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Sounds like you have a good grip on all the stuff that is the foundation of hypermiling.
As far as gear choice and speed, I think you want to be in top gear as often/as long as possible. For me, if that means a lil bit of speeding in town, so be it (ex: In an a/t car going fast enough to get converter lock-up if I think it won't result in a ticket. BTW, I've found you can back off up to 5 mph from lock-up before it unlocks again) and conversely out on the highway if it means being a lil under the limit, OK. In m/t cars I'll often skip-shift. I tend to ignore my time or the value of it as far as speed selection goes since A) I don't monetize my time and B) In all but the longest trips, the time effects of speed are quite insignificant anyway.
As far as "best car" choice, you can look at what the top performers are driving- Civics, Metros, Priuii, and the like. IMHO people who do more metro-area driving can wring more out of hybrids while people who do a lil small town driving/ more open highway cruising are better off without hybrid expense and complexity.
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