EcoModder.com

EcoModder.com (https://ecomodder.com/forum/)
-   The Lounge (https://ecomodder.com/forum/lounge.html)
-   -   "Hypermiling Is Awful And I Sort Of Hate It" (Jalopnik in Audi MPG competition) (https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/hypermiling-awful-i-sort-hate-jalopnik-audi-mpg-30251.html)

MetroMPG 10-16-2014 10:33 AM

"Hypermiling Is Awful And I Sort Of Hate It" (Jalopnik in Audi MPG competition)
 
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...4bh2eg1wap.jpg

Jalopnik is right now doing an Audi-sponsored fuel economy PR stunt, where they're trying to squeeze something like 62 mpg US from an A3 diesel that's EPA-rated for 43 mpg on the highway.

I wouldn't exactly say they're enjoying themselves: :D

Quote:

Think about it like this: do you like long road trips, but wish there was some way you could combine them with a medieval sense of self-punishment? If so, you need to try some hypermiling. It manages to combine motorsports, math, pleasure denial, and sweating with the tension and excitement of getting stranded somewhere.
Despite the whining, they're currently in 3rd place.

If anyone runs out of fuel, they're forced to complete the drive in...

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...b6n0ybii3d.jpg

I love Jalopnik ... even though it often trashes fuel saving! It's an entertaining gearhead site with good writers who seem to have a lot of fun. Much of the fun happens in the comments beneath each post.

Part 1: I'm Trying To Go 834 Miles On One Tank Of Diesel And It's Gonna Suck

Part 1.5:
[Jason decided to modify his Audi A3 TDI to get maximum fuel mileage. Nobody else stands a chance.] (In which I was pleased to see a pic of the Firefly with cardboard tail cone show up in the comments.)

Part 2:
Hypermiling Is Awful And I Sort Of Hate It

Part 2.5: They won!

Part 3: How To Squeeze 830 Miles Out Of One Tank Of Fuel And Remain Sane...ish

More to come, obviously!

Insight for life 10-16-2014 11:35 AM

Thanks for posting, they are very comical. *Cant get part 1.5 link to work tho!*

dirtydave 10-16-2014 12:15 PM

It seems like every hypermiling blog post the comments are always a debate about DFCO.

MetroMPG 10-16-2014 12:16 PM

Yeah, a lot of bandwidth goes to that topic, everywhere!

I fixed the link, Insight for life.

Frank Lee 10-16-2014 04:18 PM

I imagined going carless and only having a moped; would going 40 mph on long trips drive me insane or not? I didn't have to get a moped to test my theory; I merely took the trips in the car at low speeds. Also tried P&G, and whatnot.

I can handle slow cruising just fine. As a flatlander, though, P&G out on the open road was a bit too much. I'd do it if there were hills to coast down.

PaleMelanesian 10-17-2014 11:09 AM

I've done it. And we managed to get the required 63 mpg, not in an Audi TDI, but in a Fiesta hatchback. Coast to coast.

Woah boy was it tedious, though. Rough estimate 2500 miles, ~4 P&G cycles per mile = 10,000 P&G cycles, and 20,000 clutch applications (not counting normal shifting).

Mostly 40-60 mph p&g cycles.

Fat Charlie 10-17-2014 11:31 AM

...and calves the size of cantaloupes.

dirtydave 10-17-2014 11:59 AM

Did you do that trip without a kill switch?

PaleMelanesian 10-17-2014 03:57 PM

Yes indeed. It was a loaner car from Ford, tagging along with cmpg's F150 ecobbost (32 mpg coast to coast).

redpoint5 10-17-2014 04:50 PM

I like driving; I like challenges; and I like punishment, both physical and mental. Seems I should have been a hypermiling endurance driver.

MetroMPG 10-17-2014 05:06 PM

Update!

Despite hating every minute of the drive, it appears the kvetching Jalopnik team "Circumiserz" won the challenge, cardboard wheel skirts and all.

So ecomodding + hypermiling > hypermiling? :D

"Story coming next week," says their site.

I'm pretty sure it will be along the lines of: hooning > ecomodding + hypermiling.

brucey 10-17-2014 06:24 PM

It always cracks me up that pushing the limits of a vehicle one way (driving fast..rock crawling) is macho and pleasurable...but pushing the limits of a vehicle another way (hypermiling) is lame and boring.

MetroMPG 10-17-2014 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie (Post 450710)
...and calves a calf the size of cantaloupes a cantaloupe.

Fixed that for you! :)

gone-ot 10-18-2014 12:47 PM

Fat heads do not cancel fat calves.

Mustang Dave 10-18-2014 08:01 PM

I like Commandment #6 in Part 1. "Thou shall not let Wayne Gerdes drive for you." :D

niky 10-19-2014 05:45 AM

Endurance racing of any kind is a pain in the ass.

Amazing they made it... was pretty sure the motor was capable of it, was thinking, though, they'd need some more mods to seal the win.

jcp123 10-19-2014 11:59 AM

I agree, Jalopnik does have it's funny moments. Having been firmly on the hoon side of the fence at one point, though, I know how easy it is to roll one's eyes at fuel economy.

I hope I never have to take a drive like that in my Echo. It'll go toe to toe with just about anything in terms of FE. But...those seats. Ugh. Heck I did just shy of 180 miles yesterday and started to hate myself for it about halfway through. And got crappy FE while I was at it. Maybe Jalopnik can refresh me? Lol

MetroMPG 10-20-2014 10:15 AM

Post-victory wrap-up
 
Quote:

This is motorsport for statisticians or people with strange OCD numerical fetishes or something. I think I mostly hated it.

Hate or not, I proved to be pretty good at it, as did my partner Neal Pollack, who attributes it to his Prius ownership and deep-seated cheapness.
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...vgbjwbdl4f.jpg

How To Squeeze 830 Miles Out Of One Tank Of Fuel And Remain Sane...ish

Probably about the last team that the Audi PR people wanted to win. :)

brucey 10-20-2014 10:28 AM

Hey, that was an awesome read.

Xusn96 10-20-2014 10:30 AM

I must confess, I do love Jalopnik, but they tend to the exotic, and expensive, so while they will swoon over how great a Tesla is, they regard a car like a Camry as the most boring thing on the earth. They adore performance so long as that means MO POWWA, FE rarely appears on their radar and while the Teslas are indeed beautiful cars with amazing range for EV's they are not for the average person, at least not in the world I live in. unless I sell my house to live in a tent and off the land then I could afford the mortga...car payment for the $90,000 Tesla.

And so off I go in my daily attempt to squeeze out 30+ MPG from my 11 year old Taurus. LOL

MetroMPG 10-20-2014 11:00 AM

True, they do swoon over the hyper-mobiles (like almost everyone).

But the thing I like about Jalopnik is they also have a healthy respect for cars that are interesting and unusual, while not necessarily powerful speed machines. (Like their perpetual almost-joke that the perfect car is a "brown, diesel, manual, RWD station wagon".)

The same writer who just won this very hypermiling contest also mounted a vigorous defense of the Mitsubishi Mirage against a scathing NY Times review. Actually, it's not so much a defense of the car itself (they only gave it 50/100 in their own review), so much as a critique of the way entry level cars are written about by spoiled car writers who lack perspective.

This Brutal NYT Mirage Review Is What's Wrong With Cheap Car Reviews

They're also not afraid of the future the way so many gearhead writers seem to be. The highest review score they've given to any car so far was to the BMW i8 -- a 3-cylinder, turbocharged, plug-in hybrid.

Fat Charlie 10-20-2014 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niky (Post 450933)
Endurance racing of any kind is a pain in the ass.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...am-try-001.jpg
In a car? Luxury! We had to do our endurance racing in sneakers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcp123 (Post 450955)
Having been firmly on the hoon side of the fence at one point, though, I know how easy it is to roll one's eyes at fuel economy.

The problem (over which I took many slaps in my last model-specific forum) is that most Murricans see performance as something the car does on its own and the driver then gets manliness credit for. If they want more performance (and more manliness points) they write a check to have something bolted on to get more performance.

I really enjoy driving, but I'm not so much a fan of being a passenger on a roller coaster- driving is something I do, not something that the car does to me. At the end of a drive the "how was it?" needs a more coherent answer than "I had fun." Trip mpg is honest. It doesn't care about your mood, it doesn't care about your feelings. If I get worse than usual and there weren't any weather or traffic problems, then I have a computer that says "Fat Charlie, you did not drive well this morning. Fix it." If you can't take being told when you don't do well, then you aren't a good driver. No store bought 1/4 or 0-60 time can ever change that.

I feel like this bit should actually be in the "retort" thread.

MetroMPG 10-20-2014 12:04 PM

The part of their story where the cops bullied them into speeding up is jaw-droppingly jaw-dropping:

Quote:

As we tortised our way down the road, a massive Highway Patrol Suburban we passed on the side of the road burst to life, following close behind us. It then bellowed out of its loudspeaker:

COME ON! COME ON! YOU'VE GOT TO GO FASTER THAN THAT! LET'S GO!

... and then he approached behind us, hard and fast like a rhino stripper dressed as a sexy cop for a rhino bachelorette party. He stayed on our ass and made us accelerate to 60 MPH — and then he just stayed there.

Grant-53 10-20-2014 02:52 PM

If I have to take a long trip I would consider taking my bike on the train. There is not enough thought given to wheelbase and suspension travel by some companies. Even after owning a massive Cadillac hearse I was impressed with the ride of my Corollas.

niky 10-20-2014 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG (Post 451051)

That.Was.Epic.

Major kudos to them for hitting 62.9 even AFTER spending that much time at 60.

Still... that's 20 minutes at 60, that's 20 miles out of 830... so the law of averages means they come out ahead, eventually. :D

daves302gt 10-22-2014 09:03 AM

So, a question for the pros here: On the flat areas, even with the diesel not having part throttle efficiency loss, do you think they could've done even better with pulse and glide, or pulse and engine-off cruise?

Also, they took their time getting to 45 mph, could that also have been improved by getting up there quickly or is that part of hypermiling related to gas engines only? (because of throttle losses)

niky 10-22-2014 09:35 AM

EOC is best... but if that variant has a push-button starter, it would be a pain.

Sven7 10-23-2014 12:16 PM

I'm still disappointed they didn't do any serious aero-mods. I think the wheel skirts were more to catch people's attention on the blog than they were to win. Still, it's good to get a little press on this, negative or not.

(If I can do a grille block on a weekend rental car, they can do a grille block on a fuel economy challenge car)

MetroMPG 10-23-2014 12:25 PM

I was a little disappointed too.

But Audi forbade mods. First with a friendly reminder of a poorly worded "commandment".

Then by actually removing tape from the grilles of cars that had been taped up!

redpoint5 10-23-2014 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG (Post 451536)
I was a little disappointed too.

But Audi forbade mods. First with a friendly reminder of a poorly worded "commandment".

Then by actually removing tape from the grilles of cars that had been taped up!

It was a smart move on Audi's part to remove all mods. It protects the integrity of the test of the vehicles ability to achieve extremely good fuel economy. If Audi had allowed modifications, people unfamiliar with the affect they have on fuel economy might assume mods are required to get high MPGs instead of attributing the achievement to the vehicle.

The test wasn't a challenge to get the best fuel economy possible, it was a marketing campaign to sell cars.

Fat Charlie 10-23-2014 02:17 PM

1. Take a picture of the grille.

2. Print the picture and put it on your grille block.

3. Profit!!!

Xist 10-24-2014 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie (Post 451563)
1. Take a picture of the grille.

2. Print the picture and put it on your grille block.

3. Profit!!!

Probably what I will do for my smooth wheel covers.


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:46 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.5.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com