What's Behind your Motivation to get High MPG?

[chumly]

Originally Posted by Cd

I do it for the ladies.

Sometimes I do it BECAUSE of the ladies!

[darcane]

Originally Posted by ChewChewTrain

- Some of us want to "stick it to the oil companies".
- Some of us feel good saving money at the pump.
- Some of us do it for the environment.

I like oil companies, and I think the environment is doing just fine.

I'm (slowly) building a land speed car. Most improvements to a car to make it more fuel efficient will also give it a higher top speed.

As an engineer, maximizing efficiency is an interesting goal to pursue, and it saves money at the pump when I try for the best fuel efficiency.

Sometimes efficiency is getting the farthest out of a gallon of gas, other times it is getting the most power out of the engine, sometimes it is getting the most speed out of your available power. Consequently, not all of my decisions end up giving me the highest fuel economy.

[ChewChewTrain]

Originally Posted by darcane

I like oil companies, and I think the environment is doing just fine.

You LIKE oil companies? You're lucky Ecomodder doesn't have a "Vote Them Off the Island" feature.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by ChewChewTrain

I wonder. Do you think, in a galaxy far, far away, space aliens brag how they were able to reach earth and return home on fewer dilithium crystals?

I was going to make a joke about a giant pulse & glide.

But that's probably not the way they'd do it: instead, accelerate half way there, turn the ship around and burn fuel to decelerate the rest of the way. Not P&G!

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by chumly

Sometimes I do it BECAUSE of the ladies!

There's nothing quite like forced frugality.

Well, I guess slave labor or imprisonment...

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by ChewChewTrain

You LIKE oil companies? You're lucky Ecomodder doesn't have a "Vote Them Off the Island" feature.

Well, most of the things we use, from the food we eat to the goods we buy to the buildings we live and work in, are almost completely dependent on oil companies, whether that's in the form of chemical fertilizers or diesel for trucks and tractors or petroleum products such as plastics and asphalt. I don't necessarily like oil companies, any more than I like any other companies, but I appreciate the quality of life they have made possible.

That said, I'm trying to minimize my dependence on them, both because of the environmental havoc we all wreak and the immediate monetary costs. I started hypermiling to save money on gas, but quickly realized that driving that way is also more interesting.

[ChewChewTrain]

Originally Posted by Vman455

Well, most of the things we use, from the food we eat to the goods we buy to the buildings we live and work in, are almost completely dependent on oil companies, whether that's in the form of chemical fertilizers or diesel for trucks and tractors or petroleum products such as plastics and asphalt. I don't necessarily like oil companies, any more than I like any other companies, but I appreciate the quality of life they have made possible.

That said, I'm trying to minimize my dependence on them, both because of the environmental havoc we all wreak and the immediate monetary costs. I started hypermiling to save money on gas, but quickly realized that driving that way is also more interesting.

Okay. In THAT case, I'll change my vote.

[drainoil]

And I'm pretty sure most people in our lifestyle are not trying to over compensate for certain physical short comings, unlike some that drive big jacked up coal rollers that never haul or tow anything

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I was going to make a joke about a giant pulse & glide.

But that's probably not the way they'd do it: instead, accelerate half way there, turn the ship around and burn fuel to decelerate the rest of the way. Not P&G!

The coolest alien navigators calculate the voyage time spent using the P&P&P (pulse & pivot & pulse) method. Then they calculate shorter pulses with a glide in the middle, factoring in the higher acceleration that a lower fuel load will allow.

[niky]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I was going to make a joke about a giant pulse & glide.

But that's probably not the way they'd do it: instead, accelerate half way there, turn the ship around and burn fuel to decelerate the rest of the way. Not P&G!

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

The coolest alien navigators calculate the voyage time spent using the P&P&P (pulse & pivot & pulse) method. Then they calculate shorter pulses with a glide in the middle, factoring in the higher acceleration that a lower fuel load will allow.

A good-sized solar sail should allow you to save fuel on braking... Or you could use the solar wind collected by the sail at your destination for reverse thrust.

Gonna need an incredible amount of fuel to do the pulse-pivot-pulse with continuous thrust throughout the trip.

-

Christmastime is always a bummer for me. Christmas traffic and cold weather mean no more high mileage trips. I've just seen 3.5 km/l (about 8 mpg) in city driving for the first time in years. None of my short-cuts worked. I had to endure half-an-hour of traffic just to go a single mile. (The highway leg after was better, but given I had a diesel, I was not happy getting a mere 30 mpg on that leg and 12 mpg overall. )

Ho ho ho. Time to break out the bicycles.