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Old 12-21-2007, 10:28 PM   #6 (permalink)
newtonsfirstlaw
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 152

The Mighty Mira - '92 Daihatsu Mira
90 day: 61.32 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
I actually like the things because they let me play boy-racer around the island (going straight through) while also being efficient.
That's the funny thing about hypermiling - most people's preconceptions about efficient driving are that it involves accelerating very slowly, and that any other method won't work.

In fact, slow acceleration is a very first order approach to FE driving, and really only applies in a bumper-to-bumper driving where a more efficient acceleration might mean you have no choice but to brake.

I remember having some older relatives in the car (which had a trip meter), and they were surprised that I had achieved the best FE they had yet seen while driving (well, in their minds) aggressively. They also didn't know the road, so you can take corners faster when you know what lies ahead.

But still, I was driving faster than they would have, but hardly ever using the brake. And that was the difference. To most people, going boy racer through roundabouts is "driving too fast", and hence "wasting fuel". There is still a huge gap with most people in that driving in a fuel efficient way is not intuitive and they don't have the appropriate education.
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"Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed." - Isaac Newton
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