100+ hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics

[Wayneburg]

I'm thrilled I was able to contribute to the list with suggestion number 105.

I'd like to suggest another...

Shop at stores that are higher in elevation than your home if possible. If you drive uphill to a store, you are driving just yourself and maybe some passengers. When you pack your car with shopping items you can coast downhill to your home and save gas by not having to use extra gas on moving those shopping items.

Thanks
Wayne B.

[modmonster]

when reversing and then going forward again -don't use the engine to stop your reverse, use the brake.

[i_am_socket]

Here's one I noticed on my commute home the other day:

Use E-Z Pass (or similar) if you commute on toll roads.

Especially handy with high-speed (55 mph) toll passes, but definitely avoids the idling in lines, stop-and-go, accelerate from a stop that the normal toll lines involve.

[claytori]

Since winter is approaching, I can offer a bit more on using a radiator blocker. I use a piece of 1/4" plywood with several 4" diameter holes in it. The rad is at least 70% blocked. The holes are located such that the electric fans will pull through them. This works to limit the amount of air passing through the engine compartment. The engine warms up much more quickly. The remaining rad area is more than sufficient to cool the engine in cold temperatures. A side benefit is you get heat from the heater faster.

One other tip - Terrain. If you have a choice between a hilly route and a flat one the flat one will use less fuel.

[SVOboy]

I think others will agree with me that flat isn't always best for FE, especially if EOC is employed.

[KJSatz]

Well if you're doing a roundtrip, I think flat would be better.

[gdcwatt]

The effects of hypermiliing are obvious in and around Toronto: it takes longer to get anywhere, and I use MORE fuel. HYPERMILING IS PENALIZING PEOPLE WITH FUEL EFFICIENT CARS. Sorry, but I made a choice to not buy an SUV, or a minivan, so I'd appreciate it if those here who did would move over and let the rest of us go! Other hypermiler's selfish driving habbits, for example, mean I spend more time getting into a higher gear, I often have to downshift from 6th to 4th gear when others slow going up a hill... Recognize, though, that I'm not really complaining, I'm just explaining.

Frankly, when I drove my semi-race prepped Civic Si (sold long ago) I NEVER worried when I got 7.0L/100km during a "bad week"; a good week was 6.2L. In hindsight I figure the modifications compensated for all the tens-of-thousands of miles I drove over 130, 140, 150kph, and the way I drive...6,500-7,200rpm shifts, but minimal braking for corners and an ability to navigate around moving chicanes in a small car = lots of fun just getting there.

I'm disappointed that since my last post not much of a techical nature has been added. I purposefully left off things like "...consider disconnecting your car's powersteering belt, if you have a light car and are strong enough..." to see "who else out there is reading this".

Having put 200,000km on a smaller 4wd vehicle I am always amazed that people so often berate those with 4x4's while completely overlooking things like their ability to pull into traffic from a sidestreet - "more" safely - on a wet or snowy road. The alternative is often massive understeer which millions of people compensate for with longer wait times, looking for a "safe gap". Sounds like there's a hypermiling thread here, but it's probably too complex for many to grasp, unfortunately. Better educated drivers, from a practical and techical point of view, would be a start, and at least ecomodder.com is getting some people who used to not think about "how" their car works to now do so. I can appreciate that bimmerguy's frustration with this website, but I want to make a contribution although I often look at things coming from the other direction.

Reading some older replies here, I'd like to make some more comments: the size of wheels on race cars in certain classes is limited by the rules, not necessarily the engineers or drivers; during the blackout I ran a series of appliances in my house using an inverter connected to a 3.0L Dodge Caravan for 4 hours while the gas guage never seemed to move from "full" meaning that idle time wasn't so fuelish.

I'm off, now, to check the refurbishment of the heavy "steelies" with my winter tires. I sanded the rust off yesterday - and no, that wasn't to make them lighter... - prior to repainting. The cost of a lighter-weight set of alloy rims in Canada has typically been double that for US customers. Higher taxes, the low dollar, shipping costs, significant duties and lots of red tape for the individual might lead some to think governments wanted us to use more fuel; if Canadians don't use more energy per capita than any other nation on earth then we're number 2. Various Cdn governments have added taxes to our energy costs, and as the price or volume of energy consumption - or both - increases, so does tax revenue. I accept that, but the price of fuel was, in the past, never part of my preference for smaller, lighter, more manouverable cars, although I think it's great that other people are paying for govt programs for me that way.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by gdcwatt

I'm disappointed that since my last post not much of a techical nature has been added.

I'm disappointed that you're not looking closely enough before making comments:

50+ Efficiency Mods

PS - it's kind of ridiculous to (a) generally assign blame for the fact that you can't drive as fast as you want on hypermilers, and (b) expect that you'd be able to reach anyone you may encounter on your commute here.

Please try to rein in the hyperbole.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by KJSatz

Well if you're doing a roundtrip, I think flat would be better.

I think Ben was referring to using "pulse up" and "glide down". In the right kind of hilly terrain, he could get better mileage doing that than on a flat route.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by modmonster

when reversing and then going forward again -don't use the engine to stop your reverse, use the brake.

Assuming you're not coasting to a stop in N , good point! I'll add that.

Originally Posted by Wayneburg

Shop at stores that are higher in elevation than your home if possible. If you drive uphill to a store, you are driving just yourself and maybe some passengers. When you pack your car with shopping items you can coast downhill to your home and save gas by not having to use extra gas on moving those shopping items.

That's a dedicated level of route planning! I'll add that too.