The little things

[user removed]

Originally Posted by tinduck

Mhhh... if you like that stuff for the effect, OK.

But do not expect to get a return on investment from the fuel saved by not operating your wipers... the stuff is much too expensive for this to pay for itself.

I guess all these little things mentioned here only work because they are for free; the fuel saving effects are very low but add up. But if you spend money for such low savings, you are out of the box rather quickly, IMHO.

so long,

tinduck

If you ever used rain-x you know about the better visibility. I'm talking about torrential downpours where some people pull off the road and wait it out. I have had a bottle for 5 years now so the cost per application is more than paid for by the fuel savings in say 40k miles of driving. Also one thing you forgot is wiper blade wear. Compare that cost to the rain-x and you have doubled your savings at least.

Been using it for 40 years here.

Clean your wiper blades every time you wash the car and every time you clean the windshield wipe the blades off with your cleaning rag until the rag does not get dirty. By eliminating the accumulation of oil and gunk on the blades you get better function when you use them and they last several times longer, even if you don't use rain-x.

regards
Mech

[Turbo Dan-O]

Xs 10 on getting everything ready to go before starting the engine. Also when pulling into a parking lot I try to engine off coast onto a parking spot close to the road and facing the exit hopefully heading down hill so I can coast back towards the street.

Dan-O

[JRMichler]

Arragonis's list plus: Park at the back of the lot so I can just glide in and stop. And drive right out without getting stuck behind somebody.

[Piwoslaw]

I try to keep as close to the shoulder as possible. This increases the distance to cars in the other (left) lanes, thereby reducing the aero effect of their shockwave.

[PaleMelanesian]

Good one. It's also safer, putting more space between you and the other battering rams on the road.

[tinduck]

If driving to the extreme right is safer than staying in the middle of the lane depends on the situation on the right-hand side of the road... I would not advise to raze parking cars (door open = door torn off) or byciclists... or to hug steep declines...

As always, use care and good judgement when exercising hypermiling techniques. Generalization is our enemy :-)

so long,

tinduck

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by tinduck

If driving to the extreme right is safer than staying in the middle of the lane depends on the situation on the right-hand side of the road... I would not advise to raze parking cars (door open = door torn off) or byciclists... or to hug steep declines...

As always, use care and good judgement when exercising hypermiling techniques. Generalization is our enemy :-)

Of course! I never hug the shoulder when I don't have good visibility - I'm also a pedestrian and cyclist (more often than driver).

[Ladogaboy]

Just thought of one for those who park in a gated parking garage:

Make sure your battery is fully charged: You can get the maximum range on the gate controller and not have to wait, idling, for the gate to open.

[Piwoslaw]

Here is a little thing I do, which I noticed today while filling up (other than EOCing the last 100 meters to the pump):
When I finish filling up, I wait umpteen seconds before pulling the nozzle out of the filler tube to let the last drops of fuel drip into the tank, instead of the pavement between the car and pump. Those few milliliters of fuel may not be much, but they might add the better part of an extra kilometer to my odo

[larrybuck]

In the Portland area, too many people needlessly run studded tires all winter.

The beat up traffic lanes are so rough, that with a CRX sized car, riding to the far right part of the lane gives me a less resistance ride. I go back to the middle only when there is a lane to my right so I'm not weirding those people out!

On slow starts downhill, I'm much more looking to skip gears here lately.