How to handle very heavy traffic (stop & crawl)

[NoCO2]

O, I like the idea of the car trolling motor...You could use the small motor, like the kit that Insights have, for going around in bumper to bumper traffic so you could keep up with everyone, say under 35mph, but then you could use the gas engine should you go above that for any reason....interesting.

[LostCause]

For those who want to be hardcore hypermilers, you could probably install an ignition/fuel injector kill switch that still allows you to use your starter. When at a stop, let out the clutch in first and hit the starter to move forward. I've never tried it and it might kill the starter/battery, but it seems feasible.

I also try the accordion method. It doesn't seem to work well on a two+ lane road as impatient people like to zoom in to the vacuum in front of me and slam on their brakes, disrupting my momentum. I notice the same effect on the freeway, where I will have the perfect amount of space in front of me to buffer inconsistent traffic ahead only to be forced to brake by someone taking a golden opportunity to save 0.00056 seconds on their commute. Oh well, the relaxing, slow-paced atmosphere of driving for economy tends to moderate frustration.

- LostCause

[cfg83]

NoCO2 -

Originally Posted by NoCO2

Bennelson just brought up an interesting point. With electric cars and hybrids. When you are stopped, nothing is spinning. However, with a regular gasoline engine it continues to idle when you are at a stop...I wonder how hard it would be to mod a car to do this automatically like those gas powered golf carts do....hm....I think I'll start another thread about this somewhere...

I think this is might be approaching the definition of a "mild hybrid", yes? I was keeping track of this gizmo for over a year but it never came through :

Retrofit Hybrid-Electric System
http://www.sigmaautomotive.com/elect...trocharger.php

CarloSW2

[OfficeLinebacker]

Yeah to me if the traffic were a one-lane road, the issue would be almost trivial. I'd play with my speeds to see if I could find the one I could constantly maintain, to smooth out the waves. Hopefully the guy behind me isn't an armed road rager.

When it's a multi-lane road, it's almost a losing cause.

Before I started driving for MPG, I used to try to adhere to the rule where you keep a one second gap to the car ahead for every 10MPH of speed. That's also a losing cause, for the same reason.

So IMHO, eco driving in heavy traffic is really a function of the level of impatience (read: a$$holishness) of the people around you.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by OfficeLinebacker

Yeah to me if the traffic were a one-lane road, the issue would be almost trivial. I'd play with my speeds to see if I could find the one I could constantly maintain, to smooth out the waves. Hopefully the guy behind me isn't an armed road rager.

When it's a multi-lane road, it's almost a losing cause.

Meh - almost.... It has worked for me... In Florida and even in LA Just remember than an all or nothing attitude results in the latter