Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post

accord_minded · 08-19-2014, 01:00 PM

Hi All-- It's great to be involved in this community!

So, I joined up a month or so ago after hearing about hypermiling from my brother. My situation is that I bought a 2004 Accord EX 4-cyl AT last December. Before that, we were a one-car family and since I had a 2.0 mile commute, I either walked or biked to work. Did that for 3 or 4 years and was feeling very virtuous.

Well, for many reasons I won't go in to, I am now faced with a 72 mile (EACH WAY) commute. So my commute just increased by, oh, 70 miles! On the good side is that it is almost all highway with little traffic. So, I don't have any stop-and-go stuff which would surely make it undoable. As it is, I can cover the 72 miles in either 65 minutes (without hypermiling) or 75 minutes (with hypermiling). With such a long commute I want to maximize my fuel efficiency. Also just want to do it with the car I have (2004 Accord) rather than get another car.

So I have a phased approach to improving fuel efficiency:

Phase I is just learn the hypermiling techniques. The only addition to the car is a SCII just so I could learn how it works and get used to it.
Phase II is to do the basic aero mods (air dam, lower grill block, upper grill block, passenger mirror delete, wheel covers, increase tire pressure). Also will get a vacuum gauge.
Phase III is a Kammback and maybe some other more advanced mechanical changes.

So, the results are in for Phase I: Hypermiling.

Baseline:

I have 2 baseline runs where I just drove normally with highway speeds (75-80 around here); liberal use of A/C; just driving as I used to drive. Tire pressure set to badge values 32F/30R.
After two fill-ups, my baseline average MPG is 28.47.

Hypermiling:
After completing the baselines, I started hypermiling.

What I'm doing: all the standard stuff, but no EOC (since my automatic transmission won't be happy with that). No A/C. Windows up. DWL, DWB, P&G, engine off while stopped, etc.
Tires still at 32F/30R.
After three fill-ups under hypermiling driving conditions, my average MPG is 33.82.
That's a 5.35 MPG increase or 18.8%!

Plus I can easily get to 500 miles on a tank which is really pleasing.

I'm prepping all the mods for Phase II all at once and then will install them all on the same day and on a mostly empty tank. Once the mods are on, I'll fill up and start Phase II testing which will be hypermiling and basic aeromods.

So rather than the incremental approach of: install one aeromod, measure results; install second aeromod, measure results; etc., I'm going to go with the all-at-once approach.

My goal is to be able to get to 40MPG and 600 miles on a tank. So, I'll need to increase fuel efficiency by another 15.5%. Doable?

08-19-2014, 01:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
accord_minded Is this thing on? Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Central, NC Posts: 40 The Wilbert - '04 Honda Accord EX Team Honda 90 day: 37.54 mpg (US) Thanks: 22 Thanked 41 Times in 10 Posts	Phase I Complete: 18.8% Increase Hi All-- It's great to be involved in this community! So, I joined up a month or so ago after hearing about hypermiling from my brother. My situation is that I bought a 2004 Accord EX 4-cyl AT last December. Before that, we were a one-car family and since I had a 2.0 mile commute, I either walked or biked to work. Did that for 3 or 4 years and was feeling very virtuous. Well, for many reasons I won't go in to, I am now faced with a 72 mile (EACH WAY) commute. So my commute just increased by, oh, 70 miles! On the good side is that it is almost all highway with little traffic. So, I don't have any stop-and-go stuff which would surely make it undoable. As it is, I can cover the 72 miles in either 65 minutes (without hypermiling) or 75 minutes (with hypermiling). With such a long commute I want to maximize my fuel efficiency. Also just want to do it with the car I have (2004 Accord) rather than get another car. So I have a phased approach to improving fuel efficiency: Phase I is just learn the hypermiling techniques. The only addition to the car is a SCII just so I could learn how it works and get used to it. Phase II is to do the basic aero mods (air dam, lower grill block, upper grill block, passenger mirror delete, wheel covers, increase tire pressure). Also will get a vacuum gauge. Phase III is a Kammback and maybe some other more advanced mechanical changes. So, the results are in for Phase I: Hypermiling. Baseline: I have 2 baseline runs where I just drove normally with highway speeds (75-80 around here); liberal use of A/C; just driving as I used to drive. Tire pressure set to badge values 32F/30R. After two fill-ups, my baseline average MPG is 28.47. Hypermiling: After completing the baselines, I started hypermiling. What I'm doing: all the standard stuff, but no EOC (since my automatic transmission won't be happy with that). No A/C. Windows up. DWL, DWB, P&G, engine off while stopped, etc. Tires still at 32F/30R. After three fill-ups under hypermiling driving conditions, my average MPG is 33.82. That's a 5.35 MPG increase or 18.8%! Plus I can easily get to 500 miles on a tank which is really pleasing. I'm prepping all the mods for Phase II all at once and then will install them all on the same day and on a mostly empty tank. Once the mods are on, I'll fill up and start Phase II testing which will be hypermiling and basic aeromods. So rather than the incremental approach of: install one aeromod, measure results; install second aeromod, measure results; etc., I'm going to go with the all-at-once approach. My goal is to be able to get to 40MPG and 600 miles on a tank. So, I'll need to increase fuel efficiency by another 15.5%. Doable?