Any tips for a paper deliver guy?
 

I drive a 1990 Toyota Camry wagon with a 2.0 and an automatic transmission (unfortunately I can't tell you the average mileage I get because my odometer and speedometer doesn't work, and don't have the money to fix it right now).

I deliver papers in it, so obviously I'm doing constant stop and go over about 60 miles. I spend on average about $70.00 a week with gas prices anywhere from $3.98 to $4.05 a gallon.

I've done a few of those hypermiling tricks (things like only hitting the gas enough to move the car when it's safe to do it, throw it neutral when coming to stops. According to my handheld GPS device I've got, (which I don't know of it's accuracy, but since my speedo doesn't work it's the best I've got) this morning alone going 78.68 miles my overall average speed was 21mph, the moving average was 25.2, max speed was 48mph (would've been lower, but the speed limit on the road I was doing that on ranges from 55 to 45).

Total driving 3hrs 42 minutes, moving time was 3hrs 7 minutes and the car was stopped 35 minutes (of which, it was shut off).

Is there anything more I can do?

And a bike is unfortunately out of the question, would make it take too long and I have a bad left leg as it is.

Thanks in advance. :)

P.S. Where can I snag a ScanGuage or equivilant that will work in my car?

You should check out the MPGuino for your car, but it's still in the DIY stages.

What's the distance between stops for you? I would look into heavy EOC.

Welcome to ecomodder!

It varies from blocks to miles. There are chunks that are pretty self contained, but overall I've got maybe ...... 75 to 80 stops in a span of about 60 miles.

And EOC? heh

This is a tough one.

First: other than the odo/speedo, is the car is otherwise in good tune, with tires properly inflated?

Driving without brakes (DWB) and engine off coasting would dramatically improve fuel economy, but (1) I don't know if it's mechanically safe for your particular automatic transmission; and, (2) how much extra time are you willing to spend on your route?

DWB (with or without EOC) will significantly increase the amount of time spent on the road in a mailbox-to-mailbox delivery scenario.

As for mods, off the top of my head, aggressive weight reduction would help in your situation.

The car is mechanically sound, had the spark plugs, brakes, alternator and a little piece of the exhaust that messed up replaced.

I don't do too many mailboxes, mostly just toss them in the driveway. I've cut down on the weight as much as I can. The way I'm doing it now takes about 2 and a half hours, getting done at about 7:30, I might be able to squeeze out another half an hour, but I pride myself on two things with my route - #1) NONE of my stops know who I am and #2) I very rarely ever get complaints. :P Finishing at 8:00 might lead to complaints when my boss is fronting me the money to buy a laptop when I find one worth getting on Craigslist or somethin. :P

Too many complaints he might not do that. :)

Oh, and another thing I've been doing is taking as much time as I need to get up to speed since I'm usually the only person on the road. In those times I never push down on the gas more than about an inch and throw it into neutral for the downhill parts and just let it creep up to the stop sign.

There's even a few that I run all together. heh

Ah found the definition for EOC, no can do. Too paranoid to do that, and I'd be turning my car on and off probably a hundred times throughout the night. From what I've read, that's not a real good idea with automatic transmissions, and I've got a lot of real sharp turns I've gotta make, and I like having power steering. :P

Think it'd be worth it to take out the full size spare in favor of a few cans of Fix-a-Flat? Or is that just wishful thinking. :P

It will make a very, very small difference. EPA says a 100 lbs reduction is worth 1-2% improvement in fuel economy (though they don't say what kind of car that's based on).

I think the very first step, if you haven't done already, is to start logging your fuel consumption. You need to know where you are now to know whether you're improving or not.

Smaller car? In my neck of the woods, your car would be worth $2-3000 if it isn't too rusty. Probably it would be tough to beat your car for reliability though, I wouldn't bet on Geo Metro over a Camry but it would use less gas although maybe your leg wouldn't like pumping a clutch?

If you can accurately keep track of your total mileage on your GPS, try accelerating abit faster for a tank of gas, your engine and torque converter might be more efficient at 1/3 throttle than 1/6 for example. Gives a shorter pulse with a longer glide.
Ian

heh My car's driver side fender is rusted through and a few other smaller spots, but overall not too bad. I'm guesstimating it has around 210,000 miles on it. I had an '88 Camry sedan a few years ago, when I was forced to get rid of it, it had almost 700,000 miles on it (smacking into really big dogs at 60+ mph doesn't help a car that much, just though I'd let ya know. heh).

But if I run across another Ford Aspire or a Geo Metro or somethin, given what I do I'll jump on it. :P

And in response to IndyIan, basically hit the gas a little harder than what I've been doing then throw it in neutral until I get to my stop? (That's how I interpret it)