The great thing is hypermiling doesn't just have to happen in a hybrid. I spoke with a hypermiler who owned a Yaris and was getting 52 mpg I believe. A couple links to check out and listen to if you like: http://www.podtech.net/classic/3634/hypermiling. Also at last years Hybridfest, I spoke with Eric Powers who hypermiles, and Bill Kinney who drove from the Seattle, WA area for the event and hypermiled they whole way. http://www.podtech.net/classic/3725/meet-hypermiler-bill-kinney

I hypermile all the time. I went from 23mpg in my Subaru Legacy AWD wagon '97 to 40mpg. I'm trying to get rid of my car, but knowing that I can get much better gas mileage at least helps for now.

For work I drive a 99 Chevy Venture, rated for 18mpg, and I consistently drive it at 26mpg now. That's a 45% increase!

I've been making an advertisement recently, and I am planning on teaching people how to drive more efficiently. After taking the time and patience to learn these techniques, I want to pass on the information so others can benefit too.

By the way, these averages were from only using safe techniques. I do not tailgate or endanger anyone else by my driving, if anything I am driving safer, with more care to my driving. If only everyone did this we could save money on gas and insurance while also reducing traffic accidents.

I've managed to improve my 2002 Ford focus (automatic) urban mpg by about 10%, from 25 mpg to 28 mpg, by nudging the shifter into neutral at stop lights. I haven't tried the other tricks because I started driving a Prius 2 years ago. The focus is the "dog car".

My current record is 50.2mpg in an Acura RSX that is EPA rated for 28mpg hwy.

I wanted to see what my fuel-economy would be on the highway, driving frugally, etc. Filled up the tank, and went out on the highway for about 80 miles, then filled up again, and one more time upon my return. This on a 91 Toyota Camry with nearly 176,000 miles on it, with the windows closed (but aircon on). No proper tuning of tire inflation or anything like that. Driving consistently at 55-60 miles per hour, and with a light touch on the accelerator, I got 46.5 miles per gallon. I did this twice (once on the way out, again on the way back) and got almost identical results.

My Dad has been a long time enthusiast of hypermiling.
I've sat with him many times where's he's been freewheeling, coasting, gently accelerating, etc.......only to blow it all on a balls-out overtaking move when someone has just come past him :)

I'll be interested to see how long people keep this up. It's almost like a rationing attitude. Considering how many cars offer high levels of power and torque now, trying to reign in your right foot must be getting harder and harder.

It reminds me of when we had the fuel blockades in the UK in 2000. Suddenly everyone was driving like a grandmother, and you certainly didn't see much "commited helmsmanship" then! And if someone came past you quickly, the first thought was "where the hell is he getting his petrol from? Has he got a secret stash??" !

56mpg (6.8l/100km) with a 1989 VW Passat III 1.8 driven on a partly mountain area autobahn aiming at 130km/h. I always put 0.2 (bar) overpressure on the tires.

Hypermiling is an admirable concept; people wanting to reduce their carbon footprint. However, it is dangerous. It puts other drivers on the road at risk of being injured. When you over inflate your tires you are reducing your traction. How much traction do you think you have when the road is wet or if there are leaves on it. Speeding around corners to reduce amount of momentum lost is also dangerous to other drivers. Someone could blow a tire or loose control. If people were really concerned about using less gasoline then they should man up and realize that maybe they should not be driving. There are bicycles. There is public transportation. If people are truely concerned about the environment then they would make concessions and pair their job time to bus schedules or carpool. One can not have everything.

56 is kmpg, it's actually 35 mpg. Me and math, you have to have a laugh.

This is an interesting technique.
As a driver of a truck how am I to know if someone wants to hyper mile behind me or is trying to get me out of there way?

Is there some sort of courtesy communication?

Plus, everyone please follow the law of the district.
I saw this Honda Insight going 40 in a 55. I think the minimum was 45 on that highway. I swear it was gonna cause a pile up. Unfortunate but true...

I regularly get 39-42 mpg with my 2004 Kia Rio 5spd manual. It is rated at 32/27 I think. My mix is about 25% city 75% highway. By manually turning my engine off at lights I get about 4-5 mpg and the rest comes from light acceleration and coasting/easy braking. It is nice to fill up less frequently.

Wow.. I never knew you could improve fuel efficiencies that much. Can any of you hypermilers recommend some good websites on hypermiling? The link at the end of the article above is misleading. Thanks in advance.

First off turning off your engine on a non hybrid is the easiest way to blow a starter thereby killing your gas savings.

Also turning off the engine while going down an incline is also illegal and dangerous. Overinflating your tires is dangerous also because while you get better mpg your traction decreases and makes the tire more succeptable to blowing out.

The only real way to get better gas milage is to keep it under 3,000 rpms. I did just that and my mpg went up to 27mpg from 22 in my 2004 corolla(its so low because ny has horrible ethanol gas)

I started by switching to a manual transmission car. I chose to slow down (to the speed limit), accelerate gently (shifting at 2000 rpm / 2200 on hills), shift to neutral on downhills that aren't too steep to coast a bit faster, start the car when I'm ready to drive off (no warmup), and never use a drive thru with the engine idling. My 98 Saturn with 137k miles is consistently getting 42 mpg :-)

Jon, if you think this is dangerous, be grateful you didn't see me as a teenager!

While I think this concept is fascinating, it seems a bit of a problem in a car designed to get better mileage without changing driving habits terribly much: the Prius. I know that some hypermilers apparently can do it, but how exactly are you supposed to not brake in a Prius when that energy is used towards charging the battery? If the battery doesn't charge the car shifts to the gas engine in order to charge it, which sounds to me like it would waste fuel and negate the purpose of this whole activity. Add in the fact that you get better mileage using the electric motor and the battery, how is this supposed to work? Maybe I'm missing something here.

My wife and I drive our Prius fairly normally, accelerating to speed normally and then pulling back to "coast" (also known as "pulse and glide" I believe, or something like that), braking gently, using the cruise control at the speed limit, and generally being as safe as possible. We don't get uber efficiency but it is leagues above what our old cars used to get and what the average car gets now. I'm a firm believer in driving habits affecting mileage more than the "magic pill" certainly; I still applaud the hypermiler folks who can eke out ridiculous numbers using a standard combustion engine.

I drive a 2005 Honda Shadow (motorcycle) One of the big reasons that I bought it was because of fuel economy. When I first bought it, I drove aggressively. When doing that, I achieved 50 miles per gallon. When fuel prices rose, I started considering my fuel economy even more. By reducing my speed on the highway to about five miles per hour under the speed limit when possible, turning off my engine when at long lights, pulling the clutch when I need to maintain about the same speed on level ground or while going down hill, and finally accelerating slowly, I have increased my fuel economy to 67 miles per gallon on a regular basis.

First, Hypermiling is not dangerous. Inflating you tires to the max recomended on the sidewall will actually give you better traction as any radial drag racer will tell you. You will also get better, more even wear. Remember, the people who tell you to inflate your tires to 32 psi are the people who sell tires. I use a few simple tricks in my 04 Mazda 6 Sport Wagon with a 3 ltr V6 and 5 speed auto. I always start off in 2nd, never let the tach go over 2K and put the car in nuetral and coast whenever I see traffic slowing or I see a light turn yellow or am approaching a turn or stop sign. I regularly coast .5 to .6 miles before stopping. I average 28 dity and 33+ highway in a car now rated at 14 city and 24 highway.

The examples given in the article (correctly or slightly overinflating tyres, removing roof racks, trying to keep a constant speed without hard braking or fast acceleration) are what should be a part of regular driver's education. When I took my test in the UK almost 20 years ago these safe ideas were taught as "good common sense", whatever happened to that?

However, some of these ideas are just dangerous, drafting (not begun a few years ago by truck drivers, try watching any motor sport, they've been doing it for almost 100 years) or riding with a wheel on the white line, both dramatically increase your chance of an accident. As does staring at your mpg on your trip computer rather than driving carefully. This isn't a green issue, it is about improving the standard of driving on the world's roads!

I'm not really a hyper-miler -- they're in a different category. But two things I have done were to change from a 2006 Subaru Impreza Sport (with roof-rack) to a 1993 Toyota Corolloa and adopt the mantra, "no need to speed." I'm now getting 35 mpg vs my previous 21.

I switch from a 4 cylinder supercharged car which normally gets almost 30 MPG to a single cylinder 125 cc Scooter and I get at least 80 mpg instantly...gonna be more conservative with the throttle and I will see how much more I can squeeze out of the gas tank.

"controversial practice of drafting behind other vehicles on the highway to reduce aerodynamic drag -- a practice begun a few years ago by truck drivers" - a few years ago? Like 30? Controversial? You mean tailgating?

I hypermile all the time. On my Toyota Celica, I installed a duct-tape upper and lower grill block, change gears at 1700rpm, avoid traffic lights and turn the engine off when stopped.

EPA rating is 26mpg. My current average is 54mpg.

@MY: I've been driving lighter for about 3 years, and for the past year I have been really working on getting better gas mileage. I wouldn't expect to ever not drive this way now.

@Jon: Thanks for the blanket response. Of course all hypermilers draft, speed around corners and drive like crazies right? Think again, the media makes that up for the most part to have a crazy story. Myself and some friends that hypermile all do it safely, and most people I have talked with on forums online commit to safe driving also. As much more aware drivers, we are focusing on saving gas AND safety, unlike most other drivers who focus on getting somewhere without wasting their time.

@CaptainAmerica,
Why is it that when people break the law by traveling over the speed limit it seems okay, but when it's to go slower it's not okay? Many roads around me are not safe at the posted speed limits. If there's an extra lane than just pass at a reasonable speed. If not, be patient, you'll get there soon enough.

@NationalParks:
http://gassavers.org
ecomodder
http://oneonta-region.wikispot.org/Car_Share

@MajorTom1981:
I haven't blown a starter and I've been shutting my engine off at lights for 3 years, and I'm at 190k miles on this car. Look in forums of hypermilers, it is almost unheard of to break a starter from overuse. They break from being old and having worn/bad connections. Turning engines off to coast downhill is illegal in some places, but not most. It can be unsafe to someone who isn't expecting an engine to turn off, but I am very safe coasting down hills because I am paying attention to my speed, and I usually don't do it if other cars are around. The best way to save gas mileage is by using a myriad of techniques, one of which is keeping the RPMs low.

@Samas, while many hybrids do have regenerative braking, it is still not as efficient as just rolling for a while before needing to use the brakes. Any time brakes are used there is wasted energy, but thankfully hybrids capture a portion of that energy, but certainly not all of it.

-Andy

Hypermiling is one thing, smart driving another.
To me, it comes down to chutzpah.
Do you have the chutzpah to accelerate at half the rate of the speed of traffic (10 seconds difference between zero and 55mph by my measurements)?
Do you have the chutzpah to coast to a stop when the Lexus behind you is 12 inches from your bumper because they want to get to that red light right now?
Do you have the chutzpah to slow on hills (below the speed of traffic), and not move up six inches at a time in heavy traffic?
I have found that driving conservatively lowers my blood pressure and allows me

Hypermiling isn't the only way to get GREAT fuel economy. I drove a 96 Jeep Cherokee 6cyl auto 4wd, a gas guzzler at a stock 16 city and 19 hgwy. After doing EXTENSIVE off road modification ($14000 worth) adding over 1600 pounds in weight, and dropping the gear ratio to 4:10 for tons of torque. Normally, this would bring about 10 city and 13 hgwy, right? Wrong. With a few relatively inexpensive modifications in the vehicle I was getting over 20 city and 26 hgwy! Without having to change those aggressive driving habits we've all developed at one point or another. Don't get me wrong, if done correctly the hypermiling sounds fantastci, and I'm curious as to what the mileage could have been on my Great White Beast. So in order to gain efficiency, also look for other methods. Less restrictive airflow, and exhaust systems, a spacer for the TBI, and an inline (actually in the air intake system) turbo (can be built and installed for $100 if you're handy). Imagine what a typically gas guzzling beast like My Jeep could have been applying these techniques. As for tires I was on 32 inch all-terrain tires at 10.5 inches wide, 4.5 inch lift, under body and frame armor, custom steel bumpers, a huge cargo rack, spares mechanical tools and equipment, on board air compressor, all sorts of stuff totaling at least 1600 pounds over standard curb weight
Good luck to all of you, and good job on helping break the addiction! --- JuglsKnivs

"@CaptainAmerica,
Why is it that when people break the law by traveling over the speed limit it seems okay, but when it's to go slower it's not okay? Many roads around me are not safe at the posted speed limits. If there's an extra lane than just pass at a reasonable speed. If not, be patient, you'll get there soon enough."

There does indeed seem to be a double standard. Both seem to be equally as dangerous. The situation I was referring to has a posted minimum speed limit for just such dangerous practices. The danger, which I saw, is that the major longer on/off ramps have cars already traveling near the speed limit, which means no room to merge or get off.
IDK, maybe more of a design flaw.

Has anyone heard of a courtesy signal so I would know someone was wanting to tailgate but not pass?

I LOVE CLAY BUTTS!!!!!!!!!!111

All good stuff.
I think there is a diminishing return to turning off your engine at a light or something. If you are turned off for less than 30 seconds and turn on again, you use more gas? Some fuel injected cars squirt more gas into a motor at startup to get it going.
My car is tough to start sometimes.
I think the Stop/Start cars in Europe have heavy duty starters to cope with the extra on/off cycles.

A few pounds over the door plate limit won't hurt anyone. If the door plate says 34 pounds of pressure and the tire is rated for 40, no one is in danger if you put in 38-40 pounds. If you start putting 65 pounds in, well, just wait for the explosion. Sometimes a slightly smaller contact patch gives you better grip. Softer tires are better in clumpy grass and muddy conditions. Keep all tires at the same pressure, higher on one side and lower on the other and the car will pull to one side while braking, etc.

While I am blessed to be able to do most of my running around on a bike, there are lots of people out there who can't so take it easy on the eco snotty nonsense.

Good Luck,
vsk

Hypermilling is relatively easy with any car because, cars are incredibly ineffecient to begin with! No thought is given to the simplest ways of increasing gas mileage. On average only 3% of fuel is actually used to move our bodies around now thats the problem. We have these big metal cages weighing anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 lbs to move usually only one person at under 200 lbs!

The whole concept of "personal" transportation needs to be re-imagined.