My First Attempt at Hypermiling - Can you guess what kinda of car?

[The Verge]

The road was very straight and I did everything I could not move the steering wheel any more than absolutely necessary.

I bought an SCT tuner that will allow me to adjust the idle rpm so I'm going to drop it to 500 to see if I can get my coasting mpg up.

The bad thing is that I think I'm going to wear out my throw-out bearing, clutch fingers, and left leg since I will be pressing the clutch a lot more than normal.

[California98Civic]

Something german and TDi. BTW, nice Android app.

EDIT: don't sweat the extra clutching from a wear perspective. I think that gets too much play. I have been in the same car with the same clutch for ten years. I have only been heavily hypermiling for less than a year, but it has generally been driven in city/suburban conditions--not highways--all the time I have owned it. In other words, it has had many many times the amount of clutching this same car might have had with a predominantly freeway driver. I am on the original clutch still. The car has 186,700 miles. I'm easy on the clutch, and maybe it helps. But I remind myself that the engineers designed these parts with a diversity of usages in mind.

[The Verge]

Same car with these differences:
1-different road (more curvy some very slight ups & downs)
2-no traffic
3-later in the day
4-JLT cold air intake and K&N style cone air filter
5-SCT tuner w/ BAMA 93 octane race tune
6-93 octane gas
7-Idle speed dropped from 700 rpm to 440-500 rpm
8-Harder Acceleration in 4th vs 5th gear
9-Lower coast down to speed

These changes resulted in 123.28 (vs 62) avg mpg at 50.02 (vs 55) mph over a 6 minute highway cruise. I attached the graph but I can't even believe it myself. Please let me know if it looks like I have done something wrong.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by The Verge

Same car with these differences:
1-different road (more curvy some very slight ups & downs)
2-no traffic
3-later in the day
4-JLT cold air intake and K&N style cone air filter
5-SCT tuner w/ BAMA 93 octane race tune
6-93 octane gas
7-Idle speed dropped from 700 rpm to 440-500 rpm
8-Harder Acceleration in 4th vs 5th gear
9-Lower coast down to speed

These changes resulted in 123.28 (vs 62) avg mpg at 50.02 (vs 55) mph over a 6 minute highway cruise. I attached the graph but I can't even believe it myself. Please let me know if it looks like I have done something wrong.

OK. Wow. But these are just short moments in ideal situations... the trick is being able to do it over sustained driving. But this is a way-interesting demonstration... I was fooled into imagining a TDi, obviously. Oddly, you seem to have reinvented your drag racing fascination in the MPG department. You must really love drag racing.

[SentraSE-R]

The graphs lie. You didn't average 62 mpg on the first graph. You tried to take the average of the ~90 mpg X 60 seconds and 15 mpg X 45 seconds, but it isn't done that way.

There's a lot of rounding error, but here's why I think your Mustang only got 27 mpg on that first graph, not 62 mpg. it's backed by my real world P&G observations, where I typically see 250-300 mpg on glides from 60-45 mph, and 15-20 mpg on pulses of half the glide duration, while averaging a real world 45-50 mpg.

You've got ~45 seconds of pulse time in graph 1. Assuming you average 55 mph pulsing from 45-60 mph, you've traveled .6875 miles during pulsing. Assuming you average 15 mpg during those pulses, you consume .04583 gal during pulsing.

You've got ~60 seconds of glide time in graph 1. Assuming the same 55 mph average during gliding, you travel .9167 miles during gliding. Assuming you average 90 mpg during gliding, you consume .01019 gal. during gliding.

Total distance traveled = 1.5042 miles. Total fuel consumed = .05602 gal. 1.5042 mi/.05602 gal = 26.85 mpg.

[Kodak]

Hehe, well look at that. I'll take it. I figured that your were probably using a vehicle not normally associated with high mpg - something with some element of surprise.

[The Verge]

Thanks for the reality check.

Over the years I have seen the following advice for gas savings:
Proper tire Inflation = 15%
Drive Speed Limit = 10%
Change Oil/Filter= 10%
Accelerate Smoothly = 15%
Coast to Stop = 15%
Use Freeways = 15%
Use Cruise Control = 10%
Install a Tornado = 22%
Use Chevron Gas = 3%
Total = 115%.

I did all this and every so many miles I would have to stop and let gas out of my tank.

I guess this law applies to my new found awesome gas mileage. Unfortunately, it proves that P&G won't work on my car because I have achieved better mileage by cruising at 55. I know it is capable of over 30 mpg and even dogging it, the lowest I have seen per tank is 24.5mpg.

Kinda feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween... "I got a rock"

[California98Civic]

SentraSE-R does it again. The quality of your data made it possible. That's what's coolest on this forum, IMHO. Charlie Brown got a rock; you got useful information. But if the car is a manual transmission, you could try engine OFF coasting. Even slowed, your steady idle is consuming far more fuel than an off/bump-start cycle would. Also, if you get a gauge that allows you to track engine load and learn the optimal spots in your car's BSFC map, you can improve your pulses greatly. I am absolutely confident you can--with the right equipment and info--significantly improve "the nut behind the wheel." The pulse and glide thing did not really work well for me until I learned how to use the optimal ranges. But I got lucky: PaleMelanesian is expert at the P&G with EOC and he drives a nearly identical car. You will need the BSFC map or a lot of patience finding where the best results are by watching how your scangauge or ultragauge results change according to changes in your pulse techniques.

Access your inner drag racer: tweak driving technique for MPG instead of MPH.

Originally Posted by The Verge

Thanks for the reality check.

Over the years I have seen the following advice for gas savings:
Proper tire Inflation = 15%
Drive Speed Limit = 10%
Change Oil/Filter= 10%
Accelerate Smoothly = 15%
Coast to Stop = 15%
Use Freeways = 15%
Use Cruise Control = 10%
Install a Tornado = 22%
Use Chevron Gas = 3%
Total = 115%.

I did all this and every so many miles I would have to stop and let gas out of my tank.

I guess this law applies to my new found awesome gas mileage. Unfortunately, it proves that P&G won't work on my car because I have achieved better mileage by cruising at 55. I know it is capable of over 30 mpg and even dogging it, the lowest I have seen per tank is 24.5mpg.

Kinda feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween... "I got a rock"

[SentraSE-R]

EOC would turn Verge's 26.85 mpg into 32.8 mpg (1.5042 mi/.04583 gal), a significant improvement. A 4.6L Mustang GT should certainly accelerate from 45-60 mph in a lot less than 10-20 seconds. I'm 95% sure Verge's % engine load during pulsing is far from being in the optimum BSFC sweet spot.

[The Verge]

You must really love drag racing.

There is nothing like beating a much faster car by beating them off the tree and driving well. Its great to tweak your car for performance and challenge yourself to be a better driver... but then again, you guys already know that.

My latest race mods have definitely improved my fuel mileage. Most race mods are targeted towards improving the overall efficiency of an engine and my tune was designed to dramatically increase horsepower in the 3k to 7k range which I am staying out of. The throttle response is amazing!

The attached data shows similar testing with additional data items added. The distance, instant mpg, and speed came directly from the obdII and I used the fuel usage vs distance to verify.

The end result was ~47 mpg (~41 mpg using the fuel level sensor) as calculated in a manner suggested in this thread and using two different data inputs. BTW, thanks SentraSE-R for the calculation lessons and the rest of you for your excellent comments and suggestions.

I elated with the results and will continue to run the '93 octane race tune' especially this week at the track where I plan to top 100mph (since I can't top 100mpg).

Also, I have a Scangage II (which I love) but you guys gotta try out the Torque Android app. It was only $5 to buy and the Bluetooth OBDII adapter is $40 on ebay. I'm even thinking of putting a tablet in my car for larger gage displays.

California98Civic, I am new at this so what is a BSFC map? Is bump starting using the clutch in 5th gear to restart after a EOC cycle? During pulse is it better to get back up to speed quickly or better try to get good MPG while accelerating?

Thanks!