Hypermiling tech that damages car parts

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by jakobnev

My "money saved" already exeeds the cost of buying the car.

I'm fractionally there- in 6 months and 12k miles, I've spent $2682 on payments and gas for the Honda. That's $232 less than the Xterra at its EPA rating would have cost me in gas alone.

I was killing myself to beat the Xterra's 15 mpg rating, and hypermiling the Honda is as simple as driving it gently- measuring the Honda against what I was managing to eke out of the Xterra puts me $369 behind (but a lot more relaxed, in a reliable and legal car). When I finally get around to soldering up my kill switch, I won't even have that horrible impending cost of a new ignition lock cylinder looming over my head.

And while I try not to bring too much momentum into a turn (it's a bit wasteful), I won't stop carrying what I've got through the turns even if I can hear it.

[user removed]

At the rate of wear now on the Fiesta tires (originals at 30k @25%) it will be another 7 years before they are bald. One of those years I start worrying about it when they are at 75%, twice as much as they have already gone or about 90k miles total before replacement.

Proper ecodriving means a lot of parts last a lot longer. Transmission gets a lot more shifting in neutral than it is supposed to, but that is more clutch actuation wear and less gear to gear friction, probably a wash.

My VX had at least 65% of the original brake pads at 62k miles on the originals.

regards
Mech

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

My strategy: Leave vehicles stationary; walk or bike everywhere.

Walking and biking everywhere is a good thing, but why have multiple cars then when 1 is more than enough? I guess someone could imagine it's a bit of a waste of insurance, taxes, and fees and such, but I suspect you just love have the cars to mess with and plan mods for. I should ride the bike more, but I am apparently not as enthusiastic about biking as I was before moving from the Old Country to California.

[mcrews]

I put 270,000 on the Infiniti Q45 thanks to 'econodding'! Driving easy extended the life of that car!

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by mcrews

I put 270,000 on the Infiniti Q45 thanks to 'econodding'! Driving easy extended the life of that car!

Yeah, that's my experience too. Brake pads last forever, because I rarely use them. So does engine oil, because the engine is so often off. Tires? I have maybe 6 year old, second hand Michelin Harmonys on the rear wheels and they're virtually unchanged in tread depth. I check them frequently because of how old the rubber is... but they keep holding pressure (55-60 psi) and the look fine. My alternator is also generally off.

[mcrews]

BRAKES!!!!
I cant remember how long my pads were lasting but it seemed to go on forever!!!! One the Infiniti forums all the Q45/M45 owners complained about the "warped rotors"!!! I kept telling them to slow down!!! only put on one set in 270k miles.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Xist

I remember Dad drove me somewhere in his Focus and took a corner at 50 MPH with a sign suggesting 25

Err... Doesn't everyone? Excluding little old ladies and such, of course.

[deejaaa]

Originally Posted by theaveng

There are some techniques I think are a bad idea:

- forced autostop because it wears-out the ignition switch
- to neutral & then back in gear, because it wears-out the clutch faster
- "death turns" that make tires squeal & lose rubber

I prefer not to waste money repairing stuff.

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Whatever.

X2.

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by theaveng

There are some techniques I think are a bad idea:

- forced autostop because it wears-out the ignition switch
- to neutral & then back in gear, because it wears-out the clutch faster
- "death turns" that make tires squeal & lose rubber

I prefer not to waste money repairing stuff.

I think that's crap.
I work where we use 6.0, 6.4 and 6.7L ford diesel truck. The messed up way the rules are written we are required to stop and restart the trucks up to 100 times a day 5 to 7 days a week for the life of the truck, around 10 years.

I have seen 2 or 3 bad ignition switches in 11 years of doing this. We use and abuse the starters about 20 times as much as the average person, they seem to last about half as long as what I would expect under normal use.

Slippage wares out the clutch, run time and age appears to wear out throw out bearings not numbers of cycles.

I don't know how death turns relate to hyper mileing.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Err... Doesn't everyone? Excluding little old ladies and such, of course.

I thought it was called ' the slingshot approach to corners'!