Hypermiling is Good EV driving practice

[kc7ekk]

I drive a 1992 Honda Accord and recently started getting really in to increasing my gas mileage. Although I will be soon upgrading to an all electric Toyota pickup truck that I am working on, I still spend plenty of time researching and modifying my Honda. I just can't stop this madness until I hit 50mpg (102% above EPA).
I'm glad there is a place like Ecomodder where I can read about all you guys that have been doing this for a while. I'm lurking.

I do have a question for anyone who is reading: I have tried a few times to kill the engine for a total power off coast and re-starting with the clutch. It works and is fairly reliable but I am wondering if this will shorten the life of the ignition control module? I recently had to replace the ICM and I am wondering if doing this technique was the cause of death for my last ICM? Any thoughts?

Also, for those who coast to a stop with the engine off, don't you worry about if your car will start back up again when the light turns green? I have tried this a few times but I feel like I am rolling the dice every time. I don't want to be the jerk who can't turn through the green arrow because my car won't start back up. How to you ensure your car will start this time and every other time, in all weather and traffic conditions?

John
www.kc7ekk-solar.blogspot.com

[Ryland]

How often do you get in your car and not have it start? starting after the light turns green is no harder on it then starting while it sits in your drive way, in the grocery store parking lot or any place else.
As for the ignition coils wearing out, they wear out over time and sitting with your engine idling is most likely harder on them then sitting there with your engine off, so lets say you got 100,000 miles out of the first set of coils, you should be set for another 100,000 miles then, altho if you replaced them with Made In China coils then you might have 50,000 miles before they wear out, but that is hard to say.

[kc7ekk]

Most of the time my car starts right up. But when I start and stop it a lot (like when I'm running a bunch of errands), sometimes it acts like its flooded (but it's not) and it have to let it sit for 30 seconds before it will fire up. That makes me too nervous to try it in traffic.
I trust re-starting it with the clutch because worst case, if anything goes wrong, I can coast off to the side and out of traffic. But starting the car at a busy intersection with lines of cars depending on me making it through the light in the next 10 seconds, that's too risky for me right now.

My ICM is a semi-conductor module that controls the spark firing and other things. I have replaced it 2 times in the past 14 months. It appears to be the culprit to my car not starting right up. It should last 100,000 miles. Why it doesn't last longer is another issue. Perhaps something else is not operating correctly and shortening the life of the ICM.

When it is hot outside, my car is more prone to not starting right up.