My best "hypermiling" trip yet!
A trip to the airport returns 76 mpg!
- that's about 63 mpg (US), 3.7 l/100km.
Anyone can achieve a great mileage over a short distance
The trip was far from optimum for hypermiling, but I
did what I could.
First of all there was a bit of urban work, then moving out to a main road. I had to slow down behind cyclists a few times, as the road was not wide enough to pass them with oncoming traffic as well.
Then it was on to the motorway (expressway). The first section was lovely, then, after after an expressway-to-expressway junction we joined the next section, and the overhead speed restriction signs were on - at one point we were down to under 20 mph (32 kph) due to the weight of traffic.
Then it cleared - the weight of traffic was mostly due to "rubberneckers" slowing down to look at the accident that had happened on the otherside of the expressway - it looked serious, and two ambulances were picking their way through the huge queue of cars on that side).
Then into the airport parking - multi-storey, so lots of slow, uphill, work.
Good for maximising parking spaces, bad for gas mileage :-)
On the way back, I thought to myself that I don't want to get stuck in that huge queue for the accident, so I went a different way - via a different piece of expressway, then through a major town, then a few minor towns, then linking up with my original route for the last 20 miles (32km) or so.
I think some other folks had the same idea, because it was stop-start for about fifteen minutes in the major town, but the rest of the route was OK.
So, all in all, I am very pleased to get such good gas mileage, especially considering the non-optimum conditions.
All I did was some basic hypermiling techniques
Hope that has given you something to think about.A trip to the airport returns 76 mpg!
- that's about 63 mpg (US), 3.7 l/100km.
Anyone can achieve a great mileage over a short distance
- I could, for example, go to the top of a hill near here, reset the fuel computer, then drive down the hill and claim great gas mileage!!
- but I will not!
 | |
| My automobile computer readout after the airport run |
First of all there was a bit of urban work, then moving out to a main road. I had to slow down behind cyclists a few times, as the road was not wide enough to pass them with oncoming traffic as well.
Then it was on to the motorway (expressway). The first section was lovely, then, after after an expressway-to-expressway junction we joined the next section, and the overhead speed restriction signs were on - at one point we were down to under 20 mph (32 kph) due to the weight of traffic.
Then it cleared - the weight of traffic was mostly due to "rubberneckers" slowing down to look at the accident that had happened on the otherside of the expressway - it looked serious, and two ambulances were picking their way through the huge queue of cars on that side).
Then into the airport parking - multi-storey, so lots of slow, uphill, work.
Good for maximising parking spaces, bad for gas mileage :-)
On the way back, I thought to myself that I don't want to get stuck in that huge queue for the accident, so I went a different way - via a different piece of expressway, then through a major town, then a few minor towns, then linking up with my original route for the last 20 miles (32km) or so.
I think some other folks had the same idea, because it was stop-start for about fifteen minutes in the major town, but the rest of the route was OK.
So, all in all, I am very pleased to get such good gas mileage, especially considering the non-optimum conditions.
 | ||
| date of trip. |
 |
| 72 mile round trip from home to airport and back. |
- allow a bigger gap between my vehicle and the one in front - aim for at least a 4 second gap. This allows much more opportunity to slow down gently by taking your foot off the gas, rather than having to use the brakes a lot
- accelerate away from juctions slowly, allowing the speed to slowly rise. Try not to use more than one-quarter of the gas pedal movement, unless you really need to (such as a hill start)
- drive as slowly as is polite to do so - this translates to 50 to 60 mph ( 80 to 100 km/h) on motorways (expressways), and a bit slower on other roads - just keep it going at "truck" speed.
- try and use the gears to control your speed on steep descents, rather than using the gas pedal to keep at maximum speed, then having to brake - my automobile turns off the fuel injectors when going downhill and my foot is off the gas pedal, so it uses no fuel at all for that part of the journey. Hybrid cars also use this technique, as do many other "eco" models of mainstream cars
- if you are going to be stopped for more than 60 seconds or so, switch off the engine, and restart just before you pull away - what I am doing is manually recreating the "stop-start" technology fitted to some eco-cars and most hybrids. Whereas they automatically stop the engine when you stop, and seamlessly start it when you pull away, with my automobile I have to turn the key :-)
- Don't rush towards the "Red"! If you see a vehicle with it's red brake lights on up ahead of you, lift of the gas, and let your automobile slow down a bit by itself. Same for red traffic lights / crossing lights. Remember - don't rush the "Red"!
- Leave extra time for your journey - you will drive more smoothly if you don't feel stressed by time pressure
- And above all, drive smoothly. Imagine you have an heiress/monarch/president asleep in the back seat of your vehicle, and you don't want to wake them up
Happy hypermiling!
No comments:
Post a Comment