My first foray into EOC P&G
 

So my poor little Peugeot had developed some cooling issues and I had to resort to engine off gliding to try to manage the heat since my coolant system was no-longer cooling.

I was surprised by two things, how stiff the steering is without the power steering pump, and how far the little car would roll on a slight downhill and flat.

Having spent much more time 4x4ing than ecodriving in the past I almost exclusively coast in-gear and generally use my engine rather than my brakes to keep my speed in check. I am also quite conscious of the idea of speeding up just to slow down right away is a huge waste of energy. You are quite unlikely to see my brake lights at all on the open road. Coasting distances were a bit of an eye-opener and I ended up using my brakes a fair amount more than I was used to.

Bump starting the little 1.8 four-banger was a non-issue starting in fourth at 60km/h and going strait into acceleration without hesitation. Using the ignition to kill it was a bit of a pain though.

My goal was to get to work and back without dangerously overheating the engine and in a reasonable time frame. I would say I was successful since I was able to keep it under 100˚C and my regular 20-25 min commute took about 35 minutes.


When I investigated the problem I found that the heater core was preventing the coolant from circulating. I did a little bit of bypass surgery and $4.65 latter I had a working cooling system but no more heat in the car (Heat hadn't been working since the coolant system stopped working anyway)


So my engine is now staying in the normal operating temperatures between 70 and 80˚ once it is warmed up and my reason for P&Ging is behind me but I am now curious what it's effect on FE was. It had to have been considerably more efficient considering the amount of heat I was NOT producing during that commute.

I might just try to do as much P&G driving with EOC as I can this weekend and see what that does to a tank of fuel. I don't have any in-car FE instrumentation. If it doesn't drive me nuts I am going to start thinking of ways to make that style of driving much more comfortable with whatever vehicle I end up buying when I get back to Canada in a few weeks. The incredibly stiff steering might be a deal-killer.

You can alleviate some of the stiff steering issue with increased tire pressure. That will also increase your coasting distances. Of course, ride will suffer.

Also keep in mind that EOC P&G using the ignition may cause you to "lose" some miles, because the odometer may not work while the key is off (in that period while you're waiting for the engine to come to a complete stop so you can switch the key back on). I found I was losing ~6% of my miles:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...sel-24894.html

Disable power steering when the engine is on too, then you'll stop noticing a difference in how heavy it feels. :)

I see the same, I figured I am losing about 4% with how I drive. I need to get my kill switch sorted out.

Well my weekend was a P&G fail.

I did fill up before going and with approximately 1/3 of the tank being P&G and 2/3 being regular driving I got a tank average of 7.50 l/100km, compared to my running average of 7.48 l/100km. Not exactly a promising start.

I started off the trip with some P&G like intended until I got out of my regular area and into some uncharted territory. I ended up on some really twisty unsealed mountain roads, not really the kind of thing you want to tackle with compromised steering and my brakes would have been baked without engine braking.

I might have failed to do my P&Ging like planned but I did have a fabulous long weekend swimming in creeks, unicycling on tracks, driving mountain roads and relaxing by a campfire with malty adult beverages.


Thanks for the suggestions. Tires are at 35 PSI, any more and they are way too bouncy with my blown shocks. Dave, I will look at doing a kill switch similar to yours, then use it for the commute to/from work. It's not going to be very fancy as I will only have the car another few weeks then it's being sold for scrap metal/parts.

I think this method of driving will be more suited to the straiter roads and shallower hills of Sask once the snow melts there. The experience opened my eyes to the possibility anyway.

Also keep in mind that it's not exactly fair to compare your old "well-established" driving style to a new one you just learning. It takes a while to get the hang of things and work it to it's full potential.

You swim in creeks in saskatchewan in march? How many malty beverages must one consume first to do this?

Regarding your peugot,what year is it? If it isn't too ancient, it should have DFCO which means, by all means, leave the engine on in gear on descents for engine braking. Just remember to look ahead and take advantage of sections where EOCing might gain you a bit of speed to help with an upcoming hill. Successful EOCing is all about looking ahead and planning.

The creeks are a little hard back home right now. I am currently in Australia, but moving back in about 3 weeks. I think I would be able to make the P&G driving style work much better back home.

The peugot is a 1995 and currently falling apart. It was a good little car but didn't take kindly to some of my outback adventures. I wish it had a OBD II port so I could have plugged in a scanguage and seen what was going on better.

Stiff steering in a small moving car might be a symptom of using the wrong technique.

Here's how to get more power:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLw4N5V7DrQ