I'd like to suggest that our pre-hybrid driving habits were driven by the pre-hybrid technology. We got better fuel economy at highway speeds so we chose highway routes even though it was longer over a shorter route that had slower speeds. We were conditioned to gas-only driving techniques because everything was gas. But now we have options that were not here before such as the ability to travel on battery power.

Now on the face of it "ice and cold towels . . . pushing his car . . . nitrogen in the tires . . . neutral and coast" reads like a series of kludges but there are serious engineering issues behind each one:

• "ice and cold towels" - why aren't we using waste tail-pipe heat for AC?
• "pushing his car" - why doesn't he have an electric vehicle mode switch?
• "nitrogen in the tires" - why isn't this cheap gas universally available for all tires instead of the $.50, 2-minute pumps?
• "neutral and cost" - why doesn't the vehicle do this automaticly?

Those kludges are calls for vehicle improvements, both business and engineering opportunities. In fact, the loss of Prius performance in the winter led to a thermistor hack that gives spring-summer MPG when temperatures are 50F and below. It really is a question of understanding when the technology needs to be improved.

I don't know how to answer "GLOAT" except to suggest that discussing what is going on is, at least on my part, a sincere interest in the physics and engineering. As far as I'm concerned, when someone brings "here is how I did it" with facts and data, I'm quite interested and begin figuring out how to automate it.

Bob Wilson

 

Did you note that I hardly have entries in the GH database and that Hot Georgia has not lately? I've never heard self-improvement blasted as egotism like this in my life. We (and others) have repeatly said hypermiling is not a take it or leave it proposition - many do just some of these things. I drove a work buddy to lunch and he was not even aware of a couple of hypermiling things slipped into the ride.

Vents like the above tend to confirm my suspicion that some desire to say all hypermilers do the most objectionable things all the time. Five members will say they stay in the rightmost lane and go out of their way to let others pass, yet a few persist to post about going 50 in the passing or HOV lane, etc, etc. For some, hypermiling is not to discuss, but to discredit and demonize because they simply can't stand it. I also suspect some of these members may be projecting dubious motives away from them.

In a perfect world, we would all be driving EVs powered off the grid with 100% renewable energy. In this world, an attentive driver cutting their ignition an coasting in neutral 10 seconds gets far more wrath than a driver phoning during rush hour, even changing lanes.

I'd bet that many of us have jobs our supervisor does not tell us to just do the job, but how to do it, esp. the technical fields. Any tool is more effective in the hands of someone honing their skills. Even if it's sports, we admire the cool, accurate player that has the higher scoring percentage. I see drivers that can easily be more focused (i.e. distracted).

Once again, this is drifting from discussion to attack. {sigh}

 

Sorry to hear you feel that posting your achievements is considered "Holier than Thou". No reason you should feel this way, in my opinion. You should be proud of your achievements. I take no offense to "Hypermiling" or altering your driving techniques to improve you MPG. Everyone is free to chose how for themselves what the best way to drive their vehicle is.

I don't find Hypermiling negative as much as I find poor driving habits negative. Not that Hypermiling = poor driving habits. I dislike all bad driving habit equally. I dislike the guy who gets on my bumper wanting to do 90 mph just as much as the person who sits in the passing lane doing 50 with no around for miles.

I think you should continue to post you numbers and be proud of them. For those who can't handle it, it's their issue. NOT YOURS. I think rather than people concentrating on the word "Hypermiler" and then attaching their own definition, we should concentrate more on individual driving techniques and discuss them on an individual basis.

 

Not if he is worth a darn. Last time I had a manager tell me not only what to do, but HOW to do it, promptly got told were to stick it.

 

That was more than a fair statement, Chilly.

 

I'm saying writing a program, a webpage is not enough, it must run well. Many of us have quality control - standards.

Tom Brady is a great quarterback. He does not just throw the darn ball. If he can't get one of his guys to complete it, he at least makes sure the other guys don't.

 

That's a valid point, but I purposefully tried to steer this thread away from it. The reason is that we've beaten a lot of the tactics to death, and plenty of arguments plus locked & deleted threads have come of it. We know that some people take their search for efficiency pretty darned seriously and we know that some people have made statements to the effect that they should be banned from the roads. No need to do that again.

What I had hoped to accomplish is an exploration of the middle ground. So far it seems like there's quite a bit of it. I didn't realize that to begin with, which is why I started by asking about the word.

 

I got a hybrid because the car I had before got good gas mileage and I didn't want to go the wrong direction. If I was getting a new car anyway why shouldn't I get one that gets even better gas mileage? I think it's the same with hypermiling, I've got this great car that obviously has potential, why shouldn't I try a little? I don't feel put down by those that get better gas mileage than I do because I know I'm doing well for my conditions and what techniques I'm willing to do. I admire the top hypermilers. For example, Hot Georgia... I'm just really impressed that his average is more than my best tank ever. I don't know how he does it with a CVT, it's the same car I have.
It makes me sad to hear that other people think that I/we only hypermile to brag about it. To me hypermiling is not so much about me, but about my car and what it is capable of. If I could I'd have everyone else get as good or better mileage than me. We're supposed to be a hybrid family here. I think we should all be cheering for each other.

 

Here's a take I haven't seen yet (skimmed the posts I'm afraid). I find others MPG data informative without being either smug or inflammatory. I've lurked on this forum long before I bought a hybrid, and used the data to help me understand what cars to get.

I saw the uber-hyper-miler as the upper limit of what the various machines were capable of. I read the techniques to learn what I would and wouldn't be comfortable with. I never felt shamed or berated for having either a non-hybrid, or posting super low numbers.

The point is that I knew I would be getting a new car around now, and most every person/dealer said theirs was the best. The statistical data (even some entries that may have been questionable) helped me figure out what to buy and how to drive it.

As far as what I think about those who's numbers are outside of the curve, I chalk it up to competition. I think in the last 5 years competition has gotten a real bad rap. When I went to enroll my kid in soccer the website made a big point about stressing that "All players win", "We don't keep score". In my opinion, it defeats part of the point of enrolling kids in sports. Competition is good, it drives improvement. Loosing is good, it teaches you what not to do. Winning is good, it motivates and focuses effort.

I grew up with a lot of sports. In all my events my times were always posted. Maybe that's why I'm a bit more thick-skinned than others as far as competition goes.

As far as safety goes, I think safety has everything to do what whos doing what and not so much on what they are doing. When I was in my teens (no dig on teens here) I drove like sh*t. Raced every car I came near, and darn near killed myself and everyone around me. If I tried to hypermile back then, I would have been a menace because _I_ was unsafe, and anything I did, I did unsafely. Now that I'm older and fathom the concept of mortality, most everything I do, I do safely.

You can kill people driving fast, you can kill them driving slow. Most of the time reckless things are done by reckless people. It's hard to paint someone as unsafe because they get 150 MPG. For all we know they work at Area 51 and drive across 75 miles of salt flats to get to work.

Last point is curtious . Again I think it depends on the person driving. You can be rude driving fast or slow, really just depends on how much the driver cares. You got a guy who doesn't care, driving fast, he's gonna seem really rude. Same goes driving slow.

Well anyway, thats my 2 cents... or buck fifty...

11011011

 

I think the person who is getting......say 40MPG in their HCH who takes notice of it and tries different things- little things to bring that up only a notch or two is just as "good" as someone who alread achieves high efficiency. It comes down to personal improvement.

On one hand people generally try to save money on home utility bills by lowering the thermostat for winter months while raising for the summer. If they notice a faucet dripping they'll have it fixed. Turning unused lights or applinaces off is another common practice.
It also carries a sense of inconvenience to wear heavier clothing inside for winter months, frustration and time to go behind yourself, spouce and kids to turn that unused electrical device or dripping faucet off. (The list goes on)

My home is a "Good sense" home.
It certainly doesn't mean the house does it all and we normally do our part to further reduce fuel consumption/bills. To do so is widely accepted as common sense.

Everyone has their reasons for their own kind of driving but I don't understand why the same common sense doesn't apply to vehicles.
My modern home is more efficient compared to one a few years older. My HCH is more efficient than an EX model.
It makes common sense for me to do my own part to extend the savings and take advantage of what I have.

Everyone doesn't share the logic.
So many things in the world I'll never understand anyway.
I know most drivers just "drive their cars" and not consern themselves with it. I'm OK with that too, but I'd hope they wouldn't throw stones (Or think less of) the few of us who do.

Since the price of gas have doubled since I got my car, it is reasonable to think it might be $5/g three years from now. I think it is good to know how to effectively stretch it than not. Someday I hope to learn and apply it regarding my home as well. That would be a good thing to know in case of an energy crunch.