Quote:
Originally Posted by highhung723
Thanks for the tips everyone. My afternoon commute is during non rush hours so it's not too bad. The evening commute is during rush hours and I have a tendency of wanting to keep up with the joneses (at least it's at night so I have an "excuse" to drive slowly).
I'm starting to accelerate quicker too. My gears go up to 1800 RPM before it shifts up, so I almost never go above that. It takes me about 5 seconds to go from stop to the next gear and then 3 seconds per gear after that.
I thought that driving slower would be less stressful, but I guess in the beginning stages I've found myself looking in the rear-view mirror, tracking other cars, tracking my acceleration and speed, etc. to be fairly stressful. Hopefully in the long run it'll become second nature and I will be better for it.
Diesel_Dave, I've noticed this "pack" phenomenon, but previously from the perspective of the driver that speeds and passes these packs. Traffic will never allow me to go 1/2 the speed limit, but I try to let others pass to maximize coasting.
Is this optimal driving? On the 50 MPH hilly road, I'll accelerate to about 55-60 depending on traffic, coast downhill while keeping that speed, and then lightly step on the gas uphill while still losing about 5-10 MPH. Then I'll accelerate down the next hill or flat to 55-60 and repeat the cycle.
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The definition of "optimal" will vary greatly for different people with different vehicles (weight, engine, gearing, etc.), driving on different roads (hills, stops, curves, number of lanes, etc.), with different traffic. I wasn't trying to imply what I do is necessarily optimal for you.
My best advice would be 3 things:
1) Read up on what different folks around here are doing. Try to understand the different techniques, how to do them, and why they work, and if they make sense for you.
2) Get/use some kind of fuel economy feedback. Something like a Scangauge is probably the best, but I've managed to do pretty well with just the factory installed display. If you watch it carefully you can compare different techniques and see how wel they work and how well you're doing.
3) If you've got a regular commute, start keeping a dailly log of your fuel mileage. That will do 2 things, give you more feedback on what's working or not working, as well as give you more motivation to constantly break your own records.