Which car would you buy manual trans for hypermiling?

[doomz78]

i found it. The ultimate value. Bigger, manual tran. reliable, Overall beauty ride.

2007 camry se 4 cylinder. for 10000$. 30mpg on average for this car with no hypermiling. I can get this thing to 40mpg.. maybe 45 with eoc.

So this car vs the cruze eco makes more sense. Cruze is better on gas but would of set me back 10 grand. If i spend 3000$ on gas with the camry at 40mpg the cruze makes no sense. if i squeezed 50mpg out of the cruze spending approx. 2400$ on gas thats only a saving of 600$ per year. So it would take me 15 years of owning the cruze to make up the price difference. My original assumption that buying new is stupid still stands. Simple math explains this fully.

My current 2006 altima for arguements sake gets about 30mpg. I spend about 3750$ in gas per year. Im selling it for 7000$. Im buying the Camry for roughly 11000$ when all is said and done. So that's a 4000$ lost. But since i think i can squeeze between 40-45mpg on the new camry i should be able to make up that difference in less then 4 years. So in conclusion:

1. I upgrade to to a better car.
2. I enjoy manual trans.
3. And it costs me nothing.

I may or may not wait a few months to make this deal. My altima is paid off so it`s hard for me to let it go. I guess i needed to write all this to make sense of everything. I guess I don`t hypermile to save the environment, I do it cause im cheap. lol And i enjoy the challenge.

[SentraSE-R]

I like your math. Sounds like a win-win situation! It may be harder than you think to get 40 mpg with a Camry, but keep us informed on your progress.

[cfg83]

doomz78 -

A Family Sedan + manual + 4-banger. Great Job!

CarloSW2

[usergone]

As much as I dislike minivans, the Mazda5 stands out to me. You can get their 6 speed manual with it

Starting at 19K base. Rated for 21/28 mpg (but we could smoke those numbers). Unfortunately it is a new car.

[doomz78]

i recently bought a scan gauge 2. my 2006 altima is apparently churning out 36.2 mpg overall. I calibrated the engine and speed to make sure it was accurate. Im starting to doubt the need for a new car. I will only get better at this as time goes on. I have put 1474 miles so far and it seems that even with an automatic driving style and EOC makes a huge difference. I go down hills at 60mph in neutral. This Scan Gauge is telling me that im getting 100mpg-200mpg while i do this.

All i did was empty my car. including jack and spare tire. I have free roadside with my insurance

Engine on coast
Neutral whenever I can
turn off the car at lights
grill block with gorilla tape.. Don`t laugh (;
Air Cond. off most of the time.
Tires at 51psi max for my yokohama`s
Overall better driving.
Very simple stuff and im getting Great mileage. Im still curious to see what i could get with a manual transmission. EOC would bring me to the next level.. but if i can keep 36mpg on this mid size automatic I think that`s pretty good. Any suggestions to get me to 40mpg on the automatic altima

[SentraSE-R]

Don't believe the Scangauge until you've calibrated it against actual fuel used. I owned a MT Sentra SE-R with the same QR25DE engine that's in your Altima. I'm a serious hypermiler, but was only able to average 38 mpg over 20,000 miles with the lighter Sentra and a manual transmission that allows engine-off coasting. I doubt very much that an automatic Altima can average much better than the low 30 mpg range in mixed driving, or mid-30s on highway trips, unless you have exceptional conditions.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by doomz78

...I go down hills at 60mph in neutral. This Scan Gauge is telling me that im getting 100mpg-200mpg while i do this.

...

Im still curious to see what i could get with a manual transmission. EOC would bring me to the next level.. but if i can keep 36mpg on this mid size automatic I think that`s pretty good. Any suggestions to get me to 40mpg on the automatic altima

With a manual you will be able to coast on steeper downhill slopes in a high gear where the engine is in fuel shut off mode. Your SG will read MPGs in four figures. A couple of times when calibrating I managed to overloaded it to read negative MPGs at this point, the max is 9999.9.

In / out of gear depends on the slope, on more gentle ones are where speed can be better maintained out of gear, steeper ones can use a high gear so the compression of the engine doesn't do much other than act as a mild brake.

Not sure if you can lock a gear in an auto, but I think it still free wheels ?

[pete c]

I have an '09 manual Sonata. I tried engine off coasting a few times but was not comfortable with it at all. The steering goes extremely heavy. I used to EOC my trusty old 91 accord LX just about everywhere. The steering effort with the engine off was barely noticable. Another thing is the headlights automatically go out with ignition off in the sonata, making me blind in addition to unable to steer, at night. Not a good combo.

Question about neutral coasting a slushbox. Isn't it harmful to the trannies health?

[redpoint5]

I see Doom hasn't been active in a few months...

I'm driving my dream 6-speed manual now and employing some hypermiler tricks. I've got a 210hp car that is turning out 32mpg on regular (87 PON) fuel. The TSX has got one of the lowest Coefficient of Drag of all the cars out there, stock from the factory. My real dream car would be my TSX with a small turbo-charged diesel engine. One can dream...

I rarely EOC because I often have the GPS on, which relies on the ignition staying in the run position. Turning off the engine results in loss of navigation. Also, I have concerns that repeatedly dropping oil pressure to zero, and then starting the car back up again can't be good for the engine. Really I only tend to EOC when I coast to my final parked destination.

I have very negative experiences with every VW I have owned and from everyone I have known to have one, regardless of model or year. VW builds absolute rubbish despite their excellent FE. You won't be saving any money buying VW considering how often it will leave you stranded, require maintenance, and the premium you pay for the make.

As far as safety, I would not EOC with family aboard for the following reasons:

1. Your brake booster will only supply enough pressure for about 2 firm stomps and after that the brakes become extremely difficult to operate.

2. Loss of power steering causing extremely difficult steering.

3. Loss of ABS (I'm usually better off without ABS, but most people benefit from it).

Originally Posted by pete c

Question about neutral coasting a slushbox. Isn't it harmful to the trannies health?

No harm will be done to the tranny. The slushbox does not have forced lubrication. The gears will be bathed in oil just the same as if the vehicle were running.