoulders here (the size of another lane) so I'll usually pull over and let someone pass if it's safe. I do feel bad about holding up traffic. I'll happily get good gas mileage on the shoulder while the truck passing me, pedal to the metal, is getting single digit mpg.

I definitely think safety should come first.

GeekGuyAndy -

I try to be the slowest driver that still goes with the flow. I am a "Granny first class" driver. IMO, I think you will learn to optimize your route. There will be times and places where you feel it is safe to EOC. At other times there will be traffic that doesn't allow you to do what you want. All of our routes are soooo different. You will learn to push it here and there over time and find your own comfort zone.

I try to go as slow as I can in the far right lane, but the flow of traffic typically pushes me faster than I want to go, and I will speed up here and there.

CarloSW2

I think Pikachu has a good point. Merely by being the slowest car that still goes with the flow, you will be getting great FE.

As for me, my undiagnosed OCD goes nuts with this kind of thing. As you can see by my gaslog, I've been getting greater than 40 MPG lately. This is woefully inadequate for my tenacious thirst for MORE -- I need 50!

I coast to stops, do some P&G, and execute high-G turns. I accelerate very slowly. My engine idles at 600 because I disconnected the throttle control thingy per a suggestion from someone on this board (Thanks!). I take routes which minimize waiting at stop lights/signs. I buy 89 octane and add acetone/xylene. I have 2 aero mods, a supplemental HAI, and a PCV catch can. The only time I do EOC is pulling into a parking lot or my driveway, though, because I'm not sure the wear & tear of bump starting is worth the FE gains (also I need to install a fuel injector enable switch).

The side benefit of taking curves at high speeds is that it's fun! However, from a safety standppoint you should be sure your car can handle it. Also, DON'T do it if there are hard objects such as trees or telephone poles on the outside of the particular curve...a blowout, etc. could be nasty in that situation. A month or two ago someone posted a fatality on SaturnFans because his brother's axle broke on a turn and he suffered a broken neck after slamming into an object.

Lots of questions. I'll try to put in my answers:

I think I just made a decision to try my hardest to make this tank my best. I just filled up, and it will likely take 3 weeks before I fill again, but I really want to see a 400 mile tank on this one. I once got 400 by driving an all highway route that had 1 stop and the engine never had time to cool off.

I like the idea of being the slowest car moving with traffic, and "helping" others slow down instead of barreling to the light. Almost every road I drive on has 1 lane which has some passing zones if it's a 55mph limit, but I might have to hold people back. And their just going to DEAL and get better mpg too :)

I've been changing my technique to get better gas mileage, I drive the speed limit or 5 under, depending on traffic but honestly couldn't care less when I'm "holding back" traffic, because I wouldn't be holding them back if they weren't speeding. I accelerate slowly, trying to keep my RPMs under 2200, on average it takes me about 20 seconds to get up to 45mph from a stop. As far as conserving momentum goes I try to take turns without ever applying the brakes. I don't consider taking turns fast dangerous since I know the limits of my car well. I'm comfortable going say, 40mph, around a corner others take at 10-15, as l have experience racing and I've learned the hard way what it feels like when you're exceeding your limits and when you're too fast to correct for an unexpected emergency.

I drop into neutral and turn the engine off the second I see a yellow or red light and never idle for longer than it takes to do a stop sign properly. I turn my ac compressor on and off depending on the temperature. I normally run it until I feel the ambient air get cold, then turn it off until it feels humid (I love my little "AC" button).

I'm not obsessive about it, but I try. I'm really starting to hate my AT though because my gas mileage has barely increased even though I've gone from putting the hammer down to driving like a grandma. I'm getting on a cheap solution to the TC lockup problem. I reckon if I put a switch in to lock my TC I could bring my mileage up a good deal by locking all the time.