So here I am tonight, I really don't watch tv (how funny though, I work for a cable company).... and was browsing through and low and behold CNN has this "OMG gas is $4!!!!" special on gas prices.
I grabbed a mountain dew, sat down, figured "Why not."
And then they started driving with a guy called a "Hypermiler". I thought "Huh, sounds pretty cool" and caught a quick glimpse at the site, the green icons, banners, THIS WAS IT!
Read the list of 105 stuff... very interesting stuff on here. Figured I'd join.
My story is that I drive a little Escort ZX2. Gets great mileage. Has just over 120k on it, wonderful little car. Had it since I was a teen, I even remember when I got it I thought "WOW I'm getting 35mpg and it costs less than $20 to fill this puppy! This is great!" As prices went up I started driving more conservatively over the years. I went from "FLOOR IT!" as a teenager to now driving much more defensively (riding brought that out in me) and slower (speeding ticket did that to me LOL!) and now much more conservatively (you live you learn).
I would commute on my motorcycles but they're toys, and the cost per mile of my 250 ninja actually is more expensive than the cost per mile of my ZX2 due to chain lube, the cost of the oil changes on it, tires every 4000 miles (compared to my escort which they'll last substantially longer), brake bleeding frequently to keep up on the system. Then I bought a Duc 900SS, and that made absolutely no sense to commute on. The first year I thought "Cool! Ride a sportbike to work!" then after paying $230 for a tire every season (and a front every other season) + the insane maintenance it costs to maintain it then it started making more sense not to ride it to work.. I do of course still ride them all every week. I have not cut back on that. But I commute a lot of miles per day just to get to work... that's a different story because it's a long drive over and a long drive back. Saving gas anywhere, well, all for it. When it came down to it.... the ZX2 was STILL more efficient for commuting.
However... a while back a long time ago I started making little changes here and there on my ZX2 to become more efficient. I am quite a motorhead and used to think modifying cars and making lots of horsepower where it was at but I lost that interest after I got into motorcycles.
So instead, I started making performance mods to my ZX2 after seeing the effect it had on other ZX2 cars off of several forums. If it hindered mileage or made significantly less power or made the mileage worse, I wouldn't do it. My interest dove MORE into making more power out of my car without having to make any huge mods and using some stock stuff (modifying it really) to make it more efficient than it simply was.
Resonator modifications, taking out some weight and putting my car on a diet, pulleys and underdriving some accessories, getting rid of a/c entirely. Gained a little MPG. Thus far it's worked great.
Now here I am here looking for new things to learn (already learned some really interesting stuff just from reading the forums and on the list of things).
I'm interested to see what kind of mileage I can get now in utilizing these things. Makes me happy to go to work tomorrow knowing I'll be saving more :P
Thanks for the group of folks who got this place rolling! What an awesome resource!
PS: As you can tell, I'm the guy on the forums that writes books when he joins.
PSS: It's 12:03 am. Happy monday :P