Hypermiling...the results.
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 5:09 amWe've got a thread here about gas prices. Someone in the Journey board started one about Hypermiling (ways to squeeze the max. efficiency out of your gas).
I needed to fill up that day, so I figured I'd give it a try.
First of all I didn't follow every single hypermile rule. I didn't overinflate my tires or turn the car off at stoplights, etc...
The only rule I followed was to coast in neutral as much as possible (and I didn't slow down to unsafe speeds in traffic) only coasting up to stoplights and down sidestreets and such. I would say only try coasting if you have a stick shift, you may end up screwing up your transmission in an automatic.
The key is learning the traffic light timing so you max out your coasting without pissing off everyone behind you. Accelerate slowly and smoothly.
Nearly every one of my miles was in heavy city traffic (Charlotte is terrible at rush hour), so I didn't bump my average by adding a ton of highway miles to it.
I drove the Yaris exclusively for the last 8 days. It is rated 34/40. I ran nearly the entire tank out before I refueled. When I gased up this morning I had put 396.9 miles in on 10.31 gallons. That averages to 38.5 mpg.
Granted not a ton of savings, but it was more than 10% over factory. That equates to nearly $0.40/gallon better efficiency. I tend to look at it as more than $200 per year savings.
Not sure if I'll keep going for it (you do have to get into the coasting mindset) but it does seem to be some small way at coping with gas prices.
I needed to fill up that day, so I figured I'd give it a try.
First of all I didn't follow every single hypermile rule. I didn't overinflate my tires or turn the car off at stoplights, etc...
The only rule I followed was to coast in neutral as much as possible (and I didn't slow down to unsafe speeds in traffic) only coasting up to stoplights and down sidestreets and such. I would say only try coasting if you have a stick shift, you may end up screwing up your transmission in an automatic.
The key is learning the traffic light timing so you max out your coasting without pissing off everyone behind you. Accelerate slowly and smoothly.
Nearly every one of my miles was in heavy city traffic (Charlotte is terrible at rush hour), so I didn't bump my average by adding a ton of highway miles to it.
I drove the Yaris exclusively for the last 8 days. It is rated 34/40. I ran nearly the entire tank out before I refueled. When I gased up this morning I had put 396.9 miles in on 10.31 gallons. That averages to 38.5 mpg.
Granted not a ton of savings, but it was more than 10% over factory. That equates to nearly $0.40/gallon better efficiency. I tend to look at it as more than $200 per year savings.
Not sure if I'll keep going for it (you do have to get into the coasting mindset) but it does seem to be some small way at coping with gas prices.