Whew! Between bimmer and watt this thread is about to self-destruct, so let's see if we can take this back toward its original intention - helping each other get better fuel mileage, whether the issue is money/ environment/ carbon/ whales/ terrorists/ whatever.
When I started adjusting the nut behind the wheel of the Intrigue (man, I love that car: 30 mpg on a good day, and still get you to the hospital NOW!...don't ask...) I found out pretty quickly that in this part of the world (Ozarks Hills of Missouri) that the pulse-and-glide over the hills idea, with A/C on only going downhill, and keeping the torque convertor locked in going uphill by backing down off of the throttle as needed are my 5 personal best <EDIT: well, combining a couple for one> ideas for hypermiling. Even my "lazy man's" way of doing it - just reaching over and hitting the A/C compressor button with the cruise on
gained me an mpg or two on summer/defrosting driving. I was amazed at how much longer the torque convertor stayed locked in doing it like that up a hill, and my car has the variable displacement compressor, that varies with incoming pressure.
So, it looks like my numbers are 47/50/56/74/88, or pretty close to that. I'm Intrigued, and I approve this message!
