ballen2000

Has anyone tried this? "Hyper Mileage"

Recently in LA there's been alot of talk about it. People drive like 55MPH with very slow acceleration and cruizing to stops. And supposedly you can get like up to 50 to 60 MPGs.

I tried it with my xB and got less mileage. Anyone else doing this out there? I find that the optimum speed for best fuel economy is between 70 and 75MPH which will give me 32 to 34 MPG.

http://www.hypermiling.com/

bB2NER

There are all kinds of tricks to it but it seems like you have to be **** about it all the time. My best has been 37.5 mpg for one tank. It can be done but with an xB shape the highest would be around 40mpgs.
I don't drive my xB much but when I do it's for fun. Even doing that my last tank was 34 mpg.

Dwatts5250

I tried...um Hypermiling has caused me to do a few..."Dumba$$ ran out of gas" walks. Havent quite got the hang of it.

badbasic

i started a couple a weeks ago. im takin hypermiling in small doses. my mileage went from about 28mpg to 36mpg. it affords me one more days travel to work saving about $40 so far. i have several things against me, chrome wheels, sound system, etc. but still got 36 mpg and can def get more mpg by making more changes. u can go to ecomodder.com or cleanmpg.com for more info on hypermiling. a lot of things on these sites i will prolly never do but im saving gas and money just with the few changes ive made.

rvpps2rocks

thats also how normal ppl should drive...but everyones got a lead foot...its been proven that cutting in & out of traffic vs. just sitting in one lane only gets the person who was speeding to the same destination maybe a couple minutes faster. so i keep it cool when i drive especially with 4.50 a gallon

NorCal76

What a sad state of affairs when people who drive cars that average >30 mpg are worried about mileage and gas costs. I paid almost as much to fill my tank today as when I was driving a F-150 SuperCrew 4x4. I am one of those people "with the lead foot" and still get between 30 and 32 mpg. Still, never thought I would pay $40 to fill my tank.

HeathenBrewing

Have been strict about sticking to 60mph on freeways and have average 39MPG the last two fillups.

WhoKilledTheJAMs

My best tank yet is just a hair shy of 35mpg. I've been reading ecomodder.com recently, and a guy there just boasted of 49mpg in an xB1. I'm a bit dubious obout it, but I know 40s are possible.

I'm working on honing my hypermiling myself. The key is discipline. Shift by 2k, stick to speed limits, and learn to judge throttle position better, and you'll instantly gain efficiency.

Everyone that posts here about crappy mileage goes on and on about all the things they've done to their car to 'fix' it, but they refuse to adjust the nut behind the wheel, as the saying goes. Driving technique is the single best thing anyone can do for their mileage.

You don't even have to go to the extremes that some hypermilers do to see benefits, either. Just slowing down can easily give you 5mpg. That's like $8 every hundred miles put back in your pocket.

That said, I'm currently concocting plans for an undercarriage tray and kill switch/push button start, because I'm getting better mileage on my commute than on the highway.

crashdad

Not sure if I'd call it hypermiling, but by simply keeping the box to 60 mph on the highway, coasting on hills wherever possible, shifting at 2k, etc. -- just simple, gentle driving -- I've gone from 32 mpg to 37 mpg pretty consistently. My drive is a mix of urban streets and some interstate. Same techniques on the wife's Prius (gee, we drive exciting cars) typically gives her 50 mpg, up from the mid-40s.

stew32

It seems to have started here too. I don't care how much gas costs, you can't drive 55-60 MPH in the fast lane of a 4 lane highway! The speeds at which people drive on the highway seems to have slowed quite a bit the past few weeks. Even more than when we had those absurd fees tacked onto tickets in VA.

HeathenBrewing

No one should be driving in the far left lane since it is a PASSING lane ONLY! (boy how I wish that law was enforced more).

Remember, a speed limit is the maximum speed as allowed by law for road vehicles. 55-60 in the 2 right-most lanes is totally legal in California. Dont know about your state though.

douglasinct

Got my best on the last fill up.... 36.3 mpg!

When I started I was doing 28 mpg.

Then, with a change to Mobil 1 (before knowing differently), new iridium spark plugs, and slooooooooowing down a bit, and increasing the recommended cold air tire pressure by 3 pounds, I have been averaging right around 32 mpg.

snowromance

yea nothing stopping you from staying in the right lanes so that you can keep your speed to 60mph. like someone said above... it takes discipline to get good mpg. If you want to see the mid 30s or better per tank, you're going to have to get your speed down on the freeway. i would much rather leave 5 minutes early and save a dollar each time i commute then leaving at the last second and having to waste gas by speeding or driving aggressively.

Zman

The optimal speed is 40mph, the engine takes no effort at that speed.
60 is good for highways though.

My best was 39.5 mpg, but average has been 37.

stew32

ha ha. It's funny because it's true. You wouldn't know it to drive in most of VA or MD. You have to go Pennsylvania to see everyone consistently driving in the right lane except to pass. I doubt anyone in the DC area would ever get pulled over for driving in the left lane unless it was the middle of night, nobody else on the road, and they wanted an excuse to do a sobriety check.

WhoKilledTheJAMs

In the good old days (when gas was $2, 3.5 years ago), I had a 50 mile commute for about six months, and I discovered that I got about 2-3mpg better if I did 70 instead of 75, making the trip take something like 57 minutes instead of 54 minutes. It's really worth it.

Of course, last week, the woman and I went to Niagara Falls, and she screamed at me for like half an hour about doing 65 in a 65, because "EVERYONE IS PASSING YOU!" It's not a race. Sorry. Needless to say, I'll be happy to crack 30mpg this tank. Ugh.

Besides, thanks to boxy-to-the-point-of-being-a-parachute aerodynamics and city-oriented gearing, I get better FE in town as it is.

NYCxB

This is crazy. DRILL IN ANWR already!

bB2NER

^^^WORD!!!

Zman

It may seem crazy, but it's definitely a fun little game to play if you get bored of driving.

The MPG game!

WhoKilledTheJAMs

It's not just a game-- it's a game most effectively played with a spreadsheet and careful record keeping!

Yes, I consider myself an amateur hypermiler.