New closet hypermiler.
 

Hello,
My name is Ottis and I am a major gear head. Speed has always been my thing. However I just sold my anti-hypermiling car and thought that I would come in here and learn. I had a 2008 Mustang Shelby GT500 that made 800 rear wheel horsepower and got 16 mpg. In my garage is a 1973 Mach 1 with a Big block that makes 625 horsepower and (believe it or not I figured this out for S&G's) gets 7 mpg.

My daily driver is a 2008 Silverado 1500 extended cab short bed 4X4. I recently purchased (6 months ago) a ScanGage and have been paying attention to my fuel economy. Just by changing driving habits I have gone from 16.5 mpg to almost 19 mpg. Yesterday (after I sold my baby) I went to the auto parts store and purchased synthetic lubricants for the engine, front axle, rear axle, transmission and transfer case. I have also located a local gas station that sells ethanol free gasoline. My overall goal is to be able to get my truck to average 25mpg back and forth to work. I am currently researching my next option of tail gate up/down and tailgate off replaced by net or tonneau cover. I look forward to learning from you guys and saving money!!

Welcome to the forum.

To get a meaningful improvement in fuel economy and get to your goal, you'll need to skip the tailgate up/down/off experimentation and proceed to the more advanced mods. This chart explains it nicely:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1334841255

any ideas on what optimum length of partial cover would be?

The optimum length is a full cover ;)

If it has to be a partial one, cover at least the rear half of the truck's bed.

Adding a wing / extending the roofline combined with that partial cover, will work even better.
You don't want a wing that stick up above the roof, or kicks the air upwards though - that'll increase drag.

There are a number of past & ongoing "aero topper" and DIY full & half-tonneau projects in the aerodynamics subforum. Dig around there to get an understanding of what works & why.

Well, I finally reallized that hypermiling a V-8 Silverado is like going on a Twinky diet, it may work , but it's not easy. So I still have my Silverado but I purchased a 2000 Plymouth neon and after only a few mods I am already up to 41 mpg. I am not complaining about that.

That is truly funny! Thanks for the chuckle.

And congrats on the 41 mpg commuter.

Oh man my side hurts!

And nice, 41 mpg is excellent! Do you have an extended/further goal from there?
And Welcome to EM!

Yes,
I would like to see 47 MPG, that would equate to 1 gallon of gas per day roundtrip for work. That would be excellent. I have currently performed the following mods.
removed the A/C and PS belt.
Replaced engine oil with synthetic,
installed my really cool yard edging lower valence
Installed a grill block
adjusted the nut behind the wheel

Planned mods
Install an HAI
side gap the plugs
Partial wheel well covers.

I know that those will not push me to 47 but every little bit help. Its just a bit hard to find people trying to do this stuff to a neon, so it is mostly experimentation on my part.