Do You Have Better Situational Awareness While Hypermiling?

[Nevyn]

Originally Posted by dichotomous

I feel about as aware when hypermiling my car, as I do in general riding my motorcycle. which is very aware. I tend to not be anywhere near as aware in my car as my bike, since there is a full heavy steel cage around me instead of nothing around me and sitting with 4.5gallons of gasoline between my motor and my crotch. so being bike aware in the car, is a very cool thing. kinda reminds me of back when I would come home after snowboarding, finding the perfect momentum for everything (snowboarding momentum and gavity are you ONLY engine, and there are lots up uphill sections on the slopes suprisingly, you get good at knowing your glide)

Agreed. Motorcycles make you VERY sensitive to what is going on around you, as well as what is going on underneath you. More tuned to traffic, more tuned to the sound of your engine, more tune to what may be laying on the road. It definitely helped my driving style. I'm much more aware of tar snakes, road surface texture changes, tire/engine noise, and whether or not cars around me are gaining/losing ground relative to my position.

[dichotomous]

Originally Posted by Nevyn

Agreed. Motorcycles make you VERY sensitive to what is going on around you, as well as what is going on underneath you. More tuned to traffic, more tuned to the sound of your engine, more tune to what may be laying on the road. It definitely helped my driving style. I'm much more aware of tar snakes, road surface texture changes, tire/engine noise, and whether or not cars around me are gaining/losing ground relative to my position.

and with a sport bike, even my "low powered" sport bike (only 75hp/45tq, compared to 190hp/90tq on a bigbore) the throttle response and acceration is instant you really have to have your head into what you are doing. let you head slip for a second and you are in triple digits.

but every bike requires you to pay more attention, because the fact that you are moving fast and could die really easily at these speeds is right there all around you, its not hidden behind glass and steel.

I really think that motorcycle training should be required for people to get car licenses (aside from those who physically cannot ride). mainly because it makes you have a healthy fear of transportation so you can use your judgement better. I want to put my sister in the program and have her ride a bike for a summer, she's so clueless when driving.... I was driving right next to her in my VERY loud white civic (rare model though, looks way different) with black hood, honking at her in the next lane while driving, she wasnt even aware that someone was honking at her from 4 feet away...... that would change if she was used to riding.

[Whoops]

Well, I answered the poll with a No, but I would have probably answered with a maybe, if that had been a choice. On one hand, I find to work towards better mileage it takes a lot of effort, which at times I find myself becoming to focused on the details to where I'm not paying attention to the overall circumstances.

I suspect in most cases it makes us more aware of things, but if you become overly caught up in focusing on becoming aware of those things, my mind can tend to become less aware of my surroundings than I would like.

[PaleMelanesian]

Absolutely. I am WAY more attentive now than I used to be, in front, to the back, watching side roads, etc...

Maybe I was a little less aware when I was first learning, and watching the gauges a lot. Now it's second nature, and the gauges are for confirmation and motivation.

I choose to eliminate potential distractions like food and music. The radio is off, so I can concentrate and hypermile better.

[Intrigued]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Having said all that, I'll probably go crash into a tree next time I get behind the wheel...

LOL! Sounds like at least a Murphy's corollary to me...


...and I vote yes, too... after getting used to the new stuff...

[wagonman76]

Maybe I was a little less aware when I was first learning, and watching the gauges a lot. Now it's second nature, and the gauges are for confirmation and motivation.

I choose to eliminate potential distractions like food and music. The radio is off, so I can concentrate and hypermile better.

+1.

But sometimes it feels like a toss-up. I used to drive 55-60 highway and 70 freeway even at night and felt comfortable doing so. Ive had countless quick deer stops too and knock on wood Ive never slammed one. Since hypermiling Ive been going 55-60 freeway and 45-50 highway at night and it feels like itd scare me to go the speeds I used to go. Driving in daylight is a rare thing for me except in summer.

[Christ]

I believe that Amateur racing experience has helped my on-road driving alot.. So my situational awareness was probably above average to begin with, as it were.

Since learning about P&G, and applying the technique in practice (even without instrumentation, it's helping), I've gotten used to the sequence of events to the point where I don't pay attention when coming out of gear or into gear anymore, it doesn't require my attention. Now that this is the case, I believe that my awareness has increased substantially more than it even used to be, given previous experience, now that I have to think and pay a little more attention to when/where I should be pulsing vs. gliding, and deciding whether it will be beneficial to cut my pulse short and begin gliding earlier, or to pulse a little longer to get to that hill, so I can maintain my higher speed longer, before decelerating on the glide, etc.

All those things are considerations to me now, whereas before it was "Don't use the brakes, good drivers don't need them." And I usually didn't, unless I intended to stop, or needed an emergency maneuver.

I voted yes, but also with the caveat that MetroMPG mentioned, maybe even a little further drawn out for some.

[aalb1]

Yes to some degree. In comparison to talking on the cell phone, Yes! I hate talking on my phone while driving.

Hypermiling on the cell phone is suicide!

Following my typical 50-60 P&G on the highway with my eyes on the rearview, I would say I'm EXTREMELY AWARE.

P&Ging in the city or trying to be incorporate a new hypermiling technique then I'd be a little less aware.