Day 2 - so far, so good

It's not easy, that's for sure. Way more concentration than I would have guessed. I have decided to pick a handful of hypermiling techniques to focus on.

The big 5 -

1. Drive 55. Harder than you would think. I am making the commitment to stay at or below 55 on straightaways. It's all about wind resistance. Like moving you arm underwater - the slower you move it, the less resistance there is. When you are moving 80mph, your car has to force itself thru much more resistance than at 55, making the engine work harder and mpg to go down.

2. Pulse and Glide. The more extreme hypermilers actually cut their engine off while coasting, mimicking the way a hybrid engine works. That's a little too dangerous for my tastes, so I just shift into neutral. I have a standard transmission and its easy to go in and out of gear. Not as efficient as cutting the engine, but much safer for me. I have been able to coast for miles.

3. Driving like you have no brakes. The best line I saw was to the effect - every time you apply your brakes you are turning gas into brake dust. Maintain momentum. It takes a lot more gas to get a car moving from a stop than to speed up one already in motion. Plus, you can coast longer.

4. Long, slow accelerations. No more jack-rabbit starts. Accelerate slowly and evenly. Baby that engine. Use the cruise control to accelerate for a nice even acceleration in small intervals.

5. No air conditioning, windows up. This could be difficult. Right now, its not too hot out. But come summer, I drive into the sun on the way home and it heats the car up pretty good. I'm leaving my windows down at work so the interior doesn't heat up.

The minor ones -

4. Engine off if sitting for more than a minute. No drive-thrus, no running into the house with the engine on. Cut the engine as soon as you are in you parking spot. Apply parking brakes, turn off lights, etc after the engine is off. Seems small, but it can add up. Idling while not moving is just wasting gas.

5. Let gravity work for you. Park on a slope. That way you can coast to a start.

6. Pull thru parking. Park so you can just pull forward. That way you don't waste gas going in reverse, then having to start forward motion again.

7. Drive without a shoe. Seemed silly, but I tried it and I can see the reasoning. You have more feel for and control over acceleration and speed when you don't have the sole of a shoe in the way.

8. Empty out excess weight. I needed to clean out the trunk and backseat anyway.


Well, that's all of them. So far, they are taking a lot of concentration to maintain. We shall see what kind of dividends they yield.