Saving gas with family and friends
 

I'm eco-driving since May/June and eco-modding (light version) since August.

After a little while, my wife also began to eco-drive.

In our families nobody else tried to eco-drive, even if they look interested when I talk about my results.

Few of my friends tried, but none is really trying to save, whatever the reason they could have (ecology or economy).

What about your families and friends ?

Denis.

much interest - not so much in the way of action :/

My mother has a 2006 Altima (2.5L I4 engine o.0)... She averages around 22ish (basically all city driving). When I drive, the MFD puts me at 35+. Everyone's amazed, and it's quickly forgotten...

sigh

^35+ mpg in the city in the altima? If this is the case then I need to get my alignment checked because it seems kinda off.

Same, people show interest and aw at success. But stop short of trying it out. My mom gets fairly good fuel economy just because her driving style is almost hypermilingish to start with (slow acceleration.)

I've got the lights timed well at home - and I know my city quite well, to figure out optimal routes and such :thumbup:

My best ever was 40.1 on the highway - mind you, Florida highway with South Florida "hills" (bridges over roads). Average speed was somewhere between 50 and 55 :thumbup: Of course, no a/c etc. BUT, that figure was before the engine swap - I don't know how I would preform now, I'm not on the insurance for that car anymore.

I have a picture of the MFD somewhere (I was proud of myself) - I'll have to dig it up :)

My bro in-law is one person I know who's fairly interested in efficiency. He's got a ScanGauge in their minivan, and loves driving their Camry hybrid.

Two other guys I know have asked to borrow my SG; of those, one actually has started several conversations with me about driving techniques.

I don't sermonize on the subject matter. If people want to talk, I'm happy to tell all, but I try not to bring it up a lot.

My wife achieved her best tank in our Scenic (which is a diesel compact MPV) :

• under 5.0L/100 (over 47 mpg) and
• over 1000 km (over 621 mi.).

Denis.

My girlfriend knows that I do it...sometimes she makes jokes about it being an "obsession" but she has never gotten into it...she even makes jokes when we have to take a highway trip (which my Prius does worse mpg on the highway than city driving) saying "Guess we're taking my car today?" Realistically we SHOULD be taking my Prius everywhere as it gets 40+ mpg better than her Jeep Patriot but she knows it will kill me to sacrifice my mpg on the highway...a little backwards but, yes, it's an obsession!

The closest she has come to getting involved recently has been resetting her Trip A mileage when she fills up so I know she is tracking how many miles she drives on a tank. She doesn't do the math with the fill up but at least she is aware of how many miles she gets on a tank.

Doubtful she will do anything about it though...other than telling me I'm driving too slow when she's in the car with me!

My boss at work make a good effort to get better mpg...we both have Prius. On a daily/weekly basis we both mention what mpg we have on our MFD at the time (kind of a game to motivate us both). He's usually in the low to mid 50's so he's doing ok in his. I know he uses neutral coast once in awhile and has his tires close to max psi.

A friend at work joined ecomodder about a month after I did but he fizzled out on keeping track of his fuel log and never got into it.

My Wife will soon be a driver and has already gotten into an argument with her driving instructor about some eco-driving practice she got from me.
On the other hand, my Dad-in-law keeps his rpm's high (reason#1:he likes to have more power; reason #2: he doesn't hear the engine complaining when he's going 80 km/h in 3rd gear). He more than makes up for all of the fuel I've ever saved :( He's heard what I have to say but is of the opinion that a car is made so you get in and GO!!, no dancing around, fooling with it, speeding up, slowing down. Just go, and go fast if possible.

A colleague of mine told me today that he achieved a 1020 km (634 mi) ie 4.7 L/100 (50 mpg) while he was achieving only 650 km (404 mi) a few months ago and 850 km (528 mi) lately :cool:

After keeping a steady lower speed on highway and freeways, he is now also using NICE-on coast in city.

He has an old gasoline 106 peugeot weighting less than 900 kg, ie 25% lighter than megane : I may think about removing weight...

Denis.

My dad's always been interested in efficiency, but not enough to buy a ScanGauge or even a stick shift. He also feels that his car needs to make the right impression on his clients, otherwise he'd probably let me aeromod it. At least his driving style is mostly good, and he's trying to pass that on to the other drivers in the family.

I've gotten my mom to consider a hybrid (probably the Civic) for her next car, but she's not even a little bit interested in hypermiling.