Economics of hypermiling vs. vehicle longevity

[slowmover]

I think the BIL's comments worthwhile. Change one thing, and everything else is affected is sound reasoning. After all, if one wants low operational costs of a personal vehicle, one specs it for that job at the outset. And using it well means being attentive to all the details of road, load, traffic & weather, modifying driving for each and in combination. That's the majority -- the vast majority -- of low fuel burn success.

As this is America where popping a pill is the recipe for overcoming lifes problems the number of those out there (I assume we all know "them") who want a "tuner" for the computer or latest, greatest fluid additive (or believe some Facebook entry on HHO or grille block or some other "idea" such as too high tire pressure) so that the drving style is unchanged as well as the vehicle type (bad match to actual need) is threatened in longevity and reliability.

The vehicle that is left alone, run solely to manufacturer guidelines in the hands of an attentive driver is the one which likely will last the longest. With fewer problems all along the way. Anything that adds to the decision tree in diagnosis is pretty much a bad choice, and a wash at very best. All machines wear down with time and use. And those whose livelihood depends on paying attention to complex interactions of machinery (read vehicle components for this crowd where the plant is equivalent to the vehicle itself) know something, philosophically, that most car owners never will . . they'll trade for the latest before any of their mistakes in spec, use or mods come to haunt them in $$$.

A broken 40-mpg vehicle is worthless compared to a sound-running 25-mpg vehicle.

Give credit to where it's due. Raising questions about non-standard practice is backstop to any discussion of changes to manufacturer advice.

The cars/trucks I've seen last longest were the ones where the owners had developed skill and didnt deviate from the book. Doesn't mean they might not have seen some benefit . . but the lowest overall cost of operation has next to nothing to do with vehicle changes. Only owner use changes. Increasing headaches to potentially improve one aspect of operation (fuel burn) has to be seen in the light of how much of a compromise it really is.

And for the naysayers: What is the payload capacity of your vehicle? With that vehicle loaded to maximum on a day of 100F ambient temps, how much of a grade can you back up? Etc. All of this is part of your vehicle description . . adjust your FE claims to this -- load 'er up and do it over thousands of miles -- and then call that millwright out-of-date or that he fails to understand the differences. Chances are that he can help run that mill at near idle or full-out far better than you can your (let's laugh) "personal vehicle" so long as FE is just a stunt.

FE claims around here might even be realistic were these vehicles asked to do their full jobs well. The driver learning curve isn't in evidence, for the most part, in the above comments. Spend time with an A&P mechanic, a marine diesel specialist or any others taxed with keeping expensive machinery working. Few businesses, if any, aren't concerned with cost and those with ICE machinery, the most of all. A milwright is hardly far off from these as the principles involved are no different.

Load 'em to maximum boys, and run them 6k miles. Let us know your baseline mpg and how you made percentage improvements to that. Just "city or highway" is for punks.


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[mcrews]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Load 'em to maximum boys, and run them 6k miles. Let us know your baseline mpg and how you made percentage improvements to that. Just "city or highway" is for punks.


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cant say I followed all that..... BUT in my particular case:
1. always used the a/c (after all it is a luxury car!)
2. on road trips to texas for my 2 week stays, the car was loaded...trunk, back seat and sometimes the passenger seat!
3. got my 30+ mpg (epa 22) will driving to and from texas (lived in CA)

[RedDevil]

All fair and well if the car is driven in a 'normal' manner under normal circumstances.
But I use my car also when it is freezing hard. The car copes with that, but it will affect its lifespan.
I cannot get it warm enough when hypermiling in the cold.
The OEM unaltered car is uncomfortable and suffers, like its driver.

So I block the lower grille, and if it is really cold redirect the intake air from behind the radiator. That helps just enough to let the car warm up to reasonable tempreatures within 20 minutes of highway. I would be very surprised if this hurts the car more than running it without the LGB, in these conditions. I firmly believe the LGB protects my car during winter. Texan winters aren't that cold, so YMMV.

The LGB undeniably protects the radiator from stone chipping. I remove it every once in a while and see the stones fall out, and the dents and scars on the once pristine foam tubes...

There is really no substitute for using your brains in these.
It is safe to stay on the conservative side, but if you have your mods well thought out and tested, and monitor the effects while using them, then why not?

This is ecomodder after all. And for me, it is a hobby. I hope to learn from the experience; even the bad ones. I will not shy away from mods I believe in just to avoid the tiniest chance of getting it wrong.
I would like my mods to have professional quality, also I aim at making my mods pay for themselves. But it has to remain a hobby, it should not look too much like work.

[Frank Lee]

I think the BIL's comments worthwhile.

I think not because they are largely irrelevant.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by songman

I believe this theory has been comprehensively disproven.

It's still in the VW manual though ...

[euromodder]

Even with Hägar, I didn't have any hypermiling issues.
The DPF problems predate me starting to hypermile - it's had issues from new, and all key moments also happen to coincide with regular service work done on the car.

Tyre wear since 2010 has been ridiculously low - even accounting for the winter tyres that are still soldiering on under another V50.

Brake wear has been reduced so I never needed new pads.

The number of speeding tickets has also been a joke compared to my earlier years. One. Yes, while doing a pulse ...