Most ecodriving-friendly place you've driven?
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http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1487095286
(Sign for the highway that runs along the province of Nova Scotia's south shore.) I've been hanging out in a tiny town in Nova Scotia this winter (south of Halifax), and I have to say I've never experienced such laid back drivers as the ones around here. It seems like hardly anybody speeds -- on either the scenic routes that hug the coves and peninsulas along the coast, or the inland highways. Heck, half the time, it seems traffic is going a little bit under the posted speed limit. Yet nobody tailgates. Seriously. And in 6 weeks of driving around here, I've only seen a couple of drivers go roaring past a line of traffic in the frequent passing zones. Oh, and as a pedestrian in town, if you so much as look like you want to cross the street, most drivers stop mid-block and wave you across. It's amazing. I've always thought the sleepy eastern Ontario city I live in was a very ecodriving-friendly environment (both the routes, and the majority of the drivers), but the people around here make home look like the Indy 500 by comparison. http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1487097713 There is definitely a laid-back east coast vibe here, and I like it. I was so perplexed and impressed by the apparent lack of haste that I started to suspect had that my (borrowed) car's speedometer was under-reporting real speed. Nope. I actually checked it against GPS readings, and it's pretty much right on. On the other hand, this is the dead of winter. In summer, the vibe is probably very different, with tourist drivers doubling or tripling local traffic volumes. But I'm enjoying it while it lasts! I'll be headed back to Ontario soon enough. |
Technically stopping for pedestrians is anti-ecodriving. As an often pedestrian doing my job as a mailman it baffles me when a single car stops for me as I just approach a crossing on some desolate side street. Just keep moving I can cross a whole 2 seconds later after you have passed. On the other end the kids in front of the school also drive me nuts. They seem to endlessly trickle out into the crosswalk and there is no guard to group them up and cross together.
To answer your question though highway 200 in eastern Montana. Runs east west, parallel with interstate 90 south and Highway 2 north. It's more that you have it all to yourself and you can drive however you want. Combines at 20mph and Vettes at 100mph. Sight lines go on for miles most of the time. Wind is the only wild card. |
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I was going to make a comment along the lines of YKYAEM when... you are careful not to make any moves that suggest you're planning to cross the street until AFTER the solitary approaching car goes past. :D I've actually done that around here. |
I actually got the worst mileage of the entire 5300-mile trip this summer on 200 and US 87, headed west to Great Falls; 53.88 mpg for that tank, well below the trip average of 57. Winds were out of the WNW that day.
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Back to the original topic: Chicago freeways, when traffic is moving, is hard to beat for MPG. Wind-protected with walls and whatnot, lots of traffic moving in the same direction, and moderate speeds=great mileage. |
This town's roads used to be rules by the old and infirm...15 years ago...I thought that was bad at the time...its really gone to sh*t since.
Is there something about the west coast that attracts the unscrupulous types? |
My favorite eco road was also in CND. Driving west from Derby, VT to the Tousand Islands involves mucking about through Montreal, but the actual highway parts (especially the 401) are low stress and flow smoothly. In my pre-hypermiling days, that run was the only time I ever got a 25 mpg (and the not believed by the tuner kidz 400+ mile) tank. Sadly, the Columbo wannabe high school dropouts working our border made that run more annoying than it was worth and I don't use CND as a shortcut any more.
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I can't remember the route, but the 2014 mid-Ohio Vetter fuel challenge, starting on a cool July morning; a group ride as real-world as is possible for a group ride from Lexington to Pickerington and back to Lexington, which is in between the greater Mansfield and Columbus MSAs; at or about 150 miles round trip; netted me 96.9 mpg according to my own records on my 2014 Honda CTX700 (101.85 official result).
Up until the time of that event, I had never exceeded 83 mpg on this amazing stock, mid-sized motorcycle. However, at this event, I tucked except during braking and up hills and in in-town riding and my windshield mounts unexpectedly broke the morning of the ride dropping my windshield down to where the air was coming directly in my face when upright. I kept the bike in somewhat higher gears than usual but not all that much different than other group rides I had previously attended. The speed was actually faster than the charity rides I had been on and there was a five or six mile interstate stretch where I reached up to 75 due to the slinky action of the convoy, though we were going north, and there was likely a slight tail wind during that stretch, but it was a calm, warm day once it warmed up. The bike was stock except for the dropped-down Madstad screen and a large tool box strapped to the seat behind me. I think it was not a measurement anomaly and was legitimate. The tank before, and the tank after the event came in at the normal mid-seventies mark for mixed riding and traveling back home; the latter from the same pump and fuel as filled from prior to the event. If these events haven't ended, I may try again for 2017 to replicate that feat, but can't find any evidence that the Vetter Fuel Challenges will continue this year. Would love to show up this time with a slightly smaller rear sprocket (maybe; still debating the eco advantage of this mod, if any, on my bike that already runs at low RPM and higher final drive may mean more downshifting than stock). I'd also love to have someone help me build a Sendler-like tail) and maybe take the windshield off leaving only the mount and tuck, tuck, tuck. 2014 Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge, Vintage Days |
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laid back in eastern Ontario this weekend
Wow... I visited relatives this weekend, doing a usual 200 km round trip on eastern Ontario country roads (south of Ottawa), and I can't remember when I've seen such consistently laid-back drivers in this neck of the woods.
Good following distances, mostly content to travel at the speed limit, like everybody was out for a Sunday drive on both Saturday and Sunday! The couple of passes I saw were very civilized, not kamakaze. Maybe all the taped-on cardboard scared people into keeping their distance?? http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1525636435 |
My city is 2nd safest in the country = much better for ecodriving.
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Turns out the data back up my impression that drivers in my little city are pretty laid back and take their time (which makes it so much easier to drive for good fuel economy).
Allstate does an annual ranking of the safest cities to drive in Canada based on insurance claim frequency for collisions. https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1545059880 Brockville has a 3.9% claim rate. (Meaning: 3.9 claims on average for every 100 cars over 10 years.) The best city is 3.8%. The worst city is at 7.1% Lots of retirees here is one reason. Also its small size (pop. 21,000) is another. The local newspaper ran a story joking that if you hit every red light from the north (suburban) end going downtown, it would take you 10 minutes instead of 7. |
Oregonians in general seem to be slow and laid back. I'm often behind someone doing 10-15 under the limit.
Woodburn in particular the drivers act like the whole city is a school zone. |
There's this one 20-mile stretch in Ohio (North Thayer Rd. & OH-117E) on the way from Michigan to college in Virginia that's mostly flat, very slight hills, where I got 40 MPG in the minivan and 70 MPG on my Civic for the whole duration both ways. Speed limit varied between 35 MPH and 55 MPH.
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In Oregon, people rarely go more than 10 MPH over the low speed limit of 65 MPH. Big rigs don't go much over 60 (55 MPH limit).
Interestingly, one of the best tanks I've had was in Washington, I believe on I-90. The speed limit is 75 MPH, and the big rigs go 75 MPH. Ducking behind one of those, I was able to achieve fast travel and good fuel economy. Places where the big trucks drive fast are great to get good fuel economy. |
^ Also because they unintentionally DWL (drive with load) on the hills.
I rarely take the freeways. Lots of scenic alternatives around here with a 80 km/h = 50 mph upper limit. That's just fine for shorter trips. In fact I'm just about to head out on such a route along the St Lawrence River Parkway to a Dr.'s appointment. I could take the 401, but nah, I've got the time. |
Google maps shows some back roads as being slightly shorter in distance, yet longer in travel time. Back when I was commuting a lot by motorcycle, I explored those back roads and found that not only are they way more scenic and shorter in distance, but faster travel time too. Perhaps Google thinks I slow down for turns. At any rate, the back route is faster even if I'm driving my truck with a trailer.
When ETAs are fairly close, I always choose the shorter route. They tend to be more scenic, less busy, and don't end up taking more time. |
I found the same, especially when travelling southwest. Generally the GPS would take us through the Chicago interstates and toll roads, until we began setting it to avoid tolls, which then bypassed Chicago, gave us a more direct route, and saved us a few minutes by avoiding Chicago traffic and stopping for tolls.
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For me the most eco-driving friendly place I've driven is the Netherlands. The country is almost completely flat, urban speed limits are low, conurbations are frequent so you rarely spend long above urban speed limits, and other drivers didn't seem particularly aggressive so you aren't permanently whisked along in faster-flowing traffic.
I've previously driven a Yaris Hybrid over there, and a diesel Citroen C4 Cactus with an automated manual transmission, and in fairly regular driving I seem to recall achieving 60-65mpg pretty easily in each. |
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OH-117E is mostly 55 MPH, with a couple slow downs through town to 35 or 45. Mostly mild hills, not much overall elevation change. |
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Blue Ridge parkway.
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US 11 along the western edge of Virginia.
Couple years ago going to DC to visit my folks, decided to get the heck off the Interstate and see something different. What a fantastic trip! The car sang on US 11. The swoops and dives were exactly right for my HCH1 to whistle up a record 66 miles per gallon on that leg. I had never before and never afterward got numbers as good as that. |
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