Posted on 05/02/2008 5:13:54 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
PHILADEPHIA: As gasoline prices hit records on almost a daily basis, an increasing number of motorists in US are following a radical driving technique designed to eke out every last mile from a tank of fuel. Known as 'hypermiling,' the methods can double gas mileage, even in gas-guzzling vehicles.
Promoted on a growing number of websites, hypermiling includes pumping up tires to the maximum rating on their sidewalls, which may be higher than levels recommended in car manuals; using engine oil of a low viscosity, and the controversial practice of drafting behind other vehicles on the highway to reduce aerodynamic drag — a practice begun a few years ago by truck drivers.
The price of gasoline has rapidly emerged as the public's biggest economic concern. Gas prices are a "serious problem," ahead of jobs, and healthcare, according to a poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The "advanced" techniques of hypermiling are in addition to well-known approaches including keeping speed down, accelerating gently, avoiding excessive idling and removing cargo racks to also cut down on aerodynamic drag.
Adherence to hypermiling and other disciplines are designed to boost mileage well in excess of the US Environmental Protection Administration's ratings, which apply to each car model.
Wayne Gerdes, a former nuclear plant operator from Wadsworth, Illinois, and the originator of hypermiling, said he gets 40-70-mpg (almost 20km a litre) out of his Ford Ranger pickup truck, about doubling its official fuel consumption.
Gerdes (47), estimates that hypermiling has saved him $15,000 in fuel since he began the technique after the attacks of September 11, events that convinced him that US national security was being undermined by its dependence on oil from the Middle East, and motivated him to reduce his own fuel consumption.
"If every vehicle in the US got 25km per litre, we would not import any oil," he said. Deron Lovaas, vehicles campaign director at environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council, said most hypermiling techniques are "sensible recommendations" that could drive down demand and even prices if widely adopted.
"We should be looking under every rock for potential energy savings," he said.
He said he could not recommend drafting behind fast-moving trucks because it could potentially lead to highway accidents. Hypermiling can even make fuel-sipping gas-electric hybrid cars more efficient. Chuck Thomas (50), a computer programmer from Lewisville, Texas, said he has been getting 30km a litre from his Honda Insight, a hybrid whose EPA rating is 25km a litre, in the two years since he has been hypermiling.
Among Thomas' techniques is "pulse and glide" in which he accelerates and then coasts with the engine off until around 24 kph when he kicks the engine back on and accelerates again. "It's the automotive equivalent of skateboarding," he said.
And I remember loud arguments between my dad and my uncles about the wisdom of over inflating tires - 50 years ago.
1.) Increased tire pressure. Excellent. It is far better to have too much pressure than not enough. An overinflated tire outperforms one inflated to specification in EVERY respect other than ride quality. Oh, and you have to worry about blowouts. But if you usually ride alone and without heavy loads, most modern tires have plenty of margin.
2.) Acceleration strategy/constant speed. If you see a redlight a quarter-mile ahead, go ahead an let off the throttle, letting the engine do your braking. Any energy you bleed off through the brakes will never be recovered. Also, my accel strategy is different from the "egg under your foot" theory: Modern IC engines are more efficient at wider throttle openings, because the losses across the throttle are less. However, too much throttle will result in your engine's computer demanding a richer fuel mixture, which is wasteful. An authoritative approach to accelerating to your cruising speed - say, 30% throttle - is more efficient than granny-footing it.
3.) Drafting - Sorry folks, this works like a charm. Mythbusters CONFIRMED it's efficacy. Unofrtunately, it's dangerous as all get-out. Don't do it.
OMG! HOW STUPID CAN ONE GET?!?!?!.........NO RED FLAGS, EITHER!......
LMAO, was this written by a preschooler?
Try the link for the story. It didn’t post right the first time........
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/27/miata-impractical-bah/
saving cash is one thing.......saving the “planet” is another thing...i used those cfl bulbs, and did a chart on cost, life and dollar saving....those things do not on average last any longer than a standard bulb, and energy savings are offset by the price of the bulbs...it is pretty much a wash ( unless you break one and have to call a hazmat team to clean up the mercury )........anyway, i love it when a lib tells me to save the planet and buy a small car, the answer i give them is the same one i gave you ( it is fun to watch their heads explode when i say it )
Obviously was liberal.......To a liberal, history started at breakfast this morning.......
Let us no forget the power-assisted steering and brakes. The power assist comes from the engine.
And, it would be messy if a driver turned the key one click too far and the steering wheel locked.
This article is a pile of BS.
the idiot probably defines his speed in terms of furlongs per fortnight as well
Complete BS.
Let us no forget the power-assisted steering and brakes. The power assist comes from the engine.
no=not
Negative. The drafting vehicle has a drag behind it also, which must be added to the drag that was taken out of the original vehicle's drag. Usually a net zero, unless the vehicle is smaller than the drag area of the truck. When you add several trucks in a line, the drags are offset by the number of vehicles. SO they must take turns being the lead truck so that the guy in front doesn't get screwed.......
I have to disagree. I first bought CFLs back in the mid 1990s when I was in college. I actually did see a drop in my electric bill. I still have those same bulbs and they light up just as well as they did when I bought them. I needed more CFLs when I bought my house 2 years ago and have yet to replace any of them.
... anyway, i love it when a lib tells me to save the planet and buy a small car ...
It is even funnier when you can show them that a Prius really does not get the higher MPGs that are advertised, and how the process of making their batteries is actually more toxic to the planet than making a conventional vehicle.
I suppose you can conclude that I am a miser. But for me, I'd rather spend money on a new 50" flat panel HDTV than on extraneous gas purchases (I cannot afford both!). LOL.
Yeah, I love to turn off my engine and have no power steering, etc and in traffic, no less.
“...no American who ever lived actually said that.”
LOL!!
damn it, man!!!! and I was feeling so smug about my little 34mpg ion
Somebody has a death wish. Not even a red rag tied on “for safety”?
Please tell me he was pulled over and cited?
The “pulse and glide” technique will cost that Chuck Thomas guy a bit more money in transmission repairs than he will save on gas if he drives an automatic.
Most automatic transmissions have only one oil pump. That pump is driven by tabs on the part of the torque converter which spins with the engine. If the engine is turned off, oil will not flow to the bearings on the input or output shafts. The output shaft will spin whenever the car is moving with the driven wheels on the ground.
On a carbureted car with a manual transmission, turning the ignition off while moving (without pushing in the clutch) results in the same amount of fuel drawn into the engine as would be by coasting with the ignition on. The difference is that the fuel is leaving the engine unburned. When you turn the ignition back on, much of that fuel in the exhaust is lit, with often startling results for nearby motorists.
Fun to do on a motorcycle when car drivers are driving like idiots around you. Unfortunately, my last two bikes are fuel injected.
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