Hey guys, I just wanted to share my techniques for what yields the best MPG that I've been able to accomplish with my car so far after almost a year of experimentation. I have a 45-50 minute 15 mile each way commute to work on the streets of Chicago's western suburbs. I have a 2010 Hyundai Accent "Blue" hatchback 5 speed manual with no a/c.
I have a page on Fuelly by the name of i90east. I'd post a link but I have under 5 posts. I do too much lurking around here and not enough posting.
Anyway, here we go:
From a stop I accelerate quickly up to the speed limit, shifting within the range of 1,750-2,000 RPM. If there's heavy traffic ahead I'll accelerate up to an appropriate speed below the limit and hold it there until it's clear to get back up to the limit. I never drive above the posted limit.
After accelerating up to cruising speed I hold it there, dropping up to 5 MPH on uphills and coasting in neutral on downhills (sometimes with a pulse at the start and in the middle to extend the coast). I always cruise in the highest possible gear that doesn't bog the engine. With my car on flat terrain the best gears are 3rd for 15-22 MPH, 4th for 23-30 MPH and 5th for 31+ MPH.
I stay in gear and take advantage of DFCO when I need to slow down rapidly for lights and traffic backups. It's ideal to not have to use the brake until at or under 20 MPH. My car doesn't lose much speed when coasting at 20 MPH so I take advantage of that on residential streets by putting the car in neutral far in advance of stop signs.
Learning the behavior of traffic lights helps a lot in the effort to anticipate when they're going to change. This is very tricky though and I haven't mastered it yet. For example with lights that can be seen from far away, distance perception is something I'm still working on. I'll see that the light is red so I'll put the car in neutral and slowly roll towards the light, but I'm still so far away that once it turns green I don't have enough time to get to the intersection before the light turns red again.
At night sometime between 11pm-12am all of the lights in the area go off of timer mode and into full blown sensor mode. This makes the lights very unpredictable because they instantly change the moment a car on the intersecting road trips the sensor. The sensor is also tripped when an oncoming car makes a left turn and cuts the turn a little, making the light think there's a car on the intersecting road. Since traffic lights turn red so unpredictably at night I take an alternate route down a 30 MPH two lane road with fewer lights.
So hopefully my experience will help some of you out as you look for ways to get better MPG in the midst of soaring gas prices. If anyone has anything to point out that might help improve my MPG even more, let me know!
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