Mythbusters Episode Fuel Saving Tips Jun 12 @ 9EST
 

Title pretty much says it. Was just watching an afternoon version of Mythbusters and saw the trailer for tonights show it is going to be on fuel savings tips & hypermiling.

kewl

Awesome, I'll set the DVR.

Nice avatar, by the way!

40-70% = busted?
 

Who says all you have to do to double mpg is passenger mirror delete and a couple hypermiling techniques? The "myth" seemed kind of made up to be honest.

Yeah, the show was LAME. Like who on Earth expects to double your mileage by hypermiling? The one guy got 70% better mileage and was all like "Dang....I didn't double it" Huh? He got 56 mpg! 168 miles on 3 gallons in a 2010ish Ford Focus. What a bummer. They had a few stupid ideas they gave credit to like the dimple wrap vinyl sheets to improve mileage. They also talked about speeding up veeeeerry slowly which is a bit contrarian to what we know.

Well, the guy did double the mpg hypermiling (56mpg) of the girls control lap (21mpg). They just glossed over that fact.

I am a fan of Mythbusters...at minimum they should have given this a "plausible". No way was it "busted"! Stupid!

dimple wrap vinyl? Where did they get that idea. Seems pretty stupid to me. Has anyone on this site ever tried it?

I sure hope not, but they are infamous for golf ball dimples. I guess that they still think those work.

golf ball dimples work... on a small sphere that had just gotten hit by a golf club. if that describes your car, feel free to go ahead with it.

I'm writing about the episode, intending to post the final essay here, but for now, here's an excerpt:

"You missed one of the biggest hypermiling tips:don't drive more car than you need. The single largest contribution to my MPG was switching from a 16MPG truck to a 42MPG car. By doing this, I have increased my fuel economy by about ~263%"

Myth confirmed m*********ers

That's disappointing. I realize they have to simplify things somewhat to make a package for TV, but come on. It's obvious that hypermiling works, and by busting some weird myth they pulled out of nowhere, it could make viewers dismiss the whole thing.

Funnily enough, while I can't remember the context, I know I first heard of hypermiling from Adam Savage on an old YouTube video.

Dimple wrap / Fast Skinz.....Derp

Popular Mechanics test

Just saw this now, they weren't anticipating when the lights would turn green and seemed to piss off people. Engine off at lights requires a lot of attention. And a Really good battery. Though it seems they only did a few mods to the cars (mirror delete, weight reduction, dimple skinz). I doubt they touched the underbelly. Or did a grill block. They could have emphasized the fact that he got 56mpg in a non hybrid vehicle.

I really wish that I could have watched Mythbusters do a belly pan. Their ideas and techniques are hit-and-miss, but they craft very well.

Good to know they did another one of these.
It should be recorded on my DVR when I get home this weekend.

Saw the aftershow on discovery.com

MythBusters: Hypermiling Aftershow : Video : Discovery Channel

Because of the way those tires were squealing, I wonder what the air pressure was- or was it just added sounds?

At one point they stated +10% tire pressure. If oem is 32 psi, that would be 35.2. Still low in my book.

Weak. I didn't see the episode, just that Q&A session.

Popular Mechanics tests Fastskinz
 

Here is Pop Mech test of Fastskinz on cars. Hope the link works. Well, it seems I'm not allowed to post a link to it. So do a search on Popular Mechanics Fastskinz Test Drive and you should find it.

Joggernot

Not sure if this is the one you are talking about but HERE

Popular Mechanics generally does a better job than "Mythbusters." Here is MetroMPG's thread, which links to the article:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...aims-8321.html

yep, same page I linked :)

We were posting at the same time. I just spent longer looking up quotes and links.

Ah, didn't look at the time stamps. Thanks for the more informative post btw.

Was the additional information necessary? It never is, when I give it! :)

They didn't do a quality job on the test either, they certainly could have anticipated the lights better, and techniques such as removing engine braking by switching to neutral would have helped.
Of course, the 'busted' is likely so they aren't appearing to 'endorse' it. Is all...

This is by no means perfect, it's just my thoughts and feelings after watching the episode.


By saying a few simple changes will double your mileage then busting it, you are missing the point of hypermiling. While it is true that none of the drivers added 100% to their original MPG, the improvements in MPG stretched 40% to 70% from little more than driving style changes. This is really impressive because none of them are experienced hypermilers—they are doing this without coaching, and without practice. Why?
Because driving style is the largest factor of a vehicle's MPG.
This doesn't mean that eco-driving is limited to driving style. I would say the largest hypermiling tip is the following: don't drive more car than you need. The single largest contribution to my MPG was switching from a 16MPG truck to a 42+MPG car. By doing this, I have increased my fuel economy by about 263%

One of the main points of the show was driving 45 MPH on the freeway. There is a moment where Kari laughs and asks if the chain of cars in her wake is because of how she's driving (here's a hint; YES). If you have a line of cars behind you while driving, you are an idiot, not a hypermiler. Hypermiling is all about compromise; getting the best MPG while not being a nuisance on the road.
Few hypermilers drive 45 MPH on the highway, rather the takeaway from “slowing down on the highway” is that aerodynamic drag is the cube of velocity, and slowing down a bit reduces your drag a lot. Instead of driving 65-75, slow down to 50-60.

By the way, what's with this “not slowing down on corners” business? Conserving momentum is a big part of hypermiling, but driving around corners so fast that your tires squeal is idiotic, unsafe, and a waste of perfectly good tires.

Finally, it should be noted that Tory and Kari drove different vehicles, the Malibu driven by Kari gets significantly less MPG than the Focus driven by Tory, so it's kind of not a wonder Tory got farther based on the control MPG, which was SET IN THE MALIBU AND IS THEREFORE FAULTY DATA.

~Matt

EDIT: P.S. thanks for perpetuating the stereotype that hypermilers are saving gas by being socially awkward and oblivious.

EDIT 2: P.S. thanks for perpetuating the stereotype that hypermilers save gas at the total expense of normality.

Awww, now, don't go and ruin my excuse. "No, of course I wasn't attempting a personal best on that offramp officer, that would be idiotic and unsafe. I am a hypermiler, and I was maintaining momentum in order save gas!"

Ok finely saw it and seems like they set that myth up for failure.

The only time I shut the vehile off and put it in park is in the drive through, other wise its in Netrual just a click away from Drive

If I wanted to I could rig up a Netrual saftey switch bypass and start the vehicle in Drive. I had one riged up on my camaro for a few weeks about 10 years ago when the Netrual safety switch circuit went out.

I'm gathering from the replies that Mythbusters didn't do that good of a job. I haven't watched the episode, But this isn't the first time I've heard of them not being quite correct; I'd heard discussion of an earlier episode - A bed-wetting one where if one would put a sleeping person's hand in warm water, They person sleeping would wet the bed in their sleep - And they said "Busted" On that one but I read more than a few comments saying that it does work. Perhaps that just doesn't work on every person.

For some of their episodes, I imagine they get the results right but in many, It seems the results just aren't right.

Off-topic a bit, But buying a new car will have more of an impact on the environment than using a beat up sedan from the 80s for 20,000 miles or so I read. It's food for thought, Anyway.

It looks like Fuelly has gotten in the Mythbusters spirit...did anyone else see their current tip on the home page:

Tip: 50/50 rule--updated | Fuelly

Both of these posts below imply an ambiguous fact.

Positive or negative impact on the environment?

Besides environmental concerns, there are financial ones as well, among many others.

In what way will the rule be broken for cars with an electric A/C? Will it be more efficient to drive with the window open at higher or lower speeds than 50mph in this case?

I believe they are saying that with electric AC there is no point where it is more efficient to use it rather than opening the windows.

You would be leaving a swath of junked cars and replaced parts.

It works in the sense that it justifies them using air conditioning. Weird how LocoDiesel put "proved" in quotes. That makes it sound like he does not believe it, so why would he share it.

I do not think that he or she understands quotation marks.

I'm pretty sure the quotation marks implied sarcasm.

The Mythbusters commonly mess up on scientific accuracy, because they simply don't have the funding to be truly scientific on some stuff, or the motivation to be truly scientific on other stuff. I think it's a show you have to take with a grain of salt and that is difficult for me.

On another note, keeping the same car since the 80's could be a disastrous financial decision. I know I commonly cite the same source (myself), but in the first three months since purchasing my car I made my car payments plus saved $111 just based on the fuel I wasn't putting into my paid-off truck---and it was going to need ~$2,000 in work within the next six months.
I totally understand your point and to some extent it's very true, but just like hypermiling, it's situational and best left to fluid judgment.

What if the '80s car gets 34 mpg and the annual miles accrued are low?

Eighties! Not nineties! :)

Most of Mythbuster's audience seems content with McScience and I think that they would be upset by the real thing.