Being Hyper
I read this article about a week ago, and it really caught my interest. I'm sure that most people know that gas prices have gone up dramatically in the U.S. in the last couple of months. I would love to be able to walk more places or use public transportation, but the reality is that this area is just not conducive to doing that at all. This area, like many large metropolitan areas that saw the bulk of their growth after World War II, was designed for the automobile in an era when oil was cheap and plentiful, and are thus very spread out.
In any case, this article is about a guy who describes himself as a hypermiler. He uses all kinds of techniques to wring an amazing amount of mileage out of a tank of gas. He gets about 44 miles per gallon from a Toyota Corolla (average would be 28-30), and he gets 30 mpg from his wife's Lexus SUV (average about 18). Some of the stuff he does is quite extreme, but some of it is easy to do. I've been trying out some of these techniques for the last week, and I can say that they are making a difference. I haven't filled up my tank since I started doing this stuff, so I don't have any MPG numbers yet, but I will post them next time I fill up. It does look like I'm going to get noticeably more miles out of this tank of gas than my last one!
The techniques that seem to be practical can be boiled down to these:
* Accelerate as little as possible.
* Use your brakes as little as possible. Try to coast as much as you can. I was amazed at far my car will coast!
* Don't drive faster than 60 miles per hour on the highway. Your fuel economy decreases as your speed increases. That was the whole reason we used to have the 55 mile per hour speed limit on highways (which by the way, how come no one is promoting this now? If we ever needed to reduce oil consumption, it's now!).
* Use your air conditioner as little as possible.
* Get rid of any extra weight in your vehicle.
I will say that minimizing acceleration and braking does require one to be quite attentive while driving. You have to try and anticipate what traffic will do more than you otherwise would. But I'm finding it kind of fun. It's kind of like a game. And the high score is seeing how much money you can save!
Another interesting article with some good gas-saving tips can be found here. A really easy tip to implement from this article is to inflate your tires a little bit above the recommended air pressure, which I'm also trying. I'll let everyone know how this experiment works out.
In any case, this article is about a guy who describes himself as a hypermiler. He uses all kinds of techniques to wring an amazing amount of mileage out of a tank of gas. He gets about 44 miles per gallon from a Toyota Corolla (average would be 28-30), and he gets 30 mpg from his wife's Lexus SUV (average about 18). Some of the stuff he does is quite extreme, but some of it is easy to do. I've been trying out some of these techniques for the last week, and I can say that they are making a difference. I haven't filled up my tank since I started doing this stuff, so I don't have any MPG numbers yet, but I will post them next time I fill up. It does look like I'm going to get noticeably more miles out of this tank of gas than my last one!
The techniques that seem to be practical can be boiled down to these:
* Accelerate as little as possible.
* Use your brakes as little as possible. Try to coast as much as you can. I was amazed at far my car will coast!
* Don't drive faster than 60 miles per hour on the highway. Your fuel economy decreases as your speed increases. That was the whole reason we used to have the 55 mile per hour speed limit on highways (which by the way, how come no one is promoting this now? If we ever needed to reduce oil consumption, it's now!).
* Use your air conditioner as little as possible.
* Get rid of any extra weight in your vehicle.
I will say that minimizing acceleration and braking does require one to be quite attentive while driving. You have to try and anticipate what traffic will do more than you otherwise would. But I'm finding it kind of fun. It's kind of like a game. And the high score is seeing how much money you can save!
Another interesting article with some good gas-saving tips can be found here. A really easy tip to implement from this article is to inflate your tires a little bit above the recommended air pressure, which I'm also trying. I'll let everyone know how this experiment works out.
posted by JC at 10:15 PM
9 Comments:
I've also heard that over-inflating your tires, past the recommended weight, will help to increase your mileage per gallon.
The less breaking/less speeding I get, but there's no way I'll drive around without air conditioning, not with the pollen and humidity.
hmmmm. I'm not sure I could lose the a/c...not here in texas. day-am. I'm totally going to read up on those links tho.
Those really are good suggestions, I guess. Just not too realistic in my life. I mean I can't go without a/c when it's 104 outside. And as for the minimize braking/acceleration, I have enough going on just concentrating on not crashing into anything while I break up a fight in the back seat. Besides the other drivers up here suck so you just have to accelerate when you can and keep your foot hovering over the brake the rest of the time.
Don't even got me started on driving in the metroplex. It takes lots of Xanax to get me home from Dallas some days.
(BTW may be there end of this week. Whatcha doin?)
Living in Texas I can't give up AC completely either. It was 96 today fer chrissakes! But I have seen people that go without it, out of pure stubbornness/machismo/whatever. In fact I saw several today. My approach is not to consider it as an all or nothing proposition. I get in the car, use the vent setting until I get uncomfortable, then I turn on the AC. When I get cool enough, I will turn it back to vent until I get hot again, etc. So I do get some of the benefits without the extreme suffering.
Today was a good day for the gas tank, I think I can squeeze one more 60 mile home to work roundtrip before I need a fillup!
And B, I'm pretty sure I'll be writing! I may be able to take a break at some point.
This is pretty interesting. I've been on the less breaking/accelerating bandwagon for a while, but I didn't realize what difference it would make. Then again, when my husband stopped driving like a teenager we have bumped our gas mileage in our SUV (we need a car soooo bad!) from around 14 mpg (gasp!) to over 17 mpg. I will for sure check out those articles!
I'm gonna try the accelerating/braking thing-I'm all for playing games!! I hate to sweat, but I will try to roll the windows down from time to time. Now what in the hell am I gonna do about all the dead bodies in my trunk? They really weigh things down.
sounds cool. but i LIKE accelerating! have to get around all those coasters! JK. actually i coast quite a lot. saw one of those smart cars on the road the other day and it was trippy. can't imagine riding/driving in something that small! and i feel your pain about not being able to walk anywhere easily; my town is super-sprawl and all the grocery stores, etc. are no longer in the center of town.
rb - going from 14 to 17 is pretty good!
cory - OK, the dead bodies in the trunk comment made me laugh. Best. comment. ever?
r - I've seen a couple of those Smartcars around here. They do look weird. I even saw one on the highway, which would scare me to death!
Quick update: I filled up today (I was able to wring about 2 extra days beyond my normal fill-up interval). I got about 44 miles more than a typical tank for me. Went from about 29.5 mpg to 34 mpg. Not bad for a start! I'll do a real post about it when I finish this paper nonsense.
I was hearing a little something about this the other day, but haven't made time to read the articles yet. I need to, because every little bit helps!
Like you (although for different reasons), I live in an area where giving up the car to walk, bike, or take public transportation simply isn't an option. I don't even have anyone who lives near me on the same work schedule/area where I could carpool. So I just have to do the best I can with the driving thing.
After I read the articles, I'll have to see what I can do to play the Drive to Save Gas game!
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