I had never heard of this until Son #3 clued me in to the finer points of hypermiling. This child of mine prides himself on being thrifty and always trying to "beat" the system. His latest is practicing hypermiling in his 14 year old Grand Prix. He's worked his 20 mpg in the city car up to just over 28 mpg. He travels from the north end of Milwaukee down to Cudahy for his job so doing hypermiling fits in to his frugality.
Actually its a matter of changing the way we drive. There are a few online sites that give information. One is http://www.InsightCentral.net and the other is http://www.GreenHybrid.com The hybrid site is obviously geared toward hybrids but anyone who's interested in getting more miles to the gallon can work on changing their driving in small ways that will expand the capability of their gas mileage.The government also has a mileage site http://www.fueleconomy.gov
For example there's a man, Wayne Gerdes, who's from Illinois, who averaged 90 mpg driving a manual transmission Honda Insight. This is the same guy who got 1200 mpg out of a Toyota Prius on a single tank of gas. His feat was featured on an Earth Day HBO production called "Too Hot Not to Handle". He used to drive a Corolla and his comments on hypermiling with that vehicle were, "I hit 52 mpg in my Corolla and I said, 'Wow, this is pretty special. I bet there's more.' "
Here's a good definition of hypermiling:
Hypermiling is all about making adjustments to maximize your gas mileage, and many techniques work whether you're driving a hybrid or a Hummer.
So, how can we, the average driver, become a hypermiler and get more miles to the gallon no matter what kind of vehicle we drivve? Here is an exerpt from a Washington Post article ( http://washingtonpost.com Sunday Aug. 6, 2006) with comments by Pat Goss who is a commentator on Mororweek which is a PBS program. He gives some great information on how we, the average driver, can accomplish hypermiling. Now mind you, some of these super hypermilers use techniques that are NOT necessarily safe. Mr Goss does point these out. With the high price of gas these days, it does pay to practice some of these driving changes and increase our mileage. Maybe, we can then afford a coffee from Starbucks or a nice meal at one of our favorite restaurants.
Drive the Speed Limit for starters.
Expert's take : Goss says that as you go above 38 mph in most cars, you lose mileage. For every 5 mph above 55, he says you can lose as much as 10 percent of your fuel economy. So slowing down can save you gas.
DRIVING WITHOUT BRAKES (or in hypermiling lingo, "d.w.b.") is all about coasting. Congestion is constant in Washington, and accelerating from zero to 20, then back to zero, is inefficient. Instead, if the car in front of you is speeding up, maintain a steady speed and let it get ahead of you, when traffic starts to slow back down you'll catch up.
Expert's take: Do it when possible -- but be careful. "You're probably going to have some highly ticked off people if you do it on the Beltway," Goss warns.
TURN OFF YOUR CAR AND COAST , aka the "forced-auto stop." In hybrids, the internal combustion engine shuts off at stops to conserve fuel; the electric batteries keep the car running. To save even more fuel when decelerating, some hypermilers -- including Gerdes -- shift to neutral and turn off the engine while coasting to a stop.
Expert's take: "Highly dangerous. You don't have your car under control," says Goss. (In other words, not all hypermiling techniques are good ones.)
OPTIMIZE YOUR ROUTE : Avoid big hills or stop-and-go traffic. Test different routes to see which is the smoothest ride. Sometimes, a longer route with better driving conditions uses less gas.
Expert's take: "Basic driving techniques. I teach this the first day," Goss says.
WATCH YOUR TIRE PRESSURE . It takes a lot of extra energy to move even slightly flat tires. Some hypermilers recommend over-inflating tires.
Expert's take: Goss says this works but is very risky. "When you over-inflate a tire, you can compromise its traction and . . . make the tire wear out more rapidly," he says, adding that it could be "very negligent to recommend that someone do that."
STAY ON TOP OF OIL CHANGES , and use thinner oil.
Expert's take: "It can have a significant effect on fuel economy, especially as the oil ages," Goss says. "The viscosity of engine oil is always increasing. . . . The thicker the oil is the harder it is to push through the engine."
