Driving alone (vs. with passengers - effect on technique)

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Maybe some of you are overlooking the obvious reason for why your fuel economy is worse with wife/girlfriend in the car - the extra weight :-)

I thought about that, but my wife doesn't weigh anything
But even if she did, an extra 3%-5%, compared to the weight of the car, wouldn't explain a noticeable change in FE. Most of the change is from longer glides and lower average speed, both to the joy of fellow drivers around me

[almightybmw]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Maybe some of you are overlooking the obvious reason for why your fuel economy is worse with wife/girlfriend in the car - the extra weight :-)

mmmm, this would make a difference for intown driving, but with 5 people in the car I still can get 35mpg with my car; same as with just me driving.

Noted: my WIFE pointed this out, so I don't think I could blame hurt for decreased FE

[wagonman76]

My wife does complain about me driving slower. Then wonders how I can get 30-35 mpg around here and she only gets like 20-25 when she drives the Celebrity. She just doesn't and probably will never understand the connection.

The only thing I have noticed with weight is when my friend and I used to drive quite spirited in the good old days after high school. He was 300 lbs at the time, and my 6000 wagon was quite zippy. But when I would have him ride with me to show him, it was not so zippy anymore.

[MetroMPG]

I'm going snowboarding on Wednesday with an acquaintance I don't know all that well. I'm going to be driving and I already warned him: I take the side roads and drive "at a relaxed pace".

I'll likely not drive as extremely as I would on my own. Mostly, I'll probably not draw the coasts out as long (slow) as I would by myself.

[Tango Charlie]

My daily driver doubles as the family car on the weekends. I've learned to drive it pretty efficiently during the week, but with the family in the car (wife + 3 kids)I'll still occasionally lug the engine too much and kill it while trying to accelerate away from a stop. The extra weight is quite noticeable.

'You might be an ecomodder if'... your passenger asks:

Originally Posted by robbiewt

"Am I too fat for your gas mileage?"

That made me chuckle, robbiewt!

[MetroMPG]

Today's unscientific results:

Difference between going to the hill on my own: low 70's mpg round trip

Going with a passenger I don't know that well (much less P&G, but still EOC on hills): 67 mpg round trip

I suppose it's hard to get ride in the Flea and not wonder what all the junk stuck on the outside of it is for. So on the way back he asked about fuel economy and we got into a good discussion. He said: "I noticed on some of the hills you were putting it in neutral and coasting."

I asked him if he noticed I had shut the engine off on the downhills too.

Reply: "No, I thought you just had an unusually quiet engine".

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Maybe some of you are overlooking the obvious reason for why your fuel economy is worse with wife/girlfriend in the car - the extra weight :-)

I joked about how I would be reluctant to let my friend Lauren Stanhouse (who is pretty fat) carpool with me as that'll drop my MPG.

[brucepick]

Lauren better be a really good friend.

I carpool most days. It's 60 miles to work and I definitely compromise my FE technique so as not to delay our arrival. Even so, the fuel savings of car pooling makes it worthwhile.

Driving with my wife, I also don't maximize my FE techniques. But I do plan on keeping my wife.

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Lauren better be a really good friend.

She is. And my best friend (Hannah Tucker) is a hypermiler.

[ModelE]

i EOC'ed this summer in my buick when i was alone and i received an instant 10% boost over not EOCing when i was with other people. I now drive my truck usually by myself and try to drive it nice , but then every weekend i end up going wheeling with my buddies and then drive around on friday or saturday night and ruin the tank average