Gas Mileage- Results- 20% improvement !

[M A V I C]

Turning off the car while driving can be dangerous. I think some of the fuel saving tactics are getting a bit extreme.

[decocritter]

Everyone bashes Prius Drivers for driving this way....

[AlphaDog]

[quote M A V I C]Turning off the car while driving can be dangerous. I think some of the fuel saving tactics are getting a bit extreme.
I agree with you 100%.

[RAMd®d]

Everyone bashes Prius Drivers for driving this way....

BS, deco.

Everyone bashes Prius drivers for impeding the flow of traffic. I've seen *two* Priuii maintaining the posted speed limit or flow of traffic while in the HOV lane.

It's really ridiculous to use that lane when everyone is backing up behind you and traffic on the right it going faster, regardless of what you drive.

Use all the gas-saving tricks you want, just drive in the appropriate lane.


Turning off the car while driving can be dangerous.

If it's moving, that's a big "Duh!", particularly for modern cars who's steering locks with the ignition off.

I suppose there are those who would turn the ignition off, put the car in Neutral, and turn it back on. Crazy. I don't know how it works with modern manual transmissions.

It's probably not good for the typically weak A/T, but I've put mine in Neutral a couple of times, but the computer appears to keep the RPM at the same speed. Nothing to be gained there.

I'd like to lower the idle by about 300rpm, but I think that will actually penalize me regarding emissions systems and output.

[wurm]

[quote Rain]I drive the black Corvette like a bat out of hell, even at 80ishmph on the interstate, and I see no less than 33mpg.
Hang on a minute. A 'Vette driven like a 'Vette wants to be driven, getting 33+ mpg?! Do I have to check snopes on this one?

http://www.snopes.com/autos/business/carburetor.asp

[samintx]

I don't understand "turning off the car".......when? at bank deposit lines? long traffic stops? enlighten me/us.

[Racer X]

vettes have a double overdrive transmission. I bet that one doing 80 on 6th gear with cruise on can get decent mileage.

and Buick Regal T-Types, Grand Nationals and GNXs were getting in the high 20s with a single overdrive auto transmission 20 years ago doing 80.

[Rain]

Kid ya not -
Im barely turning 15-1600 rpm at 80mph in 6th gear. I've owned this Vette for 4 years and its always gotten 33 on the highway. 29-30 psi in the tires. Nothing else in the Vette but me and maybe a passenger.

Trip to Atlanta, GA and Chatt, TN last year we got around 28/29.
But, we had a yamaha drum kit, roland ac-60 amp, guitar, cord bags, weeks worth of luggage, and a few other items in the back for that trip. (should see the roadies faces when we show up to the gig in a Corvette.. and then we pull the entire drum kit and half the backline out of it!)

[davester]

[quote samintx]I don't understand "turning off the car".......when? at bank deposit lines? long traffic stops? enlighten me/us.
The rule of thumb is to turn off the engine when you're at a stop anticipated to be more than 1 minute. That is probably the biggest thing you can do to increase gas mileage because cars typically waste something like 30% of their fuel simply idling.

As for the other techniques mentioned:

"- Coasting when possible (I drive a stick, so it' s possible)"

I doubt if this does anything at all and may even be detrimental. If you have your foot off the gas and are in gear and moving (e.g. going down hill or decelerating), the fuel injection on most cars will shut off the fuel flow entirely because the movement of the car keeps the engine turning. However, if you put it in neutral then the fuel injection must pump gas into the engine to keep it idling. Briefly, it uses more fuel to coast than to leave it in gear. The hypermilers who use coasting do it with the engine off (which is not safe if you have power steering or brakes)

- "Surge" an "Coast" driving- basically driving the way I ride my bicycle.

What exactly does this mean? If it means you are speeding up and slowing down a lot then it will definitely decrease your gas mileage. This is because drag increases with the square of velocity, so it is much better to drive at a steady average speed than to have "peaks and valleys" in speed. Those peaks rob a lot of gas that you cannot possibly make up by coasting (which will be burning excess gas because of my first point). Note that it can work in some circumstances with hybrids, but not with regular cars.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of old wives tales mixed in with good information at the various hypermiler websites. The main techniques to focus on are: 1) turn off the engine when stopped; 2) drive in a fashion that minimizes brake use (hitting the brakes is simply a method of burning up energy you already paid for; 3) keep your top speed as low as possible; 4) monitor your gas mileage meter like a hawk (or install one if you don't have one); 5) minimize your time spent accelerating.

[cbelt3]

Good questions and commentary. Perhaps it's time for a change in the experiment.

turning off the car: When at a long light, or waiting for someone I'm picking up, I shut it off. I do NOT turn the car off while it's moving. Sure, I can without locking the steering (you don't turn the key all the way), but I don't like the idea of having no power available if some nimrod comes at me in an SUV.

I really didn't wash it. Really.

I coast with the shift in neutral. It's using gas to turn the engine, but not parasitically keeping the engine running by taking kinetic energy away from the wheels.

Surge and coast means that I cost when I can, and will speed up to 5-10 over the limit, then coast back down. When on the highway I use the cruise control.

And yes, I try to avoid using the brakes.