This is dangerous, and I really don't reccomend it,. especially if you have family in the car.

Tonite, drafting 2 seconds behind a two trailer semi net me 41 MPG at 75 MPH!
Wow! I only did this for 5 miles, but goes to show how significant air resistance is.

( 75 MPH in naked air is generally about 27-29 MPG )

Tonite, on an already warm engine, and 60% full batttery I got a new personal best.
For a round-trip ( no net elevation change ) I got 89.1 MPG for 8.3 miles.
Mostly N coasting on the downhill, and P&G on the uphill.

About 4 miles was slight downhill ( 100 foot loss in 4 miles ) and the return was the opposite. One key cycle. Max. Speed was 42 MPH, Max. RPM was 2740. Max. engine temp was 177'F Outside air was 63'F. No A/C One window open.
I have the data on .mpg video if anyone is interested. ( 18 MB file )

Good Luck and Godspeed,
-John

 

Apparently not. Look at some of the things being discussed here: drafting, coasting in states where it is illegal and impeding the flow of traffic at traffiic lights/stop signs.

 

Actually, I don't think there are any laws about accelerating slowly from a stop sign or traffic light. Quite frankly, most people uneccessarily floor it which I think is both dangerous and stupid. Furthermore, at a stop sign, the driver behind you is required by law to stop and look both ways before proceeding, so a slow acceleration should have no impact on the vehicles behind you.

No one here has recommended holding up the flow of traffic. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Most posters note that they make sure not to hold up traffic and several have even noted to drive in the right lane when doing 55 (the legal max in many places) on the highway.

 

Just my 2 cents: A law against coasting, whether in neutral or not, is the most rediculous thing I've ever heard.

 

I agree with your statements Gator. I am interested in good gas mileage, that's why I bought my 05 4WD FEH. I am not willing however to employ some of the unsafe/annoying techniques suggested here & on other sites by people who seem to have made a hobby out of getting extremely high gas mileage.

I absolutely refuse to draft another vehicle on the freeway for instance, I want as much distance as I can get for escape room from the vehicle in front of me in case of an emergency situation(especially if I have my family in the car). I also refuse to drive so slowly that everyone behind me wants to strangle the "idiot in the Hybrid". I actually saw some bozo post a technique that involved driving with half the vehicle in the bicycle lane to alert the line of cars behind you that you are driving slower than the traffic flow.

I have altered my driving patterns as much as possible to increase mpg within reason. I no longer drive at 80 mph & I don't use jackrabbit starts anymore. I do keep up with traffic flow however & conciously try not to annoy anyone behind me(people behind me don't hate anybody driving a Hybrid vehicle). Do I get 50 mpg?? No, I don't -but I do get consistently over 30 mpg which to me is outstanding for a 4WD SUV.

~John

 

The following was just a real world illustration.
The illustration ( that some didn't get ) was to SLOW DOWN.
The illustration was that wind resistance is HUGE.
There is a BIG difference in gas mileage at 65 vs. 75.

No, I don't normally draft for a number of reasons. It's not worth $5 a week IMHO.

{ BTW - two seconds is a fair distance... the law is 3 seconds or more, FYI }

 

I don’t think any of us that have given our suggestions as to how to get better FE, not just criticizing the points of others, are condoning or recommending all of the tips given.

On coasting in ‘N’ when the situation might be hazardous – going down a steep slope, in heavy traffic where you might need to hit the gas to make a quick maneuver to avoid a bad situation - or anything else that could/would be detrimental to your and your passengers’ safety. That is why I also conditioned it with the statement, ‘Watch the Traffic' In other words use common sense when coasting or trying to hold a FE speed. and Patterns’.

We are not ‘Telling You’ what to do, just giving you some of the finer points. good or bad, to the thread question ‘Needs Suggestions to Increase MPG’, that many have learned by trial and error, and are just passing them along. You, hopefully, are smart enough to make your own decisions as to what techniques stated here that you Make the choices as to which ones fit you, your driving style and safety

We have enough people and government TELLING us what we can and cannot do already – like we are children and if a bad situation happens, take the responsibility for it and not blame it on someone else, either what they said or did.

You could take it to the absurd and the question be ‘Need help in getting to the ground the fastest while flying’. I guess the answer would be jump out, but I think you would be smart enough to know that is a bad choice.

This is one reason I not even mention, Oh my gosh, ‘Drafting’. I don’t think any of the ones that have mentioned it have said that it is Safe. Most have cautioned against it but do it anyway. Yes there are many things that could happen; the truck runs over something and throws it up at you, a tire comes apart, slams on the brakes and you are to close - - - , but again this is your choice. There is no doubt it helps and many of us do it – but we are not Telling you to.

One last thing on the Help side – look for alternate routes to where you are going. You might be suppressed that there is a better one – fewer hills, stop signs, could even be shorter than what you are taking now, etc.

 

A route with very gentle downhill going ( this thing is great at coasting, even in D ) and a steeper, but shorter uphill return is an advantage.

This way, you get great MPG for longer # of minutes, and poor MPG for fewer # of minutes, with a positive net gain.

Please don't come back with "Laws of Physics" stuff and crap like it takes the same # of joules no matter what route you take. It Doesn't. That's only true in the lab when you are looking at just one variable. Real life has dozens. Thank You.
Enjoy your ride!
-John

 

Hi John and all:

The DMV here in the state of FL RECOMMENDS you keep two or more seconds between your vehicle, and the one in front. The problem with your statement was you used the term “DRAFTING”. When you use those types of terms, you must remember some people get all kinds of ideas, even though it is perfectly legal. Now, if you get into an accident for rear-ending someone or following to close, that is a violation of the law. Is following two second behind someone safe? I think it’s as safe as following three seconds behind someone and constantly having someone else cutting in between you and that vehicle, leaving a half a second or less behind that person. On some of the congested highways here, even a distance of two seconds is enough for people to cut between you.

Caution, all real safe driver’s need to stay off the road, or the crazy people behind you may cause an accident trying to go AROUND AND BETWEEN you.

Just because you get a draft from the truck ahead, doesn’t mean your driving any less safe than the next guy. Now, noone likes to be tailgated, so I believe noone should tailgate. Anyway, tailgating doesn’t necessarily improve MPG, so who cares (just kidding).

Now, noone really believes for most drivers, it is unsafe, or, you will get a ticket for going down a grade in neutral here in Florida, do they? My wife has worked the past 30 years in big criminal law offices who handle almost every type of traffic violations, and she has never heard of a case yet of neutral coasting. In fact, she also works as an Official Court Transcriptionist , nights and weekends for the past ten years, and noone she has talk too ever heard of a case or accident. BTW Ray, that max 323 foot elevation must be a County Landfill or something, but when I find it, LOOK OUT......B-E-L-O-W!

If anyone feels that my techniques are unsafe, or a violation of the law, DON”T DO IT! It very well may be unsafe for you, and you may wreck your FEH, and get a ticket to boot. In fact, don’t listen or take my advise on anything because I don’t want you to get hurt and blaming me.

GaryG

 

Britton Hill in Walton County, near Lakewood. I saw it on a Triple-A map once and have a knack for remembering trivial bits of info like that. Another useless piece of info, it's the lowest, highest state elevation in the U.S. (got that part from a google search) http://www.answers.com/topic/britton-hill

They don't teach this stuff in school, kids. Gotta come to Greenhybrid at 2 in the morning for education like this.