HyperMiling
I have a small confession to make: I'm not really into cars. Lot's of guys are crazy about cars, and it's a trait that is typically associated with masculinity. When I look at a car, I think of it as a way to get from point A to point B in the quickest, most convenient and most economical way possible. When I say economical, I mean the least fuel consumption, not only for my wallet (I spent between $1100-$1400 on gas last year) but also for the environment (a third possible reason would be to not fund terrorism, but that's debatable). If someone were to ask me what my dream car would be, I would actually boringly answer something like an Insight or civic/accord hybrid.
That's why the following article about Hypermilers really caught my attention. Hypermilers are people that have optimized their driving technique to get insane mileage. The results are nothing short of amazing. For example, one of the hypermilers can get 59 mpg out of an Accord. The EPA rated mileage for that car is half of that. He is even able to get the equivalent mileage of a Civic when driving an SUV.
I had no idea that driving techniques could affect your mileage in such a significant way. I knew that jamming on the accelerator and generally going fast affects fuel consumption negatively, but by this much? I do little things like coasting to stop lights to try to time them, using cruise control, not accelerating too quickly, etc. For example, I always try to see how far I can coast on the 401 East offramp to Eglinton, but only if there are no other cars around. This is the catch: to perform some of these fuel saving actions, you have to be willing to not follow the rules of the road - in a legal sense as well as violating driving social norms.
For example, to keep the momentum from highway driving, they'll go through a 270 degree offramp at 80 km/h. At that speed tires are definitely squealing. To start the vehicle, they'll push the car out of the driveway. Drafting, is a common technique, but he turns OFF his engine while doing it. But there are simple and more doable ones as well, such as not driving in the wheel ruts of highways (ridge-riding) when it's wet - energy is wasted kicking up the water needlessly.
Most of the advanced techniques are out of reach for normal people (myself included), but I think if we all paid a bit of attention to the way we drive, we can save some gas. On way to achieve this is mentioned in the article and it's to include a fuel consumption display in all cars, so that people could learn how to drive smarter. I would love this feature in my car, and honestly, I would treat it like a video game and try to maximize my "points". Does equating driving with a video game sound frightening?
So if I admire people like these hypermilers more than sport cars/SUVs, what does it say about me? (and my masculinity?)
That's why the following article about Hypermilers really caught my attention. Hypermilers are people that have optimized their driving technique to get insane mileage. The results are nothing short of amazing. For example, one of the hypermilers can get 59 mpg out of an Accord. The EPA rated mileage for that car is half of that. He is even able to get the equivalent mileage of a Civic when driving an SUV.
I had no idea that driving techniques could affect your mileage in such a significant way. I knew that jamming on the accelerator and generally going fast affects fuel consumption negatively, but by this much? I do little things like coasting to stop lights to try to time them, using cruise control, not accelerating too quickly, etc. For example, I always try to see how far I can coast on the 401 East offramp to Eglinton, but only if there are no other cars around. This is the catch: to perform some of these fuel saving actions, you have to be willing to not follow the rules of the road - in a legal sense as well as violating driving social norms.
For example, to keep the momentum from highway driving, they'll go through a 270 degree offramp at 80 km/h. At that speed tires are definitely squealing. To start the vehicle, they'll push the car out of the driveway. Drafting, is a common technique, but he turns OFF his engine while doing it. But there are simple and more doable ones as well, such as not driving in the wheel ruts of highways (ridge-riding) when it's wet - energy is wasted kicking up the water needlessly.
Most of the advanced techniques are out of reach for normal people (myself included), but I think if we all paid a bit of attention to the way we drive, we can save some gas. On way to achieve this is mentioned in the article and it's to include a fuel consumption display in all cars, so that people could learn how to drive smarter. I would love this feature in my car, and honestly, I would treat it like a video game and try to maximize my "points". Does equating driving with a video game sound frightening?
So if I admire people like these hypermilers more than sport cars/SUVs, what does it say about me? (and my masculinity?)
Labels: Cars, Driving, Gas, Hypermiling
posted by Nelson at 11:51 PM
7 Comments:
Hey Nels, this was an interesting post. While I went through a phase of going to the auto show and oohing-and-ahhing the new cars, to be honest, I wouldn't ever dream of buying any of them. There is something to be said about shiny new sports or super-luxury car, but I would really never go beyond admiring one from a distance and then moving along. In this day and age, when we all know about global warming, emissions, and fuel economy, it actually seems kind of crazy that people would still obsess over cars. I think it's a very old traditional (and probably media perpetuated) male stereotype to be in love with cars and trucks, but one I hope becomes dated in the future. Because it seems to me that being responsible (both economically and environmentally) is supposed to be a desirable male trait too. I think that a large part about why men love cars though is because we are generally discouraged from being too ostentatious or flashy (just look at the backlash from 'metrosexuality') but owning a fancy, polished-to-a-high-shine vehicle is an acceptable way of filling that desire to stand out (the peacock thing). If you want to look at an extreme example, just consider all those 'reality' car tuning shows on TLC and Spike, where guys get ridiculous work done on their elephantine vehicles. This is necessary, of course, to be as different and bigger-than-life as possible.
haha, i would draft trucks on the 401 going from waterloo to mississauga... i was able to consistently achieve a mileage of less than 3.5L/100km from kitchener to meadowvale in the crown vic
How did you know your mileage? Did the crown vic have a Fuel consumption display? I didn't realize that drafting could be so efficient. How close to the truck were you?
2 of the onboard computer functions involve mileage. the first one is "average mileage". which is a rolling average mileage for the last 500 km (i think) travelled. The one can be reset at anytime, thus having the dual function of finding out your trip mileage if you reset at the beginning of a trip. Obvious downside is that you would lose historical mileage as well.
The second function is a "live mileage" which shows instanteous fuel consumption. during a draft at 100-110 kmph i could usually achieve close to 2L/100km on flat or downgrades..
I would ususually draft from 4 or 5 metres back... oftentimes the trucks would get pissed and slow down... forcing me to pass and find another truck to draft. obviously this part required acceleration.
That's a nice feature to have on the crown vic...none of the cars I drive have a fuel consumption display, so it makes it tough for me.
I've been experimenting with drafting and using my RPM as a measure for fuel consumption, but it doesn't seem to be a good indicator I would draft about 5-6 meters back and I wouldn't see a difference in RPM. I even got a little closer, like 3-4 meters, but I couldn't see an appreciable difference (but I also didn't stay there very long for safety reasons).
So is my logic incorrect for using RPM as an indication of fuel consumption? IE less wind resistance due to drafting means the engine doesn't have to work (measured by RPM) as hard to maintain a given speed.
If I recall correctly, the relationship between wind resistance and force is a cubed equation. But here is approximately what I have found:
Speed (km/h) RPM
100: 2400
110: 2600
120: 2950
130: 3300
140: 3600
* I have to check the values of 130 and 140 km/h, not sure that they are correct.
I would have expected a little larger increase in RPM as speed increased, but I haven't computed it to determine if that is indeed a cubed relation. When I draft, I *might* be able to discern a 50 RPM decrease at most.
I also haven't been able to measure based on fuel consumption, because the fuel gauge is so inaccurate. The only way to measure it accurately is to use a whole tank and it's rare that I'd be making a 500 km trip to use up my whole tank.
So where is my logic faulty? Or am I not close enough to draft? (sounds like I need a FCD display to get anywhere with this)
i think in automatic transmission cars you get "engine braking" going on... ie. when you take your foot off the pedal while travelling at high speeds, the gears force your car to slow down. going into neutral combats engine braking and drastically brings down the rpm (<1000). so try going into neutral next time you draft... you'll be suprised... i've gone several km before without even touching the gas. i think "real" hypermilers will even turn off the engine at this point. but doing that on the 401 is just asking for an accident.
Is the crown vic manual transmission? IE did you have to go to neutral to reduce your fuel consumption?
I think i'll give it a try sometime, but it sounds a little dangerous. I seems there's no other choice but to go into neutral to get the benefit though.
Post a Comment
<< Home