Hyper-miling seems as if it would be incredibly stressful, like TSD rallying, or listening to your wife talk about her day at work.
Hyper-miling seems as if it would be incredibly stressful, like TSD rallying, or listening to your wife talk about her day at work.
Not mine or affiliated but relevent, of course here in Atlanta!
crankwalk wrote: Not mine or affiliated but relevent, of course here in Atlanta! Turbo diesel motorcycle 150 mpg
I kinda love that, except the seat...
Woody wrote: Hyper-miling seems as if it would be incredibly stressful, like TSD rallying, or listening to your wife talk about her day at work.
I wouldn't call TSD rallying stressful, more like challenging and fun. But, to each his own.
Economy Runs ARE TSD rallying and hypermiling combined!
Woody wrote: Hyper-miling seems as if it would be incredibly stressful, like TSD rallying, or listening to your wife talk about her day at work.
Too damn true. The closest I get to hypermileing is the last 1/4 of every tank :)
dean1484 wrote:wrongwheeldrive wrote:That is the car I was talking about!!!! He drives his daughter to school in it just about every day.nymalo wrote: The Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club held 4 Economy runs in 2008 and 2009. Here is a link to a long thread on the runs. Here is the results from one of the events. We held these events early on a Sunday morning on secondary roads. Mark.Chang's CRX rocks! 118mpg :D
does that Honda get 118mpg.. or 118mpge? because the "e" is pretty important.. like that one guy with the Fox Mustang that claims like 100mpg, but when you read up on it he's running E85 and getting something like 40mpg- which is impressive in a V8 powered car- but he only calculated how far he goes on each gallon of gas, because apparently the ethanol doesn't count..
I was't going to comment, but the drafting irritates me.
In my opinion, tailgating to draft on the highway is dangerous to the person doing it and the rest of us out there on the road with them.
Visibility when that close is compromised and you can't see what is coming up. The tailgater can't see the guy changing a tire on the shoulder until too close to react to give room to pass by safely.
Even if you give the trucks heads up, in an emergency situation the truck driver is hopefully going to focus on keeping the truck under control and avoiding a dangerous situation before picking up the CB to let you know there is a problem.
Financially, how much time needs to be spent drafting trucks to make up for the cost of rear ending one? A single accident can offset any fuel savings for years.
crankwalk wrote: Not mine or affiliated but relevent, of course here in Atlanta! Turbo diesel motorcycle 150 mpg
"It has no electrical based components required to run, so in the worst case situation like an EMP strike, the bike would be completely unaffected."
HAHAHAHA 
Considering how stressful being hyper-vigilant can be and how much money fixing even minor front end collisions costs, tractor trailer tailgating or TTT (tm) has about the lowest risk/ reward ratio of just about anything I can think of.
And who really has a CB mounted in thier econobox and actually gets in touch with the actual driver, gets PERMISSION to tailgate from the driver? 1 in 100,000,000 maybe?
ebonyandivory wrote: Considering how stressful being hyper-vigilant can be and how much money fixing even minor front end collisions costs, tractor trailer tailgating or TTT (tm) has about the lowest risk/ reward ratio of just about anything I can think of. And who really has a CB mounted in thier econobox and actually gets in touch with the actual driver, gets PERMISSION to tailgate from the driver? 1 in 100,000,000 maybe?
Me LOL. At the time I had a Firebird and a Mullet so what do you expect. LOL
EDIT: Lets just say I grew up in a more rural part of the country. You know those photos of bathtubs with a fire under it? I.E. a redneck hot tub? That was just another fun Saturday night. Never occurred that it was actually a bad idea. . . Sort of like drafting 18 wheelers. What could go wrong?
crankwalk wrote:Vigo wrote: Solution: A street bike and a hybrid. You wont care how fast the hybrid is because a 170hp bike will make even 'quick' car's acceleration seem irrelevant. But fast bikes, and especially cruisers, actually tend to get WORSE mpg than my car. Not that mpg is the end all, but if you really wanted to maximize mpg you wouldnt be going for the 170hp bikes.Right about the bikes getting worse mileage sometimes. A liter bike to save money doesn't make sense. Coming from a big truck, sure, but in the grand scheme of things there are several cars that out perform lots of bikes for fuel economy. I have beat on my TDI for 3 hours in the mountains and got 38 mpg overall for that tank, with protection from rain, a/c, heat, and a stereo. Can't get all that from a bike to commute on.
Right, I'm not saying my "liter bike" is the best commuter, and I didn't buy the bike for fuel economy......I bought the bike I wanted and am just pleased with the mileage. I get 40-50 riding it however I want, of course keep in mind my commute is 70% interstate.
As far as creature comforts, you're right other than the radio, but we have plenty of cars, and I still prefer to commute on my bike. Everyone is different.
Considering how stressful being hyper-vigilant can be and how much money fixing even minor front end collisions costs, tractor trailer tailgating or TTT (tm) has about the lowest risk/ reward ratio of just about anything I can think of.
I forgot to bring up drafting but i completely disagree with your take here. Ive found that you DONT have to be close enough for it to be dangerous for it to work. Luckily my Insight has a prominent instant-mpg gauge that tells me when im close enough because it goes up about 10mpg. The gauge reading is more obvious than my subtle lifting off the throttle which i honestly may not notice. But yeah, 10 mpg on my car!
And i actually think being at a reasonable distance behind a semi is the SAFEST place to be, on the highway anyway. If you're not ASLEEP, you can ALWAYS out-stop a semi. So unless that semi runs into an ESPECIALLY STURDY concrete wall (they'll go right through a smaller one), there is very little that can happen in front of that semi that will cause it to stop faster than you can. So i see it as about as safe as you can get!
In reply to novaderrik:
The kind of MPG that normal, sane, realistic people use.
Ok, so if you find yourself able to follow that close to a semi, (with permission from the semi driver Interested in keeping his driving record pristine, I assume because I'm sure he'd be happy to ok that, yup!) for 10 whole miles uninterrupted by his lane changes and exiting off the freeway, you save a couple bucks. Yeah, I guess it IS worth it now that I think about it. I mean who cares if everyone else on the road including I'm guessing 99% of the drivers you tailgate think you suck?
I bet you're a really nice guy too but everyone that sees you is gonna hate you. If thats worth it to you, i guess you're free to do it. Just sayin
Woody wrote:crankwalk wrote: Not mine or affiliated but relevent, of course here in Atlanta! Turbo diesel motorcycle 150 mpgI kinda love that, except the seat...
Anyone know a good source for these little Yanmar turbo diesels? I have an old Honda bike begging for a swap like this. An ebay search just returned large marine turbo diesels.
ebonyandivory wrote: Ok, so if you find yourself able to follow that close to a semi, (with permission from the semi driver Interested in keeping his driving record pristine, I assume because I'm sure he'd be happy to ok that, yup!) for 10 whole miles uninterrupted by his lane changes and exiting off the freeway, you save a couple bucks. Yeah, I guess it IS worth it now that I think about it. I mean who cares if everyone else on the road including I'm guessing 99% of the drivers you tailgate think you suck? I bet you're a really nice guy too but everyone that sees you is gonna hate you. If thats worth it to you, i guess you're free to do it. Just sayin
This thread has gone a completely different direction than I hoped it would. I was hoping for a discussion of mods to cars and or good possible cars to start with that you can use as a normal dd that will return you much better millage than if you leave it stock. Instead it is turning on to a . . .. Well .. . . . . nuf said.
Ok I saw this once some place on the interweb. Some one took a 944 and put a diesel motor from a generator in the back. He then rigged a chain drive from the motor to another sprocket mounted on the inboard side of the half shaft. He had some sort of clutch that he could engage to start it. He use it for highway crusing and had a hand throttle control that acted like the accell / decell on a cruse control. Said it netted something like 75 MPG or something? I don't know if he just let the motor idle in the car or if he rigged something to charge / run the electrical system and shut the motor off. One thing he would have to do id disable the steering lock if he did this.
I don't know how cost effective it would be but if I remember from the write-up he was not in to it for much $$$$ and the fabrication was rather simple basic stuff.
I've tried it, and I agree with some of the earlier posts - its hard to do without being 100% inconsiderate to other drivers on the road. Yeah, going 10mph slower doesn't have much of an effect on me, but coasting to a traffic light does... especially when you are preventing me from getting into the left or right turn lane, thus causing me to sit through an extra light cycle. Also, anyone in a high-traffic area accelerating slowly away from a light should DIAF. Moving slowly away from a light may cause anywhere from 1-10 cars to have to wait an extra cycle. If you do that, berkeley you.
I tried it as much as I could without feeling like I was being a complete dick to everyone else on the road... when I was very extreme, shutting off the engine at lights, coasting on backroads when nobody was around, etc. I got around 10-15% more mileage.
I also agree with Vigo - want to drive fast and get good mileage? Get a hybrid. I find it funny when people claim hybrids get terrible mileage if you drive them hard. Go rent a Prius, Civic Hybrid, or Insight and drive it hard. Watch what happens. One of my former co-workers had an 08 Civic Hybrid. Drove on hills on the interstate in the fast lane all the time. We'd take his car out to lunch, and he'd drive like a complete jackass (WOT up to speed every single time, very late braking, etc) to a rather amazing degree. He still averaged 43mpg in that car.
Anyone one of the most popular statements... its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow is especially applicable in this situation. On a daily commute, I can only imagine an Insight is way more fun to drive than my S2000 was.
For every happy hyper miler out there, there is another pissed-off citizen who is wanting to buy a giant gas guzzling 4x4 pick up and drive over the asshat hyper miler. These guys can't clear the intersection when turning left on an advanced green before it expires.
The GOOD news is that they don't slow much for right hand turns.
If any of these idiots tries to tell me that they are saving the planet, I tell them that if they really want to do something useful, don't have kids!
This is why I love my Volt. I can "hypermile" by driving the car the same as I would any other fun car, taking off fast from stoplights (if I'm first at a light, I'm always way out in front when it goes green) and doing over the speed limit on the highway. I don't try to maximize range and I haven't put gas in it in over 2 months, while spending only about $8/month in electricity.
Yeah, it's not a $1000 beater for saving money, but on the flip side, it's not a $1000 beater to live with. 
Chris_V wrote: This is why I love my Volt. I can "hypermile" by driving the car the same as I would any other fun car, taking off fast from stoplights (if I'm first at a light, I'm always way out in front when it goes green) and doing over the speed limit on the highway. I don't try to maximize range and I haven't put gas in it in over 2 months, while spending only about $8/month in electricity. Yeah, it's not a $1000 beater for saving money, but on the flip side, it's not a $1000 beater to live with.
I so want one of these. I just can not wrap my head around the 40K plus price as compared to other options out there. I really need to test drive one some time.
dean1484 wrote:Chris_V wrote: This is why I love my Volt. I can "hypermile" by driving the car the same as I would any other fun car, taking off fast from stoplights (if I'm first at a light, I'm always way out in front when it goes green) and doing over the speed limit on the highway. I don't try to maximize range and I haven't put gas in it in over 2 months, while spending only about $8/month in electricity. Yeah, it's not a $1000 beater for saving money, but on the flip side, it's not a $1000 beater to live with.I so want one of these. I just can not wrap my head around the 40K plus price as compared to other options out there. I really need to test drive one some time.
Anyone paying $40k for one is doing it wrong. Especially right now as GM has $5k cash on the hood to move the remaining '12s and '13s to make way for the '14s. (but stay away from the '12s, the improvments for the 13s are many and important).
On another board, a guy just leased one for $250 a month using the GM cash, the dealership's internet special, and the state and federal tax credit applied. Basically he's financing a $24k car. Mine was the equivalent of a $28k negotiated price, and it had an MSRP of $41k.
If you do test drive one, make sure that you put it in Sport mode and Low gear (there's really only one gear, but Low makes the regen mimic heavy engine braking and it's more efficient AND fun to just leave it in low all the time, even on teh highway). Sport mode changes throttle tip-in for more rapid response. As I tell people, punch it hard from 15-20 mph and giggle a lot. 280 lb ft of torque will do that in a smallish car.
I'm looking for a bumper sticker for my Mustang that says "I burn the gas your Prius saves."
Because I'm a jerk. 
oldtin wrote: Ever get stuck behind a hyper-miler in traffic when you are running late? I want them dead.
Who's a bigger dick? The hyper-miler who accelerates slowly and coasts up to stoplights, or the aggressive, self-absorbed jerk who's always running late and driving like an shiny happy person?
We could make a case for a change in driving habits. If a majority of people used just a few basic hyper-miling techniques in their daily driving, I suspect it would have a significant impact on fuel consumption, and pay a dividend in increased safety as well.
It's a tie. The hypermiler that pisses off the over-caffeinated, always-late jerk.
The answer is do everything you can to keep traffic moving at a constant rate. That's our damn jobs when were on the road, not texting, not talking on cells, not saving 3 cents a mile or killing someone because you overslept.
ebonyandivory wrote: The answer is do everything you can to keep traffic moving at a constant rate. That's our damn jobs when were on the road, not texting, not talking on cells, not saving 3 cents a mile or killing someone because you overslept.
This needed to be quoted. Big, big +10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
You'll need to log in to post.
