Sustained Hill Climb Strategy

[doviatt]

You could always fake car problems (hood up, flashers on) and see how many offers you get to tow you to the top. :-P

[Fat Charlie]

So where P&G, EOC and DWL fail, give AAA a try!

[RedDevil]

By driving up the hill you add a lot of potential energy by moving the mass of your car further away from the earths core. It's not lost; just converted from fuel to height.
Thats the way with physics; the law of gravity is strictly implied and perpetraters will be brought down infallably

A typical car engine will perform more efficiently under a heavy load than under a very light load.
Going down it uses no fuel at all. With the right incline you could even be better off than driving on flat ground; a natural P&G opportunity.
As your engine already runs efficiently up that hill there is no real room for improvement, except some weight shedding. It ain't broken, so don't fix it.

Wouldn't use EOC going down a mountain road; that's when I would not like to suddenly lose PS or brake support. The economy going downhill will always be impressive, even if the engine does not shut off fuel intake completely.

[nathan01xl]

Originally Posted by doviatt

You could always fake car problems (hood up, flashers on) and see how many offers you get to tow you to the top. :-P

That and I should stop along the side of the road once a week acting like i am out of gas and see how much free gas I can score!

[nathan01xl]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

By driving up the hill you add a lot of potential energy by moving the mass of your car further away from the earths core. It's not lost; just converted from fuel to height.
Thats the way with physics; the law of gravity is strictly implied and perpetraters will be brought down infallably

A typical car engine will perform more efficiently under a heavy load than under a very light load.
Going down it uses no fuel at all. With the right incline you could even be better off than driving on flat ground; a natural P&G opportunity.
As your engine already runs efficiently up that hill there is no real room for improvement, except some weight shedding. It ain't broken, so don't fix it.

Wouldn't use EOC going down a mountain road; that's when I would not like to suddenly lose PS or brake support. The economy going downhill will always be impressive, even if the engine does not shut off fuel intake completely.

Well said. I feel the same way about EOC down the hill, its just not safe.

[nathan01xl]

small update.

i tried taking the hill with the goal of 15+ mpgs and was able to DWL right around there at 25 mph until somebody got behind me and i had to speed up to 30, where i got about 12 mpgs. near the end of the hill is a short downhill followed by an uphill and i was able to accelerate to 45 and get into 4th during that stretch and pull 20 mpgs for about 1/4 mile before i EOCed the last 1/8th mile home.

Definitely an improvement but am going to keep trying new things!

[bestclimb]

The difference between EOC and warming it up coming down will be pretty insignificant compared to the high burn going up. By your description of low speed limit, high grade and lots of turns means that some sort of braking will be necessary, likely best to let that braking action warm the engine, power your steering and brakes rather than heat your pads and disks. Good call.

Is there any way you can go just a bit faster to keep it in a higher gear for a greater % of the trip up (perhaps dropping to 3rd for a little boost then DWL in 4th where you can) or is it steep enough that it just won't pull it?

I am not sure what type of instrumentation you have but watch your open and closed loop indicator, when loaded like that it is pretty easy to drop into open loop.


OOOh take advantage of up slope winds by having a kite boarder in the bed of your truck help you up the hill.

[nathan01xl]

Originally Posted by bestclimb

I am not sure what type of instrumentation you have but watch your open and closed loop indicator, when loaded like that it is pretty easy to drop into open loop.

i am using an ultragauge, i just installed it, and am not sure about an open or closed loop indicator.

i will look into it.

[bestclimb]

Little ring on the top right of the screen. When it is open (broken) the computer is running on the fuel map (which tends to be on the rich side). When closed it is consulting the O2 sensor.

[PaleMelanesian]

Look for another way up/down. Does 30 go up the slope to the west? It's probably straighter and flatter than your winding road.