I’ve been experimenting with Hypermiling lately. I started off with around 24 MPGs on average in the city and 28-30 Highway. My latest tank of gas was almost entirely city driving, mostly between my house (Niagara Falls Blvd and East Robinson, behind the Wegman’s) and First Trinity. Here’s what I did:
- Avoided coming to a dead stop at all costs.
- Coast into red lights and parking spaces with the car off. If I had farther to go, I tried to only shut the car off when I knew I’d have 30+ seconds of off time.
- Minimal drafting was used.
My first tank came in at 27.85 MPG. For my next tank, I’m keeping most of the above with the following tweaks:
- More coasting with the engine off. Usually it’s in .2 mile increments or dropping my speed by 10 MPH. I want to improve gas mileage, but I don’t want to be a hazard on the road. This has proved to be efficient and not disturb the overall traffic flow much.
- Restarting my car by popping the clutch. On the roads, I can restart the car without using the actual starter in 2nd – 5th gears, depending on my speed when I need to restart. The transition was a bit choppy the first 2 days, but it’s getting smoother.
- Leaving my car off for lights where I will be parked for 30 or more seconds. If I expect to be moving prior to that, I’ll restart with the clutch popping and idle at the light. Ideally, I’m still trying never to come to a complete stop.
- More intentional drafting.
We’ll see where the next tank comes in at. While I probably won’t catch this guy any time soon, I’d like to make it to 40 MPGs consistently. That would cut my annual fuel costs by $860 ($4.30/gallon, 12,000 miles/year. 24 MPG = $2,150 in gas, 40 MPGs = $1,290). Even hitting 35 MPGs would save a substantial amount of money during the year ($675). That’s more than enough for a you know what.
While I believe the hypermiling is entirely safe, I’ll not be practicing it with friends in the car unless they are ok with it. Youth don’t get a vote about it, we just don’t do it. 🙂
A friend of mine just emailed me one of your articles from a while back. I read that one a few more. Really enjoy your blog. Thanks
Or you could buy a prius and have the car do all that for you. 54.2 MPG last tank, I wonder if I could hypermile it past 60? I luv my car. 😉
Or do what I do and just siphon some gas out of Sue’s car while she is at church. I have found my gas mileage is really increasing now.
Yea, the Prius is where I’d like to be, but it’s also way more expensive than I can afford right now. If yer buying tho, I’ll take one. 🙂
Sounds like the gas siphoning might be cheaper for me. Do you just use one of the hoses laying around there, or is there a special one?
Oh yeah I forgot to ask, couldn’t you ruin your clutch and/or need a new starter with all of that messing around?
The other thing that I’ve learned from the prius is that the temperature outside can really affect your mileage. I get around 42 to 45 in the winter, and 50 to 55 in the summer. If it rains the mileage goes down. Use your windows to cool at low speed, A/C with windows closed (if you must) at higher speeds). Heater off for as much as you can stand it when it’s cold. Fill your tires up to the maximum the manufacturer recommends. The ride will be a little rougher but you could gain 5%.
Do everything you can (legally and safely) to avoid touching the brakes. One site I saw referred to braking as “turning gasoline into brake dust”.
Hope this helps until I’m ready to sell my Prius to you.
I don’t think popping the clutch adds any additional wear and tear to the car because it functions almost identical to shifting up a gear. It uses the existing momentum to get the engine started again. We’ll see tho.
I’ve heard that you should also always fill up during the coolest part of the day because gas is denser then. You get more usable gas than filling up when its warmer because of how they measure the flow out of the pump. It sounded a little strange, but maybe…
I’ve heard conflicting reports on A/C vs. Windows. Some sites say it doesn’t matter, because the increased drag of open windows offsets the increased power draw of A/C usage. Others recommend as you do above.
I like the phrase about braking. 🙂
Jason, you scare me! I respectfully request that my beloved daughter ride with someone else to workcamp! Jake F. would even be a better choice for me right now.
Ha! Debbie, tonight I told Jason, “No hypermiling with the baby in the car!” 🙂
Truthfully, I’ve ridden with him while he’s doing it… and it can be annoying, but I have felt safe (so far). The drafting is what makes me the most concerned. The guy we saw online did a bunch of other stuff (including taking right turns at just about full speed) which seemed much more dangerous.
…but I stand by my baby statement. 😉 And I think the vans for the trip are automatic, so the crazy tricks don’t apply.
I tried a bit today, since it was on my mind. I’m trying to figure out how you do the safe distance and less braking thing when you are drafting?
@Josh: Forgot to say hi and thanks for stopping by!
@Deb: I promise, no hypermiling on youth functions. Honest. 🙂
@Jaime: Agreed on the no hypermiling with the baby. 🙂
@Darcy: The drafting is most useful accelerating out of red lights. I always choose less braking (and more distance between cars) over drafting. You also don’t need to be nearly as close as the Nascar people are for drafting to work, especially behind larger vehicles. When you get into a congested part of the road, that’s when you back off even farther and focus on not stopping.