Quote:
Originally Posted by euromodder
Denis, how are you pulsing and gliding ?
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Most daily commute is on a 90km/h (56mph) freeway, ie 2-3 lanes each way. Trucks are limited to 80km/h (50mph).
Without any traffic, I pulse up to 85km/h (53mph) and glide down to 70km/h (43mph). Of course these speeds are modified by traffic, noticeably if a truck behind me can't pass me then I'll DWL at 80km/h. When it can pass me I slow down as soon as it changes its lane to permit it to pass me faster.
I get on the road in the morning at 6:45am and in the evening before 5:00pm, so the traffic mostly permits me to P&G as I wish.
To glide when I'm at "max speed" :
- I push down the clutch,
- tap on the brake to flash the brake lights,
- keep my right foot over the brake and
- switch off the engine.
Optionally I change the gear from 5th to 3rd when I think I may need to stop very quickly, so I have both engine brake and brakes.
When I glide I follow this advice : "wait, wait, wait...". When I'm on an empty road, I can glide down to 50km/h (31mph) which is the minimal speed on freeways and highways (excepted on the left lane on highways which is 80km/h = 50mph).
At mid autumn with cold temperatures and lights on I found that using P&G during my 30-40 km (19-25mi) daily commute does impact the battery voltage : when I use my kill switch the airbag resets, but after 20-25 km (12-16mi) the airbag light blinks and the airbag resets only when I bump start.
I got the idea to plug a voltmeter at the 12V plug and found that its voltage was going under 10V
In fact my engine switches on the heat plugs at each FAS and at each bump start during at least 8 seconds. After tens of P&G, the lights and the cabin fan to get a little bit of heat this is a lot of juice for an old 50Ah lead battery...
I changed that battery with a 70Ah AGM one, used as an OEM one in some German mild hybrids (stop&start systems). The price is twice the one of the cheapest 50Ah lead battery, but I was hoping it could keep a stronger voltage. It was the case during the first week, but during the second week the airbag light was blinking again...
I found that by stopping the cabin fan, and turning the heat at max, I have enough heat into the cabin and prevent the airbag light to blink
Since then I'm using P&G as during summer, except when I think I will not be able to glide during more than 12s, then I coast with engine on.
Hope it helps,
Denis.