|
Everything depends on the grade and length of the hills.
On very slight grades you can climb with almost no difference in fuel mileage compared to driving on level ground. The increased load means increased efficiency. It is surprising how little difference a slight grade makes, especially if your car has higher RPM in your highest gear.
If the hills allow you to coast downhill for a considerable distance without a significant loss of speed (like the example of two pulses in 3 miles) that is just about perfect for great mileage.
The peak pulse speed should be as low as traffic will allow without aggravating other drivers, and if you have the opportunity to follow a large truck at a safe distance the improvement could also be significant.
I don't think multiple pulses uphill is the best solution, but that is a very grade specific assumption on my part. Better to climb in highest gear as long as you do not have to use more than about 50% of your throttle position percentage.
If the downhill grade is low enough to have to pulse on the downhill section, I would try to hit my peak speed at the top of the hill, to extend the glide phase downhill to the greatest extent.
Adding energy uphill is most efficient, but also consumes the most fuel based on time alone. Like the roller coaster you want to maximise your tactics to all of the circumstances of your particular trip, while being polite to other drivers and not creating a frustrating obstruction to their efforts.
It sounds like your terrain is just about ideal for maximum mileage. On one trip in my CVT Insight, averaging just undeer 55 MPH, for 650 miles, I managed to get 70.2 MPG US.
My conditions were similar, but during one section of about 70 miles I had to deal with elevations of over 2000 feet.
regards
Mech
|