Cut off nose to spite face...
 

File this under "Cut Off Nose To Spite Face"...

I got disgusted during the middle of my last tank after a day of: a) hitting every red light, b) getting cut-off at the last second by every dope pulling out of a side street, c) finally getting a downhill coast only to have a knucklehead back out of his driveway right in front of me, d) etc., etc., for the rest of the alphabet.

Well, it seemed that's the way it was going, anyway. Not that I expect to have nothing but open roads here in northern NJ, but even for here I was getting every bad break in the book. The frustration just built up and up until...BOOM...I lost it!

So how did I respond? Of course: by turning into a child and reverting back to my old driving habits for a couple of days. Not proud of it, but there it is.

My reward for the temper tantrum was to get 2+ mpg LOWER on the tank. DOH!

So now I'm curious. Has this ever happened to any of you guys? Does it still happen? Do you just get frustrated on some days and ask yourself: What the heck am I doing all this for? Or is this just a beginner-thing that we newbies have to work our way through?

Not an earth shaking topic, I know, but I am interested in hearing if anyone else has had this experience...or if I'm just an eco-boob.

John

PS: I'm better now. :)

YES!! It starts as a simple carbon clean-out, but then I decide that maybe a little more throttle will really do it good. Then I decide, heck, this tank is a wash anyway, may as well go for it. Just proves how a goal can really keep one disciplined. Even on a more micro level, a few inefficient situations - like light timing, getting cut off etc. - can make an entire trip seem like a loss. I guess it's all about keeping your losses low and getting back on track.

"Perfect is the enemy of good" - Voltaire

And not just hypermiling. In my efforts to gain weight, a missed meal sometimes turns into an entire day of lazy eating. Or a bad workout turns into a missed workout. Conversely, a good effort sometimes carries over into continued and improved effort.

Oh heck ya. Been there on several occasions.

You will find that if you stick with the new style of driving long enough, it will become the well-worn path you revert to, instead of the new thing that you are trying to conquer.

At one point I decided that it was too much work and stress to drive this way, and I stopped trying so hard. Then I noticed that I was still coasting whenever possible, keeping one eye on the SG, and employing many other "hypermiling" techniques out of habit. It was then that I realized that the 'nut behind the wheel' had been sufficiently tightened, and didn't require any more constant torque to keep it from loosening. I could relax.

Keep trying, but enjoy yourself. Relax and have fun.

I did it for a while in my truck. I figured- if I drive the way I really want to, I get about 16mpg commuting back and forth to work. If I shift early to save gas, I get 18mpg. What's the big deal about 2mpg? Then I did the math... 2mpg over how much I drive my truck in a projected year comes out to about $500-600 in saved gas. Half a thousand bucks can buy a lot of stuff, or a nice toy. :D That easily pulled me back into line. It's not like the truck is as much fun to drive as some of my other cars.

Now the S2000- that's worth the 10% efficiency penalty to drive it how I want to drive it. I only go for max FE on long highway trips, and even then I still try to move at "normal Texas speeds" on the interstate. That engine is absolutely meant to live at 9000rpm anyway. :D :D :D

How do you respond to extreme tailgaters, and the Getting the bird at on ramp posts are related attitude wise to your difficulty.

Most other drivers out there are heels, even if they aren't trying to be one.
You just have to CONTINUE in YOUR game.

The $$$savings WILL come! Every player in any sport has bad days. The better ones simply out number the bad. Your attitude is 90% of your game.

Nobody likes to see a traffic jam toward the end of their best tank ever!

This IS a sport that REQUIRES patience and good timing! Never, never give up!
One of the reason's that this forum is here is to help each other. You are not the only one with these issues! Play through the pain!!!

I know what you mean, I used to have a '97 Honda Del Sol with a B16A2 VTEC and a GReddy Turbo. I had a laptop and software that allowed me to tweak the fuel map and boost control (as well as change the set point of the VTEC, and the Fuel Cutoff). With the proper tuning I could easily get 35+ MPG, but with a few clicks I could put 275-300 HP to the wheels and absolutely kill my tank average. It's a lot of fun to run it up to 9200 RPM while accelerating.

You're getting performance yout of your vehicle.

Not every tank can be a record tank. You get the same amount of crap over a tankful, that tankful just had it all on one run. Don't worry about it.

I built the last engine in my Civic (had 3 iterations) to make 260whp on pump all motor.. never quite got the head done, but it was a blast. Still got 30mpg on the highway too, no need to change the tune.

I hit 100 on the way to work to day. Oops.

And now we're way OT.

In the long run, it's how much you drive. You got some good practice in, and heck, a few mistakes to learn from, but hey, it's better to do it there instead of a competition or just a hypermiling joyride, eh? Chances are the next commute will go better.

I used to do it a lot more than I do it now and actually, I don't get that way for an entire tank anymore, but maybe just a single drive. Generally, once I have a bad moment, I spend the rest of the tank trying to make up for it, which ultimately leads to a tank that's still pretty good.

No tank will ever be perfect, but one horrendous tank can mess up your 90 day average pretty bad for a while. Keep your eye on the long game, but accept you're human, male and you have an ego to keep happy once in a while ;)