Confessional

[Blue07CivicEX]

So, I have heard other people hint at this, but if people want to vent their hypermiling mistakes and moments of weakness.

My past couple of tanks I have been struggling to keep it close to 40mpg due to many different conditions including, being frustrated with work, driving lots of short trips around town with the fiancee and not EOCing and using the AC on these trips, wasting a 300 mile highway drive by going 77mph cause I was in a hurry to get home and see her before she went to bed and other dumb drivers pulling the aggressive drive out in me.

These are a few of my mistakes that I have been struggling to overcome I welcome yours.

[Johnny Mullet]

I had to go to Cleveland, Ohio for a Dr's appointment today and figured it would be easier and more efficient to take a State Route instead of the Interstate. What a mistake that was! First off, I was fighting a strong headwind all the way there. As I got into the Cleveland suburbs, the traffic was horrible and the construction zones did not make it easier. Not only that, it was 87 degrees and I had to have the windows down to keep my wife and I somewhat comfortable.

In town, I drove normally without using any "Hypermiling" skills and just tried to keep up with traffic. Even driving at a normal rate, people were riding my bumper and flipping me off. I also hit a few long hills that my Metro was not happy with. I had to downshift and keep the RPM's up just to maintain speed. I was getting very frustrated and could not wait to hit the open road away from all the city traffic. The next chance I got I decided to hit the Interstate on the way home and maintained 65 MPH all the way home. The tail-wind helped and the higher speeds made the trip seem faster.

I am just glad to be back in the country again!

[justpassntime]

Johnny, hope everything went well at the Drs. The best medicine is stay in the country.

I live in the country and absolutely hate driving into town. And hate it even more when I have to go anywhere near Seattle. Any type of sensible driving goes out the window. Seems like if you signal it's the same as saying "there's an empty spot over here" and you get cut off.

[Greenblazer]

Hey Ya'll,

I can relate to the moments of weakness. I have been in the past a leadfoot, and drove Herbie style everywhere I went.

Herbie style for those that don't know what I mean, is passing one car after another just like Herbie the Love Bug did in all those old school Disney Herbie movies. Herbie The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, and Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo are three of the titles that I remember. Even the racing theme music from those movies would play in my head as I passed cars. I loved those movies growing up, but I think they were a really bad influence on my driving habits. Old habits are hard to break, but considering that I am still doing pretty well. 26.06 from the last tank.

This comming weekend I am going on the first half of a nearly 2000 mile road trip. I will have 1 passenger from Phoenix to Reno and 2 passengers from Reno to Gerlach. I am driving straight from Phoenix, AZ to Reno, NV, and then to Gerlach, NV.

I will be hauling a big load of camping gear, and supplies for an 8 day car camping trip. I'll be hauling enough water for at least 3ppl to drink and wash for 8 days from Reno to Gerlach(107 miles). The distance is so far that I don't think it will be practical to use many hypermiling techniques. I will not be driving faster than the limit, but I don't think I will be able to drive 55 all the way either. The intended route has some 65 and more 70MPH limits, and because of the distance and time it takes to cover it I think I will end up doing the speed limit. It is gonna screw up my average FE, but I don't think I can keep it down to 55 the whole way.



Later,

Allan Greenblazer

[Johnny Mullet]

One thing good was while getting some refreshments at a store, some guy in a new Honda Fit asked how I was getting 57 MPG and like a Jehovah's Witness with a Watchtower magazine, my wife whipped out an ecomodder brochure for him to read. So some good did come out of the trip.

[MazdaMatt]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

like a Jehovah's Witness with a Watchtower magazine

HAHA... nice one.

I've been driving around for 5 days with a stuck brake caliper. It looses off when the car cools, so i've been trying to DWB or use my ebrake to slow me down the last bit before a sign. It is definately killing my FE though, probably 15% because sometimes I have to use the brakes and it sticks and ends up smokey-hot by the time i get where i'm going. Its a long story, but it will be fixed in the next couple days... i have the replacement already.

[tasdrouille]

A month ago when coming back from Boston, and after having proudly driven 55-60 mph for the whole trip, my 9 months old started to let me know he had enough at the Jackman border station, and so did my wife. I disconnected the SGII and drove the last hundred miles at 80 mph...

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by justpassntime

Johnny, hope everything went well at the Drs.

Actually, it did not go very well and I will continue working with the pain, but I will not discuss it on this thread since it would totally go off topic.

[groar]

Since months I'm repeating that I will update my GPS navigator map very soon... Because inner city have been modified a lot since Xmas, I turned during half an hour in a stop and go traffic to find an allowed route to the restaurant this noon.

Denis.