Why do you do it?
 

It seems like there are a few types of people on here. Some people just like engineering devices that are very efficient, some like the economic perks of hypermiling, and some are environmentalists. My question is which are you?

Personally, I'm the green variety. I've been an environmentalist since I was a kid, and naturally when I started driving a few years ago, I focused on fuel efficiency, but only got seriously into it recently with the green scare strengthening my resolve.

All three. That, and the performance aspects of efficiency mods also attract me to them. I like to make things more energy efficient AND make them go faster.

I just like to tinker, and I've always been concerned with efficiency.

Oh, I care about the enviroment too :)

"All of the above", plus add to the list: for the challenge.

It can be a kind of game, either against yourself or with others.

I agree with the challenge idea.

Modern car mods for "go fasters" has turned into a simple spend fest of who can spend more money. I don't feel that's how it should be.
Efficiency is still at the point where people playing with it are doing their own thing. Plus, I've always hated waste. Right down to cleaning my plate of all the food. ;)

Not many people do it. I like being different. =)

I would also say I am all three, but in order I like to be efficient with everything I do, car wise, electricity wise, heck even walking and cleaning. I guess I am an efficiency freak. But the added financial benefit is nice as well. And then of course leaving a small footprint on the world is a good thing. Honestly we looked at the Prius and Jetta wagon TDI's when we were buying. The thing that sold me on the TDI was admittedly the room, and then the ability to burn bio diesel. I think it is so odd they didn't make the Prius able to burn a higher blend of ethanol.

I agree with Metro and Nonnef.
It is more of a competition, to see if I can better my car.
I feel like it has a lot of potential and I like to set goals and work towards them.
I was into racing, but realized that the people with all the money will always be faster.
More money = more mods = faster

In the "sport?" of fuel effeciency the people with more modifications end up spending less money.
More mods = less gas = less money

The mods are usually cheap which is also good.
Plus there isn't a huge aftermarket for FE, most of the things being done are all by "inventors".
I like that aspect most of this entire thing.

Regardless of why we are all here, we each help each other to our goal whether we like it or not. Through our own design and testing.
I feel like we are all indirectly pushing the envelope.

What would make me happy would be to discover that the car companies were aware of the "FE subculture" the way they are aware of (and marketing to) the tuner crowd.

Imagine being able to tick on the option sheet "extra-tall top gear" or "wheel skirts" or "smart alternator" the way you can now check "CAI", "performance exhaust", "alloy rims"...

I've seen "gm.com" a few times in the activity logs of my web site, and I like to pretend they're actually taking some of this in...

Why?
 

... 'cause gas prices are too high, profits are "obscene", the (hot?) air suffers, and I won't give 'em a dime without a fight! :cool:

I'm in it to save money, and by save money I mean use less gas. I also like to modify my car and tinker with things. the whole "doing it to save money" keeps me from getting some of the cool gadgets like the superMID, but I still enjoy it.

theclencher -

This is a phrase used by environmentalists. A small footprint means to leave little impact on the environment. I believe in the small footprint too. But it's hard to be a well-trained (i.e. brainwashed) consumer and an idealist too.

CarloSW2

It seems to me that the car companies added tuner extras because not stealing from the bigger-than-cottage industry looked to them like so much money left on the table. Often they pick the best in breed and oem that item instead of developing it themselves.

So here's your chance to get in on the ground floor of a budding cottage industry as one of the leading experts: "Darin's Metro/Swift Wheelskirts" :D

I do it because:
1) I'm cheap.
2) I like an engineering challenge.
3) I'm cheap.
4) I hate contributing to world instability by exploiting petroleum.
5) Did I mention I'm cheap? :D

Why...
 

1. For the Environment
2. For the Challenge of "How To"
3. For the Competition
4. For the Education and to Pass it On
5. For the Comaradarie of the GS Community

RH77

I think you guys covered everything that I was thinking.

I always liked tinkering with stuff (cars and bikes). The gaslog on this site kept me interested in FE (I may have gone back to the dark side if it wasn't for the gaslog). Yeah i am cheap too. I know I have saved hundreds on gas over the past year compared to how I drove before. I guess I am competive too and always trying to be the fastest, longest, highest.

Definitely the money aspect for me. I'm not much of a gearhead or an environmentalist. Just looking at my gaslog shows just how much I drive and so the less fuel used, the better (gas is still $3.188 per gallon here). However I'm sure if I had a vehicle that used 3x more fuel than my Geo (I was seriously eyeing up a 4.0L 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee this summer), I'd only drive it 1/3 as much!

I'm definitely not greenish.

I like to tinker and mess with a cars inner working's. But wont areo mod or functional mod unless its hidden. Like my engine belly pan. Or looks factory.

I like to hypermile for many reason's. The main one being, it's another set of skills in the motorsports world. Getting good FE is another skill like auto-x'ing.

Go Big Green! And no, I don't mean Dartmouth, :)

clearing throat...

1. i have ocd. :thumbdown:
2. i like my money. :thumbup:
3. i like living outside of a biodome on mars. :thumbup:
4. distracts me from real goals. :thumbdown:
5. i like feeling efficient and innovative. :thumbup:

I specialize on the driving technique side of things, and there are several reasons that I do it. When I first fell in with this crowd, I was propelled by the sheer thrill of being able to travel farther on a gallon of fuel than I ever thought possible with my vehicle. Saving a buck or ten at the pump is very nice, too.

Also on my list is the fact that our collective oil consumption scares me. Sometimes I look at the numbers and wonder, how can we possibly keep this up? Why aren't we doing something about it? So hypermiling is my way to a little bit to help. I also enjoy sharing my knowledge as I learn to help others curb their fuel consumption, too.

Finally, I think that hypermiling has made me a much safer driver than I was. Not only do I obey speed limits now, but hypermiling requires a level of situational awareness that I didn't really have before. So my odds of getting into an accident are lower, and odds are good that any accident that I do get into will be less severe. (**Knocks on wood!**)

After Katrina, I got tired of waiting for the automobile manufacturers to come out with an inexpensive car that got good FE (and 38mpg "fuel efficient" car just doesn't cut it), so I starting researching and engineering my own.

Primarily to save money, so each of the aero mods that I install has to be able to pay for itself in gas savings. I'm not going to spend $100 on a mod to save $10 worth of gas over the life of the mod.

Secondarily for the engineering challenge for creating a more efficient car, something I consider the car manufacturers selling cars in North America derelict in.

Ted -

Me too. I am actually willing to spend more money to make sure I give as little as possible to the oil companies. To me, going to the gas station is the equivalent of making a direct contribution to the GOP (in it's current atavistic form).

I consider this a hobby/invention/creative thing. I never did the car performance tuning thing (unless you count a noisy muffler on a Karmann Ghia), but this dovetails quite neatly into my overall worldview. This is by far the only website I have *ever* participated in to a great degree.

However, my life is too messy to go all out. My pragmatic side still leads me to the gas station instead of the McDonalds for veggie oil.

CarloSW2

Your pragmatic side may lead you to an EV, if you can figure out how to build one for your needs.

Toecutter -

If I really had the bucko-bucks, I would take a 1992 CRX over to the guys at https://www.leftcoastconversions.com/index.php and have them make me an electric CRX. That was probably my all time favorite car to own and drive. that way, I could have my cake and drive it too.

CarloSW2

Converting it yourself would be much cheaper.

It is possible to get a 65 mph capable, 40 mile range conversion on the road for ~$1,500 with the right car and with good scrounging of components. Take sa lot of patience though. Cost doesn't count labor, given you'd be doing that yourself. It won't be fancy, but it will do what most cars need to do: point A to point B.

Most conversions using flooded lead acid batteries will do 0-60 mph ~20-25 seconds, top 75 mph, do 30-50 miles range, and cost about $6,000-8,000.

With a very aerodynamic car(eg. CRX aeromodded to hell), it would be possible to do an 80-100 mile range conversion with AGM lead acid batteries, that uses a Zilla controller, WarP 9" motor, does 0-60 mph in ~7 seconds, and tops over 120 mph for about $10,000.

You could also go the route of a small pickup loaded with about 2,400 pounds of flooded lead acid batteries for 75+ mph top speed, 120 miles range(much more range and speed with aeromods) for about $10,000-12,000.