2006 Altmia 2.5S automatic experiment

[dumont]

Hi everyone,

I learnt about hypermiling a few weeks ago and I find it fun and very addictive. And considering I spend 300$/month on gas I want to see if I can shave 50% off that bill. So this is what I will do in the next month.
A few facts to begin.
a)My commute to work is 31.07miles round trip.
b)it takes me approx. 20 minutes each way. 40 minutes round trip to commute every day. With NO hypermiling. For an average speed of 46.60mph.
c) commute has plenty of hills and a few straight aways. 5 stop lights. I generally miss most of them. Maybe hit 1 or 2 a trip. 20%city and 80%backroads.

So as the title states I am driving a 2006 automatic altima 2.5s with 112000miles. New spark Plugs, new Yokohama yk520 tire with a 33psi in all. Mobile 1 synthetic always used and all fluids are always changed on time. And I do live in Canada so the weather is becoming very cold.

So my experiment will consist of
a) MILEAGE avg of 2 tanks.driving regular speed. avg agresiveness. Not using any obvious hypermiling techniques. Speed always above 10mph. of speed limit (avg) MILEAGE avg of 2 tanks. Stop in traffic and never in neutral.
b) Mileage with 10 major hypermiling techniques 2 tank average. Neutral out of parking spots, 2200RPM maximum acceleration unless unsafe to do so.. 1900RPM when cruising..49.7mph in the altima. Max. Neutral going down hills (engine on), and when timing a red light. And when waiting at a red light engine off. Going up hills I will de-accalerate if car wants to change gears. Using cruise control of course and accelerating softly always.

So I want to see if there is a major benefit to hypermiling with an automatic car. I will then calculate the Avg MPG of both tests and relay it to fuel saving on a weekly/monthly/yearly avg. basis. Wish me luck. I started on my first tank already. I will post results in the next week or so. and once and for all... should I cost in neutral with engine off??? with an automatic. Or is this unsafe?

[dumont]

so i looked back at my mileage log from the last years worth of gas tanks.. 62 to be exact. I averaged 323.11 miles per tank. 304 being my worst and 339 being my best.

After one tank of hypermiling I've hit 403.89. Promising start. 20% gain. I will have more tanks and hopefully I can beat this result. I have noticed that I am becoming a much better pulse and glider. On my 15.53 mile commute I manged to coast in neutral with engine off for 5 miles. Every day Im getting a bit better. And I rarely ever make a full stop. Im getting better at this. And if I do stop for some reason the engine gets turned off. so how do I take this to the next level? I want 500miles on one tank!!lol Ive also taken out the spare and jack. (40lbs) all the junk is gone out of my car. That was about 5lbs. The sun visors and sun glasses holder. Maybe 1lb. Does weight reduction make a big difference? it seems like the next 100lbs will be much harder to strip.

[SVOboy]

Are you calculating fuel economy or just miles per tank? Make sure you do the actual MPG math. Inputting your info in the EcoModder garage can help you (and us) keep track of your gains.

Weight is a pain, but it's not as big of a deal as many people make it out to be. Have you considered a grill block for the winter?

[dumont]

I do keep all the records so yes.. my avg mpg has been 22.75mpg.

This tank MPG was 27.28mpg. So im encouraged here. If I get 30mpg on the next tank i will begin to get happy. I wonder if 40mpg is possible on this car? I guess that Scan Gauge 2 would help me out here.

Should I get a grill block? So i just shove a piece of insulated/foil stuff in front of the grill? Yes I would do it. Would this help my car heat up? MPG increase?

[user removed]

You should make sure that your Altima is capable of EOC with out transmission damage.
Not trying to be a pain but I think you shoud check to see if the primary pump needs to provide pressure for lubrication of the transmission parts.

regards
Mech