Go Back   EcoModder Forum > EcoModding > Hypermiling / EcoDriver's Ed
Register Now
 Register Now
 

Reply  Post New Thread
 
Submit Tools LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 05-22-2008, 02:38 AM   #1 (permalink)
Bicycle Junky
 
NoCO2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 464

Putsaround - '96 Toyota Camry LE
90 day: 32.74 mpg (US)

The Commuter - '07 Trek 1000SL
90 day: 617.28 mpg (US)

Zippy - '91 Honda Civic DX
90 day: 33.29 mpg (US)
Thanks: 0
Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts
Improving highway FE?

Ok, so I just made the grim realization that my city mpg is about to overtake my highway mpg...I get 33mpg city and 36 highway these days....so I think I have the city FE driving down, now I need to work on the highway stuff. I'm going on a ~250 mile trip tomorrow and then another similarly distanced trip right after that and then another from there (going to be gone for the next week and a half, hopefully with internet still to check here while I'm gone).

How can I improve my highway FE? Basically all I have been doing lately is just setting the cruise control to 100km/h and just parking in the left lane with the windows up. I know cruise control isn't the best option so I'm going to make an attempt to keep my foot steady this trip and maintain throttle position rather then speed and see how it works. Also, if weather and traffic permit, I'm going to be trying some drafting/EOCing to see if that helps.

Any other tips you fellows can offer?


__________________
  Reply With Quote
Alt Today
Popular topics

Other popular topics in this forum...

   
Old 05-22-2008, 08:01 AM   #2 (permalink)
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 11,203

CM400E - '81 Honda CM400E
90 day: 51.49 mpg (US)

Daox's Grey Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
Team Toyota
90 day: 49.53 mpg (US)

Daox's Insight - '00 Honda Insight
90 day: 64.33 mpg (US)

Swarthy - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage DE
Mitsubishi
90 day: 56.69 mpg (US)

Daox's Volt - '13 Chevrolet Volt
Thanks: 2,501
Thanked 2,587 Times in 1,554 Posts
Its not unusual for hypermilers to get better city mileage than highway mileage. The wind resistance plus rolling resistance on the highway ends up keeping it lower. In the city, you really only deal with rolling resistance so there is a lot more area for gains.

Pulse and glide is the ultimate highway technique if you can pull it off, but its a lot of work in an automatic. Using driving with load if you can't pulse and glide is really your only alternative. Other than that, slowing down as much as possible to eliminate that wind resistance is going to net you good gains. If its not too windy out you can try to find a semi and stay 3 or so seconds behind it. This is good for a small gain and is still a safe distance behind the truck.
__________________
Current project: A better alternator delete
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2008, 11:20 AM   #3 (permalink)
Bicycle Junky
 
NoCO2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 464

Putsaround - '96 Toyota Camry LE
90 day: 32.74 mpg (US)

The Commuter - '07 Trek 1000SL
90 day: 617.28 mpg (US)

Zippy - '91 Honda Civic DX
90 day: 33.29 mpg (US)
Thanks: 0
Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts
3 car lengths behind a semi is...(whips out mental calculator)...roughly 45 ft...so that puts me, still, well within the range in which a significant aerodynamic advantage will be noticed...sweet. According to mythbusters the aerodynamic drag begins to reduce at 100 ft and only gets better the closer you get, up until about 10 ft where you are having to modulate the pedal so much that your using more gas just trying to maintain distance which negates the effects and makes no closer then like...I think it was 30 ft, effective.
__________________
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2008, 11:23 AM   #4 (permalink)
Dartmouth 2010
 
SVOboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Hanover, NH
Posts: 6,447

Vegan Powa! - '91 Honda CRX DX
Team Honda
90 day: 66.52 mpg (US)
Thanks: 92
Thanked 122 Times in 90 Posts
Send a message via AIM to SVOboy Send a message via MSN to SVOboy Send a message via Yahoo to SVOboy
Aeromod that sucka,
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2008, 01:39 AM   #5 (permalink)
Awesomeness personified
 
AndrewJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Columbia, MO
Posts: 642

Harold - '94 Honda Civic CX
90 day: 54.51 mpg (US)

Margot - '08 Surly Big Dummy
Thanks: 0
Thanked 28 Times in 18 Posts
Send a message via AIM to AndrewJ
^ agreed

Aeromods beat technique on the highway any day.

I dunno about you, but P&G never did much for me on the highway. Aeromods, on the other hand, did plenty to boost my mileage, up to 55 from 49.
__________________
"I got 350 heads on a 305 engine. I get 10 miles to the gallon. I ain't got no good intentions." - The Drive By Truckers.

  Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2008, 01:50 AM   #6 (permalink)
ECO-Evolution
 
Lazarus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 1,482

Iron Horse (retired) - '97 Iron horse Intrepid

Ninja - '08 Kawasaki 250R
90 day: 76.23 mpg (US)
Thanks: 17
Thanked 45 Times in 34 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoCO2 View Post
3 car lengths behind a semi is...(whips out mental calculator)...roughly 45 ft...so that puts me, still, well within the range in which a significant aerodynamic advantage will be noticed...sweet. According to mythbusters the aerodynamic drag begins to reduce at 100 ft and only gets better the closer you get, up until about 10 ft where you are having to modulate the pedal so much that your using more gas just trying to maintain distance which negates the effects and makes no closer then like...I think it was 30 ft, effective.
The problem with trying to draft a semi besides the safety factor is that they are going to fast. Aero mod it x3
__________________
"Judge a person by their questions rather than their answers."

  Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2008, 02:17 AM   #7 (permalink)
I REFUSE!
 
thebrad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: 92596
Posts: 262

VTEC Express - '96 Honda Civic CX
90 day: 57.72 mpg (US)
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to thebrad
Granted I was doing 55 mph, I feel monitoring the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) readout and using the minimum amount necessary to maintain speed made a huge difference on the highway driving on my most recent tank.
It's time to fill up again and if my estimations are right, I should have hit ~55 mpg for the tank.
__________________
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2008, 08:08 AM   #8 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
tasdrouille's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Mirabel, QC
Posts: 1,672

The Guzzler - '08 Hyundai Elantra GL
90 day: 33.12 mpg (US)

Got Soul? - '11 Kia Soul 2U
Thanks: 35
Thanked 86 Times in 57 Posts
I did 150 miles of highway yesterday going to Montreal. I started at 57 mph and went on my own for roughly 50 miles when a semi doing 65 passed me. I just stuck to him for the remaining 100 miles, far enough so I could always see his driver side mirror. I got exactly the same FE for both segments.
__________________



www.HyperKilometreur.com - Quand chaque goutte compte...
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2008, 11:20 AM   #9 (permalink)
Bicycle Junky
 
NoCO2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 464

Putsaround - '96 Toyota Camry LE
90 day: 32.74 mpg (US)

The Commuter - '07 Trek 1000SL
90 day: 617.28 mpg (US)

Zippy - '91 Honda Civic DX
90 day: 33.29 mpg (US)
Thanks: 0
Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts
Thanks for the responses everyone. I figured, since most of the semis were going faster then I was, that the FE gains would be either negated or worse from the increase in speed even though I don't have as much wind resistance.

So, I got here and it took me just under 5 hours to do a normally 2 1/2 hour trip . The posted limit was 70mph (ouch) but traffic was light so I set the cruise control to hold me at the speed that got my RPMs to 2000RPMs and just left it there for the most part. I tried a little DWL but the route I took had VERY few hills so it didn't make a difference really then having cruise control on. I also found a semi doing just 60mph (i was doing around 57ish) and I noticed that on uphills he slowed down a bunch and on downhills he sped up a bunch...aka he was doing DWL stuff for his semi. So I hopped on in behind him so that I was more visible to cars coming up behind (at 80!) and I could keep the gas pedal steady with him and not cause any problems behind me.

I ended up getting about 34mpg on this tank which was mostly city driving, only the last half-ish was on the highway. The return tank will be the one to know how I'm doing on the highway.

Aeromods are coming, yes, I promise. However, I'm hesitant to do any until I get my scangauge because I don't want to just be doing aimless aeromods and not have any way to back-up my claims that they improve FE to people who ask.
__________________
  Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2008, 11:33 AM   #10 (permalink)
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 11,203

CM400E - '81 Honda CM400E
90 day: 51.49 mpg (US)

Daox's Grey Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
Team Toyota
90 day: 49.53 mpg (US)

Daox's Insight - '00 Honda Insight
90 day: 64.33 mpg (US)

Swarthy - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage DE
Mitsubishi
90 day: 56.69 mpg (US)

Daox's Volt - '13 Chevrolet Volt
Thanks: 2,501
Thanked 2,587 Times in 1,554 Posts
Nice tank.

__________________
Current project: A better alternator delete
  Reply With Quote
Reply  Post New Thread




Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Why the Civic VX is a superior highway fuel economy (FE) machine MetroMPG General Efficiency Discussion 9 10-10-2010 06:26 AM
Driving the Scanguage for FE Harry6 Hypermiling / EcoDriver's Ed 12 04-02-2010 01:51 PM
Skeptical of "blade" exaust tip FE / emissions claims Cd EcoModding Central 42 01-14-2010 11:44 PM
Easy 5mpg gain in FE (due to switch to summer gas?) Green Machine General Efficiency Discussion 7 04-24-2008 06:07 AM
Basic EcoDriving Techniques and Instrumentation SVOboy Instrumentation 2 11-17-2007 12:38 PM



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