Hypermiling Techniques

[Todd]

These are some of the things that I have personally observed and will continue with experiments on regarding increasing gas mileage to your current vehicle. The car I have been testing on and will talk about many times is considered a gas guzzler. It's a Lincoln Mark VIII with a dual overhead cam V8. It's got some good power, but has terrible gas mileage. Anyway, just wanted to give some short background, and to show that anyone can increase their MPG.

1. Less Friction: It's simple, maintain proper air pressure and inflate to the maximum allowed by the specific model of tire you own. This will decrease friction and help your car get up to speed faster than tires that are at an improper pressure. In my experience, this is one of the most overlooked maintanence issues for car owners. Over the course of the next year, I will be doing experiments with tire pressure to show how much MPG's can be saved with properly inflated tires.

2. Remove the Junk in your Trunk: OK, it's not what you think. I'm not talking about getting rid of excess pounds off your rear end. I'm talking about removing items from your car that are not needed. These can range from books to trash to clothing to shoes, etc. I've personally dealt with this issue with my wife. She got into a wreck in my truck, so I bought her a newer car, and then I took her old car (Lincoln Mark VIII). Well, she didn't take good care of the car as far as the cosmetics go and the cleanliness. I found 70 pounds of books in the trunk that were supposed to be donated 6 months earlier and I found 60 pounds worth of dog food in the trunk that had been sitting in there for over a month. I also found some other odds and ends in the trunk and passenger area (blankets, cloths, probably 3 purses, trash, and more). The total weight loss after just cleaning up excess stuff out of the car was close to 200 pounds! I'm sure that didn't help gas mileage. Not everyone has a mess like this, but I'm sure everyone can take some items out of the car that will lighten it some. I will be experimenting with adding and subtracting weight in the car over the course of the next year and compare gas mileage.

3. Lighten the Load: This is similar as above. However, we're talking about lightening the car from it's original weight. Some things that could be removed and might not be necessary are trunk carpet, floor mats, rear seats (if you don't ever use them), etc. This varies based on car and use. You can also replace items with lighter models. In my case, I have two luxury front seats with power everything (they are pretty heavy). Since the seats are old, cracking, and the motors aren't working in them, I plan on removing bot of them and replacing them with lighter (but comfortable) racing seats for around 150 dollars. I will post how much weight this reduces in the forum when I'm done replacing them. Also, if you have a full size spare, you might want to consider downgrading to a smaller spare (these are pretty cheap at junkyards). There are many different ways of reducing a cars weight and I will go over my findings throughout the year.

4. Maintain your Car: As mentions in the Less Friction section, keeping your car properly maintained is extremely important to fuel economy. Change your spark plugs, oil, spark plug wires, coils, O2 sensors, tires, shocks, trans fluid, etc. at there appointed intervals. Sludgy oil, misfiring cylinders due to faulting spark plugs or wires, and badO2 sensors cause your car to run inefficiently and can lower your gas mileage.

5. Breathing is Good: Breath in, Breath out, Breath in.....Now imaging breathing through a stopped up nose. Not easy huh. It's the same with your air filter. Over time dust particles and such can block or slow down airflow to your engine. This causes your engine to work harder to produce combustion. Changing your air filter on a regular basis will help insure that your car is breathing right.

6. Brakes are not our Friend: Yea, I know. Everyone has to brake. But anticipating when you have to brake and braking at a slower rate can drastically increase your gas mileage. It's crazy sometimes, I've actually seen people speed up to stop at a stop light. They sit at the stop light getting 0MPH while you are coasting to the stop light still getting good gas mileage. Yes, you ultimately have to stop, but they sit at the light for 4 to 6 seconds longer than you, getting 0 MPG. Over the course of a year, that's a big savings. Video to come soon.

7. Aggressiveness: Do you use your accelerator like a crazed maniac, flooring it, then slamming on your brakes just to get in front of one car. If so, this is for you. I watch it all the time. I've seen cars weaving and out of traffic, slamming on the accelerator, then slamming on the brakes just to get around one or two cars, and then that same car takes a right turn just after making the pass. Not only did they affect their own gas mileage, they affected the car that they passed, because now that car must slam on it's brakes since the car that passed now is taking a right turn. Key here is to just be patient. Usually using this aggressive driving only gets people to where they want to go a few seconds or maybe a few minutes earlier than if they would have driven calmly. It could even be argued that you are wasting time by driving aggressively since you get worse gas mileage which means you probably have to the gas station more often.

8. Neutral: Use Neutral going down hills or when anticipating a red light. I've tried this a few times and my trip computer said I was getting 100 MPG at the time, and that's with a big V8 Mark VIII (granted, that is just the instant gas mileage gauge, not the full trip). This is much easier in a manual transmission as you can just push the clutch in and immediately go to neutral.

9. Rubbing is Racing (to quote Days of Thunder): This is somewhat a reference to drafting. Drafting is a technique used to lower wind resistance to your car by following closely behind a larger vehicle. Although, this can be dangerous if traveling too close and is illegal in some areas and states. This technique is used most often on long trips at higher speeds and doesn't help as much at lower speeds. 18 wheeler truck drivers have been using this technique for years.

10. Idle Time: If at all possible don't leave your car in idle longer than 10 seconds. This is probably the most inefficient part of driving since you are getting a constant 0 MPG the entire time the car is idling. Of course in some conditions and temperatures it might not be possible to turn off your car when idling, but whenever possible, turning off your engine while sitting in your car can save a lot of Miles Per Gallon.

[rickevans033050]

While shutting down to save on RPMs might save gas it adds to wear and tear on the starter motor. Also, doesn't starting an older car use some extra gas?

[hort stu]

Ok about # 9... drafting

I remember hearing on Car Talk that they believe that drafting is beneficial for all the cars involved. You don't necessarily have to be behind a bigger vehicle though that will probably help your mpg even more.

They said you are "pushing" the vehicle in front of you as much as it is "pulling" you. Unfortunately a lot of truckers think it hurts their gas mileage when you do this. Get the word out that this saves fuel for both parties.

While shutting down to save on RPMs might save gas it adds to wear and tear on the starter motor. Also, doesn't starting an older car use some extra gas?

Is this true if you are popping the clutch? I would imagine no.

[pdw]

I use premium gasoline on the 94 Saturn and flywheel-starting (bumpstarts) ..... using the appropriate gear makes it seamless (so pax hardly notice it) , ... equals smooth starts between coasts. But to save gas my tank is 90% empty (lowers weight too).

Achieves $5 per 100km using premium or $6 per 100 with regular. Don't know why this is exactly.

Also for safety: I always use 4ways when allowing trucks etc to pass safely (rearview mirror driving), ... and never interfere with normal traffic flow.

[blownb310]

Note to website creator/owner:

Make me a moderator here and I will clean up this board.

The spammers will be sent packing!

[evanhadaway]

Originally Posted by pdw

I use premium gasoline on the 94 Saturn and flywheel-starting (bumpstarts) ..... using the appropriate gear makes it seamless (so pax hardly notice it) , ... equals smooth starts between coasts. But to save gas my tank is 90% empty (lowers weight too).

Achieves $5 per 100km using premium or $6 per 100 with regular. Don't know why this is exactly.

Also for safety: I always use 4ways when allowing trucks etc to pass safely (rearview mirror driving), ... and never interfere with normal traffic flow.

I am obviously new to the forum but reference the 90% empty part of your post, couldn't this be a catalyst to premature fuel pump failure? I realize that if your primary goal is MPG this is irrelevant but overall costs it might seem counterproductive. Just my $.02.

[titan8or]

1. Less Friction: It's simple, maintain proper air pressure and inflate to the maximum allowed by the specific model of tire you own. This will decrease friction and help your car get up to speed faster than tires that are at an improper pressure. In my experience, this is one of the most overlooked maintanence issues for car owners. Over the course of the next year, I will be doing experiments with tire pressure to show how much MPG's can be saved with properly inflated tires.

I've seen a lot of people here talk about cranking up the tire pressure to the maximum inflation listed on the side of the tire and I've been in the tire business long enough to know that's a bad idea for two reasons. I understand that maximum inflation will create less rolling resistance and increase mpg's, but it will also cause your tires footprint to be less flat subsequently putting less tire on the ground making it unsafe and will prematurely wear out the center tread section of the tire and leave the outside virtually untouched. The second problem is that the only reason you should run maximum pressure is if you increase the load on the tire. Increasing the pressure in the tire will allow you to carry more weight without overheating the tire, but without the extra load you're asking for premature belt separation inside the tire. So with both of these factors in mind, unless you're running very inexpensive tires, you're going to have to replace your tires more frequently. Factor that into the cost savings of better mpg's AND hopefully you don't have a tire blowout or lose control because of not having enough tire on the road and hurt yourself or god forbid someone else. My tire call for 35PSI and have a maximum inflation of 50PSI (if memory is correct). I usually bump up the pressure 2-4 psi per tire (use Nitrogen,and yes it helps) and get long life from my tires and the tread is worn evenly across the tire as it should be.

[orten999]

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[orten999]

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[orten999]

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