From this very good 100+ tips, here are the one I found the most useful and I talk about when talking about ecodriving/hypermiling :
The top 3 before getting into the car :
- Join a fuel economy forum : which permitted me to learn a lot of things
- Track your fuel consumption : which will permit me to see my improvements and will make me want to improve more, and more, and more...
- Take the road less traveled : not only I won gas, but also time and happiness :-)
The top 3 once I'm inside car :
- Constant throttle position cruising : I'm even releasing the accelerator until the car looses a small speed. At this point if I release more the accelerator I know I will loose much more speed, so I'm at a "best efficiency" point for current conditions.
- "Drive without brakes" (DWB) : currently I'm coasting in "deceleration fuel cut-off" mode (in gear, above a certain engine RPM : 1250 for my megane)
- Manual transmission, cruise in high gear : I'm trying to keep my engine near the best torque's RPM. For my megane the best torque is at 2000rpm, so I gear-up at 2250rpm and when limited at 90km/h I run at 85km/h which matches 2000rpm.
A few things I will try to improve :
- Reduce speed : in city I'm trying to drive at speed limit while I'm trying to drive at 5-10% under out of city. This is certainly a place where I can still improve myself.
- Use a fuel consumption display : I may by a SG, but I'm not sure it's compatible with my car and European resellers doesn't (want to) know.
I may also try to do a few ecomodding, such as grille block and rear wheel skirts, but I have to convince more than me before to be allowed to do it...
Thanks a lot to all who are building that site day after day.
Life long and prosper ;-)
Denis.