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Old 01-05-2014, 09:02 PM   #2 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,534

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 57.73 mpg (US)
Thanks: 4,082
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Nothing worse than a stop or sharp corner at the bottom of a hill!

One solution: drive a hybrid or EV. Not being facetious. That's one of their strengths: instead of wasting the kinetic energy you built up going downhill on burning through brake pads, you can stuff a good amount of that energy back into the battery through regenerative coasting/braking and use it later when it's most useful (ie. going up the next hill).

Next car, maybe?

1) Regular vehicle: your best bet is to crest the hill at the slowest practical speed (meaning: you haven't wasted fuel by building more speed than required, because you now have to decelerate)

2) Engine brake to the bottom using as little (or no) fuel as possible.

3) Use 1&2 together to avoid using the friction brakes as much as possible.

Does your pickup have deceleration fuel cut-off? If so, depending on the RPM at which it activates, you may have to downshift to activate it.
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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
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