07-15-2011, 02:38 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
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Hypermiled an SUV
Hypermiling an unmodified auto-trans SUV is a pain! I respect those of you who can do it. My wife drives a 2010 Subaru Forester, a mid/small SUV. EPA rates it 27 hwy and 20 city, 22 combined. I just drove it nearly 900 miles on a family camping trip--stuffed with camping gear. The trip average was 31.2mpg on the stock gauge, which I calculated overstated by about 1mpg. So I scored a 30.2mpg average on mostly highway but often mountainous (5000ft) terrain and serious LA and Santa Cruz traffic jams. But I had to work hard! I had a 130 mile long stretch in a strong headwind (then virtually the same wind at my tail coming home). Neutral was my friend. So were the very hot temps. I staggered the A/C my family wife and daughter love. Kept everyone cozy. And the trucks I slip-streamed at a 4 or 5 car-length distance to get 36mpg and 40.5mpg for two 30-mile stretches certainly helped.
Props to those driving these things and actually trying for FE! Yikes I don't want to run that experiment again.
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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07-15-2011, 03:06 AM
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#2 (permalink)
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EcoModding Lurker
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: PA
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love to see pics of this
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07-15-2011, 03:32 AM
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#3 (permalink)
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EcoModding Lurker
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Seattle
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Sucks trying to HM something that seriously just seems to be trying to work against you doesn't it?
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07-15-2011, 03:38 AM
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#4 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Canada
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Considering the circumstances, you did quite well !  |
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07-15-2011, 07:13 AM
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#5 (permalink)
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aero guerrilla
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Warsaw, Poland
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I second that. Many normal drivers don't get 30mpg in a regular car, so you should be proud of yourself. We sure are
__________________
e·co·mod·ding: the art of turning vehicles into what they should be
What matters is where you're going, not how fast.
"... we humans tend to screw up everything that's good enough as it is...or everything that we're attracted to, we love to go and defile it." - Chris Cornell
[Old] Piwoslaw's Peugeot 307sw modding thread
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07-15-2011, 11:07 AM
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#6 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Superdutytd
Sucks trying to HM something that seriously just seems to be trying to work against you doesn't it?
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I'll post photos as soon as I can find out where my camera went in all this camping stuff. Gotta go to work today. Driving the Civic.
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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07-18-2011, 02:17 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Foothills near Denver
Posts: 279
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Subaru's are hard beasts to hypermile. That AWD stuff isn't light and it's always turning with no way to turn it off even when you're on dry pavement. Strong work getting it done.
...but I'm still going to hide this thread from the wife. She really wants a Subaru, but with a 50+ mile per day commute and mid-20s mpg from your average driver I resist it with all my might. Heck, she's barely averaging 27mpg in a Mazda Protege 5. How can a car with that little power possibly get that bad of mileage?
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07-18-2011, 02:44 PM
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#8 (permalink)
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The PRC.
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Well done, the Forrester is about as square as a cube really, plus the Auto and the AWD and (I'll put it out there but I know many disagree) the flat four being perhaps not the most efficient motor available.
Technique rules, and mine is useless 
__________________
[I]So long and thanks for all the fish.[/I]
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07-18-2011, 10:09 PM
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#9 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arragonis
Technique rules
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Agreed. And somebody asked for photos back in this thread... I forgot... here are a couple of trucks I slip streamed and of my peak FE on a shortish Grapevine/LA leg. Oh, and some oil-pumping rigs in the region of Cali where James Dean's last movie, "Giant," was filmed. I figured oil was appropriate.
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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07-18-2011, 10:39 PM
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#10 (permalink)
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Pishtaco
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Bay Area, California
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Kudos for beating EPA by such a sizable %. I've been appalled by FSPs before - notably my '87 Chevy Astro van, which was difficult to coax 22 mpg out of. My daughter's Grand Caravan was similar. Its mpg stayed solidly under 10 mpg within her neighborhood. Even on a long highway trip, 26 mpg was the best I could get out of it.
What does anyone in SoCal need AWD for, anyway?
__________________
Darrell
Boycotting Exxon since 1989, BP since 2010
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? George Carlin
Mean Green Toaster Machine
49.5 mpg avg over 53,000 miles. 176% of '08 EPA
Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi
Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg
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