The thread about 500+ mile tanks got me wondering...

I wish I could cruise at 45 - 55 on my commute. How do you manage to do it? Most of my commute is actually either 45 or 55 mph zone, but the traffic is either going 60+ or dead stopped at a light. There are 12 lights on my 13 mile commute. There are probably 10 cross streets for every light on my commute. If I get in the right hand lane so as not to annoy the rest of the traffic everyone speeds around me, cuts back in front of me and then comes to a stop to make a right hand turn. I find myself constantly varying my speed plus or minus 5 mph just to keep from causing an accident or stacking up 10+ cars behind me.

What are the best suggestions for maintaining FE while driving in this sort of traffic?

 

highway. lots of highway miles. You've discovered the hard way that the HAH (no IMA vehicle) is not well-suited for stop/go.

There really aren't many solutions. The HAH will be acting mostly like a regular V6 in this sort of condition, especially if you have to start from a stop and don't get over 4th gear often. Is it possible to adjust your commute time such that you can be on the road with lower traffic density, or when the light timing is set for offpeak? The traffic around NAS is extrememly predictable; ditto for Mayport.

I understand your pain- I cringe every time I get on a 2-lane local road. Right lane is always clogged with next-turn-stoppers, left lane wants to whiz by and screech to a halt at the next light. Of course, with a large enough bit of confidence, you can simply sit in the left lane at the speed limit and forget the guys behind you. Its a local road, not a limited acess highway, afterall.

The best advice is the same that applies to all cars- drive like the brakes are a last resort. You KNOW there's a stop in 200 yards, so take your foot off the gas and coast down. Don't worry about bubba behind you. The people in Jax are reasonably civil, at least out by the intracoastal!

 

What he said. Stop and go traffic can be managed by anticipating the lights as well as choosing a speed low enough that you don't find yourself coming up quickly on stopped traffic. Ideally your maximum speed will be significantly lower than that at which the left-lane traffic peaks (you might reach 30 instead of 45) but your average speed over the distance will be identical because you catch up while they are stopped. You win all around because you don't ask the engine to do nearly as much work and you don't kill your brakes. My understanding is that you guys have that three-cylinder mode, which you ought to be able to activate by keeping the engine at low load. Having people rocket around you is the price you pay but if you leave enough space you should still come out ahead. The side benefit is that your actions smooth out the overall traffic flow and save fuel for others at zero time cost, whether they realize it or not. This works especially well in highway traffic jams!

 

Save fuel for others? In a previous thread, we've already discussed that driving extremely (key word being extremely) slow may be saving yourself a few MPG, but others will have increased fuel useage as they lose kinetic energy to hit the brakes as they come up behind you and then floor it to pass you. If you've saved yourself 1.5 gallons of fuel for doing this for a week, you may unintentionally increase 100 other driver's consumption by 1.5 gallons X 100.

 

Hmm, I've seemed to have misplaced my flame-suit...

 

I drive in similar traffic as you, with the exception that there are a lot fewer side streets. My commute has me going from one stop sign to the next. The stop signs are almost exactly one mile apart each. And there are usually 5-20 cars at the stop sign as I get there. I watch my MPG gauge decrease each and every time I have to hit those stop signs. I think I started out at 30.3 mpg this morning. I'm at 27.8 mpg now. But, when I go to school tonight, 20 miles of smooth 65-70 mph will bump me back up to >30 mpg.

I learned from gonavy that keeping the RPMs below 2K when accelerating really helps. I try not to accelerate too slowly from a stop sign so that I'm not intentionally slowing anyone down behind me. But I'll push the accelerator down slightly to increase speed until I get to 2K, then I adjust the pedal to keep my RPM's there until an upshift. Then I begin the process again. I keep doing this until I hit about 50 mph. Then, as I'm approaching the next stop sign, I let off the gas and coast down to a stop. But, I don't drag out the stop fully as most hypermilers do. I tend to use a soft brake pedal. Just enough to increase my regen lights all the way.

I wish I had more to share with you. But that's about the extent of my knowledge.

 

Wait a minute, you're getting better FE than me! Why am I giving YOU advice?? I should be listening to you!

 

No flame suit needed. I think that it depends on the situation. I can easily imagine this scenario playing out if one drives significantly slower than traffic (even just 10mph) when everyone else is flowing along nicely at a uniform pace. However what we're talking about in this particular thread is an environment where everone is already alternating between gas and brake, acceleration and full stop. What one could do in that situation is choose a speed that results in little or no need to use the brakes, thus changing the situation from stop&go to slow&steady at the same average speed. Personally, the only situation where I apply this is extremely heavy stop&go traffic.

It's ultimately up to the OP to decide which of the many suggested practices are best for his situation. It could very well be that this one doesn't apply.

 

Ouch, my last tank was 29.6! What kills me are the short 5 to 10 minute trips to the airport. I have to accelerate up to 50 for about 2 miles, then stop and go through security gates, waiting for them to close behind me. I get a .2 drop in my FE each way, there and back.

This is where I really wish the HAH could run on only the electric motor. ...Swipe the card, wait for the gate, creep forward, wait for the gate to close, then 25 mph to the next gate. Repeat.... It would also help for stop and go traffic. I try to wait before I start up in that stuff, to be sure I am going a distance long enough to justify moving forward. It always seems that just as I decide the traffic is going to start moving and I start rolling, the car in front of me stops. Where I drive, leaving more than a couple of car lengths between me and the car in front of me in stop and go traffic almost always leads to honking and finger gestures.

 

you may want to seriously consider trading in for a Camry hybrid when they become available. I've thought about it too- creeping drives me nuts. But I'll likely stick with the HAH since 75-80% of my driving is highway, and I am not convinced the Camry will beat out the HAH on the highway- Honda engines are too good, and my 3 cylinders beats their 4. I'll take the hit in town, and re-evaluate when the Fusion is available. Then there will be 3 family sedans competing, all with different strengths (though the Camry and Fusion will both be better for city driving than the HAH)