Converting People, not cars.. Hints and tips needed for Carshare colleague
 

An interesting one here..

Myself and a colleague commute from the same town to work and back every day.

Average daily run is 50 miles total. Approx 85% motorway, but at peak hours, so max speeds of approx 60mph.

She had a Nissan Qashqai (I pronounce it Cash Cow:D) 1.5 litre diesel.
Pics can be seen here-
qashqai - Google Search

Not exactly "Aero" or actually practical for having 2 kids (high boot floor for lifting in prams etc)


Vehicle was about 6months old when she got it, and was costing her a fortune each month in repayments, not to mention 10k miles to a set of front tyres(£180 EACH!)


One day last week I had a natter with her regarding the car/costs ec, in comparison to my 318iS. Turns out 9000 miles in my car, including purchase costs was only about 5 months payments on her car-no fuel/servicing/tax included.This planted a seed:rolleyes:

I was dispatched with a budget, and told to find a suitable car up to 3 years old- needs to be 5door and a full size car, no compacts/subcompacts. must be diesel and no more heavy on fuel than the qashqai...

This was my solution..

A 2009 Mazda6 2.2 diesel 6speed manual

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...Mazda_6_01.jpg

Basic specs as follows:

Cd= 0.27:D

Frontal Area= 2.19m2

Cx=0.59

1520kg (3350lbs):(

2.2, 161bhp@3500rpm

266ft/lbs@1800-3000rpm:eek:

Fuel Economy

7.0/4.7/5.5 l/100km urban/extra-urban/combined

40.35/60.1/51.36 UK MPG

33.6/50.04/42.76 US MPG


I'm pretty happy with it, and so is she, now she's been driving it for a couple of days..

Advantages are

Lower CD/Frontal area
Much better torque for getting high BSFC out the engine
Bigger boot than previous car
A name you can spell
It looks cooler!

Anyways, I've managed to get her to reset the Average MPG on the computer so I can get a baseline on the car (i was bored, ok!?)

I'm thinking I'd like to start introducing certain elements of hypermiling and driver techniques slowly over time..

so, the question is- Have any of you taught others to hypermile?
if so, how did you approach it?
What are the easiest techniques to show/explain?

Thanks for reading my ramblings!

has no-one got any hints or tips?:(

People around me do not have the patience to learn some hypermiling techniques so I never really had the opportunity to teach.. :(

In your case, I would start off by eliminating all types of distraction at the wheel. Multitasking is the enemy of hypermiling, imo.

Raising overall awareness of her surroundings while driving is step numero uno.
Learning to read the instrumentation (mpg gauge) in an efficient manner, then implementing it onto the general scanning process (checking mirrors, speed, etc.)

Anticipation is key to increasing fuel economy in the learning stages. That's how I started. Looking WAY ahead for possible obstacles (red lights, cars entering parking, etc.).

Pedal feel is somewhat important too, as it is directly related to the throttle position.

Car maintenance is another important aspect.

I am sure others will chime in with other tips.

100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

Don't do so unless she's happy about learning to drive more efficiently.

Slowing down - and then keeping up the pace ;) .

Looking further ahead / anticipating traffic.

Engine braking when braking is required.

Funnily enough we do chat about that a fair bit- she's keen to spend as little on fuel as possible, and realises that her use of the car has an effect on consumption (as CigaR007 suggests)

So much so, I've noticed her recently shifting into neutral as we approach slowing traffic..I just need to help her make the link to DFCO as a more effective way of "braking":D

I'm slowly getting her used to the idea of staying in the Left lane ("slow" lane) unless overtaking, and hinting that boosting to 70mph to then brake to 50 is not a plan-better either sit at 60, or p&g..

Her roadcraft (obstical identification etc) is pretty good- just needs to start seeing hills as the enemy!

thanks for the tips folks..

Tomorrow I should have a benchmark average MPG for the trip to work/back, so may have something tp start with..

Cheers!

I'd start with DWB - driving without brakes. It's in the "free money" category - doesn't cost you time or anything. It does require far-ahead anticipation.

I've changed some of my mom's driving habits, but had the advantage of driving in the car with her. It's easy when you can narrate your moves firsthand. I doubt many drivers think that they speed up to red lights, so telling them to coast is of little help. But getting them to anticipate traffic further ahead makes driving smoothly more practical, because one can then understand that slowing down early does not always mean wasting time.

So long as your coworker is genuinely interested in it, have her try to beat the baseline mpg that she has set. If you're so inclined, you can provide 3 of the best tips. No need to do it all at once.

And reducing the number of situations when braking is required.

EDIT: Pale beat me. Second time today. I'm getting old and lazy...

thats a great point- conservation of momentum and fluidity of movement are key!

I'll disscuss it further tomorrow- see what she says. I'n not going to ask someone to do something they dont want to!

however, £1.379 ($2.24!) a litre of diesel can have a large influence- means its $10.18 for an imperial (4.54L) gallon

Good start.

Or get her to start coasting from even further out. ;)
It'll beat engine braking.