Ok so I was about to break down and buy a Toyota Prius after 6 months of owning my XB. I just moved from being 6 miles away from my job to about 37 miles away. I needed to save gas. At the current time a full tank got me about 330 and thats running the tank dry.(Actually pumping 11.9 gallons if not a little more). Which is 27mpg not bad not good either. When i first bought it i was getting 22mpg. Drove it like a bat out of hell.
I was doing Prius research and learning how to change driving habits to get the most out of the Prius. I was wondering if it applied to regular gasoline cars like my XB. At the beginning of the week i pumped gas at my gas station topped it off until she was dribbling from the mouth a little bit. (let me wipe that off) I set a few ground rules for
myself.

No jack rabbit starts
From dead stop during acceleration keep rpms below 3000.
Don't drive above 65 and or keep rpms below 3000.

I did a few things to my car before hand. I installed a cold air intake. Just a plain jane off of ebay nothing fancy. The tubing pulls air from the left fender. Sounds cool just listening to it. I increased my tire pressure from 32 psi to 42 front and 40 on the rear. It makes the ride a little bit harsh but decreases rolling resistance. Got rid of unecessary weight every 200 lbs or so decreases mpg by one. I switched to mobile one synthetic hopefully it will reduce friction in the engine and thats about it.

I live in a suburban area so i can get away with what im doing quite easily. City life you may get different results.

PULSE and GLIDE
Lets say you want to maintain a speed of 50 mph. With the pulse and glide method you speed up to 60 and put the car in neutral and coast until your car reaches 40 mph and you will put the car back into drive and repeat the process. This will not work on hilly terrain where the land slopes up but where i live i actually have rolling hills with a downward grade so one pulse can allow me to coast pretty far.

COASTING
In the xb coasting in gear just plain sucks because of the engine braking. This drag usually disappates at speeds below 35-40 even though the drag from the transmission is greatly reduced the engine is still doing over 2000 rpms. Its even higher at faster speeds so you must put the car neutral which disengages the clutch and allows the wheels to spin freely. This should reduce the rpms on the engine to 600-1000 basically its in idle. When you know a light is going to change and you are not going to make it coast to the light. At the light put the car into drive. It surprisingly uses less gas to idle in drive vs neutral. In inner city traffic driving where the speed limit is 45 or lower youd be surprised how far you can coast even with a few taps on the break. When coasting try not to engage back into drive at high speeds. There will be a surge in rpms if you do so the transmission can engague properly. i found that 40-45 you dont notice it. But let the fear fully engage before apply gas or you will feel a slight jerk as if you in a manual.

Drafting
This is a touchy subject. I do not suggest you do this personally but it does work. The xb is already the most unareodynamic vehicle on the road so we need help where ever we can get it. When drafting try to find a vehicle that is low to the ground but has alot of surface area. Usually a midsize to large passenger or cargo van and some medium to heavy box trucks and tractor trailers are a few examples. Try to trail a vehicle bigger than yours. The most effective drafting is when your about one to two car lengths behind the other driver. There is a negative pressure behind that vehicle that basically pulls your car along and its so much easier for your car to pass through their wake of air. 1 car lenghts 90% reduction in drag 2-3 45% and 3 or more is 20% or less There is also a sweet spot thats safer right at the point where you see their mirrors. The almost technically legal spot.

Cruise Control
If the area is to congested for the pulse and glide method use cruise control. Pulse and glide will save more gas but cruise will have a steadier consumption rate. In my xb the crusie gets really agressive if it drops below 5 mph especially on a hill. Dont allow the car to shift on hills. You can feel when its going to shift. Back off on the gas peadal or take the crusie down by 5 or so mph until you clear the hill. then resume at normal cruising speed.

SCAN GAUGE HELPER

I have a scan gauge 2 so know Im speaking the truth. Stay below 60-6 5mph. The economy goes way way way down after that. I used to drive 85-90 doing over 4 to 4.5 grand on the tach. And my gauge reads low 20s and into the teen sometimes. This gauge is handy and you will immediately start changing the way you drive. My tips should work on any car but this gauge will help you with changing your habits and help you find what method best boosts your economy.

 

I suppose that I should slow down. I drive a Corolla, but advice is advice. I do do several of the suggestions already... but for some reason, 80-85 mph just feels better... I get about 35 mpgs regardless... Good advice though. HEY... I was wondering, how much does cruise control help or does it hurt?

 

To be honest in a hypermilers POV cruise always hurts even on level landscapes. But its better to cruise at a steady pace than to keep the flow of speeding traffic. When you start having changes in elevation to can lose 5 mpg even when the incline is not visible in cruise control. Pulse and glide is better than cruise. EX you spend 15 sec to accelerate to 60 speed @ 2600 rpm and spend 30 sec in neutral @ 650 to glide to 40 speed.. the speed averages out but the fuel consumption is alot less in neutral when gliding when crusing you are at a set engine speed the whole 45 sec.

 

ah. Much appreciated... Thanks for the advice....

 

congrats! I have a friend in a Mazda 3 who regularly manages about 41 MPG - and hasn't even finished breaking in the engine yet.

The most I've managed thus far is about 30 combined (I usually get about 28-29 if just doing city) ... I'm trying for about 32-33. It's difficult. The extra .4 liters, slightly shorter gearing than the Mz3, and few extra hundred pounds make for the difficulty I imagine.

Otherwise, yes, hypermiling has become somewhat of an obsession of mine! :D