Baby's first EOC

[piers.singer]

After months of reading the collective exploits of the Ecomodder forum but sans voiture, I finally got my chance to put into practice some hyper-miling techniques today.

Having returned home from university, I took the family Peugeot 206 back to my student place to move my things out. The journey is approx. 86 miles each way. I pumped up the tyres to 44 psi (of course) and set off - I started off with some neutral coasting but soon gained the confidence to try EOC. Wafting along in almost complete silence is a little diconcerting at first! My concern, however, is the gutless 1124cc engine, often my pulses are as long as my glides. Is this ultimately going to reduce efficiency? I try to keep a constant throttle otherwise. I did get some good drafts off lorries though, the improved aero efficiency was usually the only way that I could get some decent P&G, unless I was going downhill.

This hypermiling lark is a laugh though, never had so much fun at 55mph! As an aside, I noticed that on a particularly long coast with the engine off, the electric trip meter wasn't changing, so when I compared the trip readout with the Google Maps trip distance, it turned out that I'd gone with the engine off for over 10 miles! That's about 6% of the entire trip distance, which is not too bad considering that most of the journey is motorway.

Anyway, no figures as of yet, I'll brim the tank when I get back after the second trip tomorrow. My best-ever tank in this car is 46mpg(imp)/38(US), so I'm hoping to beat that. Fingers crossed!

[SentraSE-R]

Originally Posted by piers.singer

My concern, however, is the gutless 1124cc engine, often my pulses are as long as my glides. Is this ultimately going to reduce efficiency?

Yes, your efficiency is much higher when glides are three to ten times longer than pulses. I find at higher speeds (45-55 mph) my pulse to glide ratio is typically 1:1 up to 1:2, and my mpg average is only about 45-50 mpg. When my speeds are 25-40 mph, my p:g ratio is 1:3, and my mpgs are 50-60 mpg. Slowing to 15-30 mph, my p:g ratio rises to 1:5 and my mpgs are 65-75 mpg. Slowing to 10-20 mph, my p:g ratio is 1:10, and I've gotten nearly 95 mpg.

[Brillig]

I read with interest your EOC trial.
I will not be so brave, my 'gas' powered Ford Escort has power steering, and brakes (the Lazy American in me!) - though it does have manual 5 speed.
Wish I could get a 'gutless 1124cc engine' option standard (no Major Project to install a thriftier engine)- a 'Macho' 1.9 L is as 'gutless' as we could get in our Ford Escort when new.
Cheers!
Will
a.k.a. stobor

[JRMichler]

My experience agrees with Sentra's. I drive speed limit up to 5 or 6 MPH over the limit up to 55 MPH. In my truck at these speeds, DWL works better than EOC. I EOC for long downhills and for speed changes.

[SentraSE-R]

Originally Posted by Brillig

I read with interest your EOC trial.
I will not be so brave, my 'gas' powered Ford Escort has power steering, and brakes (the Lazy American in me!) - though it does have manual 5 speed.

No car needs power steering when it's rolling >15 mph. Steering effort doesn't ramp up until you drop to parallel parking speeds. Inflating your tires within 5 psi of the maximum sidewall pressure lightens your steering effort considerably.

With power brakes, you get about three stabs at the brakes before you lose power assist. All you have to do is bump start your engine again briefly to be ready for more braking.

Practice EOC in an industrial park on a weekend. I think you'll find your worries about power steering and brakes are baseless.

[jamesjweg]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

No car needs power steering when it's rolling >15 mph. Steering effort doesn't ramp up until you drop to parallel parking speeds. --snip--

I would argue that depends a LOT on the vehicle. Some really do take a tremendous amount of strength to turn even at city street speeds without power assist.

James.

[Arragonis]

Well done. That 1124 engine is as old as God and was a desperate move in the 206, which I understand weighs as much as a mid-90s Poxhaul Cavalier.

The weight helps of coasting though.

[piers.singer]

Thanks for the advice, Sentra, it came in very handy! I got my P&G ratio to about a minimum of 1:4 in the end.

Arragonis, I've always hated this engine! I've been lusting after a Renault Clio with a nice 16v engine (So, Mr. Singer, about these dreams you've been having...) but this is what I'm lumped with for now. My father (who owns the car) has also forbidden any modifications beyond a Scangauge and moon hubcaps, so I haven't a whole lot to work with.

Anyway, I just typed out a long-ass reply but the forum saw fit to log me out half-way through and delete it all, so I'll cut to the chase. Firstly, bear in mind that my previous best tank (46Imp/38US) was mixed driving whereas this one would be mostly motorway miles, so I was expecting to top it.

Not by this much though: 64.5Imp/53.7US!

Here's how I did it:

- Low speed, constant-ish throttle cruising. Tended to cruise between 50-55mph on as little throttle as I could get away with.

- Brisk acceleration. It took me a little while to get my head around this one, but I feel that I have proved to myself the virtues of giving it more boot for a shorter duration (more efficient) as opposed to gently accelerating for longer.

- P&G and EOC. Although the rapidly undulating terrain of the M25 makes it more naturally suited to DWL, there are some good opportunities for P&G. I saw some hench coasting action at times, as much as two miles with no engine. On that note...

- Turn that thing off! I found as many excuses to turn my engine off as was practically possible. During P&G, coasting to a stop, at the lights and in traffic jams. After a nervous start, eventually all of my coasting was EOC unless I felt that I could not confidently proceed in a safe manner without the aid of power steering and brakes.

Ultimately, I think that what most influenced my fuel economy for the better were changing my style of acceleration and keeping the engine off whilst stationary. It's always the little things.

I hope that you'll be happy to know that there's one more nut out there being gradually adjusted

[Arragonis]

Woooo! Congratulations - given the weight and lack of mods that is truly superb

Can I nominate you as mod of the quarter ?

[piers.singer]

Thanks, man. Truth be told, I'd taken the rear seats out, but only to make space to lug stuff, so the weight penalty remained, I should think.

Being a self-deprecating Englishman, you can well expect me to say that there must be someone else more worthy of nomination, but don't listen to me, I'd be honoured if you did