I'm writing a story about hypermiling for Driving.ca; want to be a part of it?

[Cletus]

Actually that scathing opinion piece is the reason I'm writing this story. I felt ecomodding was pretty damn cool and often suffered from a bad reputation. My article puts some myths to bed and also lists some fuel efficient driving tips.

It should be live early next week. And elhigh, sorry to leave you hanging!

[MetroMPG]

Well, that's interesting.

Maybe it's a generational thing: crusty old guy vs. the new guys.

[Cletus]

Article is up @ Debunking the myths of hypermiling | Driving
Let me know what you think! I'm also covering the Beijing Auto Show soon so let me know what kind of things you'd like to see covered. Fuel efficient cars not for sale in NA? General Chinese car weirdness? I'm here to cover things for the enthusiast so let me know!

[UltArc]

Personally, I have never considered ecomodders and hypermilers the same. In my opinion, an ecomodder modifies a car to the way it should have come from the factory (optimizing aerodynamics), while a hypermiler uses specific driving techniques to maximize fuel.

I also wouldn't say they were mutually exclusive, but building a grille block and safe pulsing and gliding are two different things.

Specifically on the article: The title is a bit misleading. I was expecting some myths on hypermiling, not generalizations. I know you mentioned drafting, and lower speeds, but it wasn't formed and counterpointed like I was expecting.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Cletus

Article is up @ Debunking the myths of hypermiling | Driving

Made the link live.

I think it's a good article. Haven't dived into the comments yet, but I suspect they'll be interesting too.

On the last point of racers vs. ecomodders, you might be surprised at how much crossover there is on this forum. Lots of people here apply their mechanical & driving skills to race on the weekend, and then turn around to apply another set of mechanical & driving skills to save fuel in their daily drivers! More than a few skills are transferrable between the two pursuits, too.

[user removed]

It would save an astounding amount of fuel if even 10% of the US population would read, understand, and employ just the most basic practices. In the process they would prolong the life of their cars and possibly save their own lives as well as the lives of innocent passengers.

I get so tired of the same stupidity I see on roads. I can only assume that many of those drivers are amazingly lucky. At 63, in my life time somewhere around 2,000,000 people have died on US highways alone. With few exceptions every single one of those deaths was totally avoidable, not to mention the mulitple millions of injuries, or the medical costs of all of those combined. I think that is more deaths, since 1950, than the total of every conflict in US history.

Why is it that the average driver is involved in a serious accident every 4-5 years, while a UPS driver can deliver packages for 40 years and never get in an accident?

I'll tell you why. It's called situational awareness, combined with terminal disaster anticipation. There is a much higher level of anticipation involved in driving for best economy, far beyond what is legally required. I have had hundreds of opportunities to become involved in accidents without breaking any law or being charged with any form of neglect. Other drivers stupid mistakes that would have caused an accident had I not had my situational awareness antenna fully extended and fully operational.

regards
Mech

[MetroMPG]

Old Mech, you're going to have to school me on "terminal disaster anticipation".

I'm guessing it means playing the "what if?" game, but I've been wrong before.

[Mustang Dave]

Yes, most "accidents" could have been prevented by the situational awareness of one of the parties involved. Seems like it's ME most of the time.

[user removed]

In my perspective sitiational awareness is extending your sphere of anticipation beyond, some might say far beyond, what is normally considered appropriate.

Termial disaster anticipation requires years of experience in practicing situational awareness. After a point experience combines with mental awareness and very intense observation of every vehicle in your sphere of situational awareness. Looking for things like tires that are low on air, bulges that preceed a blowout, drivers who act without any predictable pattern, IE the oddballs who demonstrate they are distracted or just totally oblivious to their surroundings, sleepy, drugged, drunk. They usually leave subtle clues to their condition or actions.

It's much like a game of chess, how many moves can you stay ahead of your opponent? Careful observation of combinations of the opponents movements that allow you to predict their actions and trap his pieces becasue he is unaware of his predictibility or unaware of your longer term strategy.

It's not just scanning with your eyes, it's always quickly responding to movements in your peripheral vision of things that are not realated to other drivers and traffic.

How long does it take to react to a falling tree? How quickly can you recognize the tree is actually falling?

Every animal on the side of the road, if they are looking at your headlights, their eyes glow and give you a little more time to be proactive, possibly making an emergency manoeuver possible before you hit that animal. Having the memory capability to remember the times when you survived a very close call and what made it possible.

Having the ability to react in microseconds to the oncoming driver who is coming into your lane and to have your escape routes preplanned. Some would call it paranoia. I call it self preservation. Don't think for a second that I am anything special in that regard It's a process that evolves over decades and requires youto understand and accept the limitations of age and make adjustments to your habits to compensate for the gradual deterioration of your senses.

I have been saved from my own stupidity by a bolt of lightning. Driving under the influence in a storm, I had passed out, crossed the oncoming lane of traffic and was very very close to driving off an overpass on the left side and plunging 40 feet to my death. Awakened by that bolt of lightening I had to slide sideways in the wet grass going 60 MPH and then reverse the slide to miss the concrete guard rail and GET BACK INTO THE ONCOMING LANE OF TRAFFIC, PRAYING THAT THERE WAS NO ONE THERE.

I was yong, stupid, arrogant, invincible and dead. That single act of nature saved my sorry arse, 40 years ago. Every day since that day has been a blessing, a gift from some greater being than myself whose awesome purpose in saving my life maybe even yet to be fullfilled.

regards
Mech

[gone-ot]

Treat everybody else as if they're trying to kill you, because they (subconscientiously) probably are.