Hypermile High

I am driving on I-84 in the morning rush-hour traffic. I am in the far right lane, a most unfamiliar place, traveling at a top speed of 50 mph.

[MONEY TALKS AND - - WALKS]

I have an 88 Mustang with a 2.3L 4 cylinder engine. I drive up Rt.2 in the morning and set the cruise control for 61 mph. Everyone passes me but in the last couple of weeks more and more cars, maybe three are slowing down. For a twenty year old car, 33 mpg isn't to bad since they, the car companies, can't seem to build cars with great gas mileage, like the Focus at 29 mpg, WOW!
And by lowering the gas tax for the summer, the oil companies will just raise their gas prices another 18 cents,$ 5 by September,$6 in 2009!

[Elbee]

Congrats on some good driving. Most people are rather stupid behing the wheel.

[betty in new haven]

i'm trying this on my way to work in windsor this morning...i figure i can probably get my nails done on the way since i'll be in the slow lane!

[Drivers wanted]

Good piece, Jim. If everyone could increase their MPG by 10%, I think the price of gas would go down, supply and demand.

Jim, you wrote "I don't shut off the engine, as some hybrid owners do, because if you shut off the engine in my car, the steering and brakes don't work." Well, in a Hybrid the engine shuts off by itself and you still have the steering and the brakes, but I wouldn't do this in a Jeep either.

betty, please don't do your nails while driving.

[Betty Bogart]

Congrats on the improved mpg! I appreciate the positive light you put on hypermiling. There are a lot of us trying to get more miles out of a gallon of gas.

[john]

I recently bought a new Sentra which shows average MPG, which I reset after every fillup (not a realtime one like your Jeep)..

Driving like I used to (~80-85mph on 91) I got about 28mpg average.. By slowing down to between 60-65 and trying not to brake I've gotten myself up to 35 and even 36mpg. I generally try and find a slow semi to ride behind for most of the trip; close, but not too close..

Thankfully my 35 mile trip to work every day is about 34 miles on highway!

[Chris Marasti-Georg]

betty in new haven, I have to echo, no doing nails. The point of hypermiling is not to drive in the slow lane. It is to be completely aware of your vehicle and your surroundings, so that you can make intelligent decisions.

Great article Jim. If you stick with it, you will find that your old tendencies fade away. I cringe now when I have to accelerate rapidly to merge onto a highway. Went from driving pretty aggressively, I'm now averaging over 30 mpg in my 21/27 Forester. I get an extra trip to work out of every tank :)

[KMM]

Money, I also drive on Rte 2 for my commute and have noticed that people (including myself) are driving much slower (65-70 vs 75-80). It does make a huge difference and frankly, it's a more pleasant ride.

Congrats on your 20 yr old Mustang. Also had one of those myself, but it literally almost fell apart in 1997. Just got a Prius and got 49 mpg on my first tank. Woo-hoo

[Max]

Intersting article. I travel the slow lane on 1-84 every morning and afternoon. A few things though. The proper speed for max effiency is around 60-65mph, not 50mph. Especially for a highway, 50mph is dangerously slow (as seen with the tailgaters).

It basically has to do with your RPM. As long as you keep the RPM on or around 2000, you are giving your engine a good exercise.

A big benefit is trucks. If you can tailgate them very closely, you will save a ton on gas. This is pretty dangerous though. Instead if you see a truck, try to travel just about where his cabin meets the cargo part of the truck. As the truck moves, it creates almost a suction cup in his blind spot. Your car can travel with little air resistance. This is also dangerous since the driver wont be able to see you.

[Delta Flyer]

First of all, a very postive article.

The three most important things you can do to improve fuel economy is:

1. Be aware of road conditions, drivers all around you, and the dash.
2. Don't speed
3. Use the accelerator and brakes as little as safely possible - like a bicyclist.

Concerning the previous comment: hypermiling is NOT DRAFTING, nor is it condoned by hypermilers at sites like www.cleanmpg.com . Unintentionally or otherwise, too many articles (not this one - the comment above mine) are making it seem drafting is a common hypermiling practice.

[tracy helin]

I have a Civic Hybrid, and get over 50 MPG in the summer by doing most of what this article says to do (I get about 43 in the winter). I don't feel that drafting is safe, so I don't do that. You CAN also inflate your tires to close to the max recommended PSI, which is listed on the sidewall of the tire (I keep the tires at about 40PSI). That makes a huge difference, and doesn't affect how the tires wear, in spite of what most tire dealers and mechanics will tell you.

Mostly, use common sense, and don't accelerate heavily. I agree with Max above. I do best at about 60 MPH on the highway.

[Chelovek]

My mother grew up during the Great Depression and went through rationing in WWII. "Hypermiling" was the way she always drove, to save gas, and also wear-and-tear on brakes etc.

One thing to note about inflating tires to their full psi rating or even a little above it: Don't go over the recommended psi in winter, when you might want your tires a little less inflated to improve traction.

[Chelovek]

Road rage IS a problem with this kind of driving. With the speed limit at 65 on the highway, it's near impossible to go 50 during rush hour. Even going 65 invokes tailgating by huge SUVs. After reading this article I've slowed down but when faster drivers need to be in the slow lane to make their exit they become very angry with people going 60-65.

One benefit I noticed this week: I had been driving at the speed of traffic--75-80 mph, experiencing the same impatience as these faster drivers. After slowing down, I've noticed that I feel a lot less stress when driving. A side benefit of saving gas--becoming calmer!

[Chelovek]

Excellent link! Thank you.

Delta Flyer wrote:

First of all, a very postive article.
The three most important things you can do to improve fuel economy is:
1. Be aware of road conditions, drivers all around you, and the dash.
2. Don't speed
3. Use the accelerator and brakes as little as safely possible - like a bicyclist.
Concerning the previous comment: hypermiling is NOT DRAFTING, nor is it condoned by hypermilers at sites like www.cleanmpg.com . Unintentionally or otherwise, too many articles (not this one - the comment above mine) are making it seem drafting is a common hypermiling practice.

[rob]

when i bought my toyota yaris i didn't know about hypermiling... i bought it because it had and epa rating of 29 city and 36 hwy. i heard about hypermiling and gave it a try... now i'm getting anywhere from 65 to 73 mpg on good days and not really noticing a huge amount of time lost. and yes the upside to it is the comfort of knowing how much money i'm saving. i'm less stressed out when i pass a gas station seeing people filling up a ford f-150 with 29 gallons of desiel. around here thats about $135 for a vehicle that gets less than 18mpg ... sorry if i laugh at their expense when they pass me on the road and save about 5 minutes!!! my fill ups at 9.8 gallons only cost me roughly $35 to $37. and they are 4 to 5 times less frequent. try it.... the more people do the more the demand will go down.

[rob]

oh and MANUAL TRANSMISSION... remember that on your next vehicle ... like my yaris, it makes turning the engine off coasting, and engaging the engine by putting it back in gear easy. doing this freequently on flat surface roads and downhill helps alot. under no circumstances tailgate or use another vehicle to draft.. its dangerous.. be aware of your sorroundings and be ready to break or accelerate in an instant just as you would not hypermiling. do not coast through stop lights and stop signs... you will eventually get a ticket. i recomend the yaris because its only $12,900 brand new and gets really good gas mileage without hypermiling. but for me i can't think of even a hybrid with an automatic transmission that could do this as easily.