Hypermiling - They needed Bakari to show them how to do it!

[tomsang]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/increase-gas-mileage-70-percent-153307133.html

On the most recent episode of Discovery Channel’s “MythBusters,” Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara tested whether a few techniques collectively known as “hypermiling” can double your fuel economy. They took two cars, a new sedan and an older coupe, and drove normally as far as they could on exactly 3 gallons of gas. They then repeated the process using hypermiling techniques.

The results? The new car was able to drive 40 percent farther while hypermiling (30 miles per gallon, up from 21.3 mpg), while the older car went 70 percent farther (45.3 mpg, up from 26 mpg). The myth is busted, because they couldn’t double their fuel economy, but a 70 percent improvement is impressive. And it could save a lot of money at the pump.

Only driving techniques and modifications legal in California were employed, so everything they did to get that massive improvement in miles per gallon is probably legal for you, too. But since laws vary from state to state, you’ll want to make sure anything you pull from this list is permitted where you live.

[Kriegsspiel]

If you look at my posts about hypermiling, I was Doing It Wrong for a while.  Now that some people here helped me out, I improved my mileage by 68%, so I'm right about what they said.  But I was "semi-hypermiling" at my baseline mileage.  I think if I drove turdstyle, it would have been higher. 

[Kriegsspiel]

Oh, so yea, your title is right on :)

[Bakari]

:P Its funny starting to see my name pop up all over


They did a pretty good job covering the driving technique.  I can't get 70% with modified driving alone.
Besides, I started at a lower number (15mpg), so my increase of only 15 looks bigger as a percentage (100%) than their 19mpg improvement from a higher baseline (70%)

They skipped grill block and wheel skirts.

The big mods they missed was was engine accessory deletes.  Power steering is the stupidist, most pointless, over-the-top lazy of any invention that has become ubiquitous (closely followed by the TV remote control).  I replaced my alternator with a 15watt solar panel.

And they definitely need practice!

[dragoncar]

Power steering is the stupidist, most pointless, over-the-top lazy of any invention that has become ubiquitous (closely followed by the TV remote control). 

Please don't describe inanimate objects as stupid, pointless, or lazy.  I am all three, and yours disparaging tone offends me.

[Joet]

Unless the car is a diesel I'm not sure removing the alternator for a 15 watt solar panel is a good idea for longer trips? My understanding is a typical HEI or distributor/coil load is in the neighborhood of 50 watts. Even an HID lighting system is another 40 or so, and running lights can double that. Declining voltage over a longer drive will also measurably lower efficiency. Just my $0.01

My experience with drag racing suggests the alternator is a keeper yet the real gains are in the water pump. Switch to an electric for huge gains (yes this will load the alternator more) power steering losses are nearly negligible as well (but I always bypassed it anyways) also for larger vehicles its probably important for safety to install a manual rack with a better ratio for steering to enable rapid maneuvering if necessary in an emergency. A lot of newer cars are coming with electric vs hydraulic power steering for efficiency reasons.

Lastly the old crank under drive pulley is the easiest way of all to gradually under-rev all the accessories. All of these tricks are probably borrowed from racers.

[Bakari]

The solar panel doesn't directly power the vehicle systems, the dual deepcycle batteries do.  This allows me to run much more than 15w at any given moment (like my 300W stereo system :))
I typically don't drive more than an hour a day, but the sun is up for about 12 (usable),  so I get 180 watt hours per day.
Some days I don't drive at all, occasionally I drive for a couple hours or more, or at night when I have to turn on the headlights.
In the winter, when it gets dark earlier and there are less sun hours, I occasionally plug in a 120V charger at home at the end of the day to charge the batteries over night.

It does help to not have an ignition system, though that savings is partially offset with my changing to an electric fan, electric fuel pump, and electric brake booster (and a nice amplified sub behind the seat).
On the other hand, every bulb except the headlights is LED, brake, turn, driving, and dash.

I agree, I put in a manual rack in the truck, but my girlfriend's Matrix is just the stock (power) rack with the pump and hoses removed.  The difference wasn't huge, but it wasn't negligible either (don't remember off hand, but I believe somewhere in the high single digits mpg improvement).

I just may look into switching the water pump someday.  Its a bit pricy upfront, but its the only belt I have left parasiting off the engine, and I'd love to have none

[spider1204]

Power steering is the stupidist, most pointless, over-the-top lazy of any invention that has become ubiquitous (closely followed by the TV remote control).

Please don't describe inanimate objects as stupid, pointless, or lazy.  I am all three, and yours disparaging tone offends me.

I also have lots of pointless and lazy friends, and they don't appreciate it either.  They grew up being called pointless and lazy and it just brings up a lot of bad memories.  You've really gotta be an asshole to do that.  That's not offensive because it's ok to describe people as inanimate objects, it's only bad the other way round.

[Joet]

Right, I understand how to budget watt/hrs/load (I have a solar house), the real issue is the declining voltage in your ignition system with the vehicle running leads to lower gross adiabatic efficiency/spark/combution. Also a rule of thumb is a typical PS pump is only drawing around 1-2 HP for a typical v8 application and far less for something smaller. Not sure how a sub 1% parasitic loss improvement shows such strong gains but I won't argue with results. A typical water pump is closer to a 15 HP drag-- huge difference. My mustang dynos. Solid 10hp higher with it bypassed.i also noticed declining power with a bypassed alternator. Ymmv. Most of that above 6500 rpm though, likely a completely different story. But something to think about, IMO. A little hi efficiency 65 amp mini alternator is not producing much drag at all, in my opinion it is hitting above its weight for net efficiency especially if your running an electric fan and water pump.

[Bakari]

Right, I understand how to budget watt/hrs/load (I have a solar house), the real issue is the declining voltage in your ignition system with the vehicle running leads to lower gross adiabatic efficiency/spark/combution. Also a rule of thumb is a typical PS pump is only drawing around 1-2 HP for a typical v8 application and far less for something smaller. Not sure how a sub 1% parasitic loss improvement shows such strong gains but I won't argue with results. A typical water pump is closer to a 15 HP drag-- huge difference. My mustang dynos. Solid 10hp higher with it bypassed.i also noticed declining power with a bypassed alternator. Ymmv. Most of that above 6500 rpm though, likely a completely different story. But something to think about, IMO. A little hi efficiency 65 amp mini alternator is not producing much drag at all, in my opinion it is hitting above its weight for net efficiency especially if your running an electric fan and water pump.

Some who do the alt delete in gassers use 14V batteries, some just run with the system at 12v, I can't speak to either, as I have a diesel.

I didn't say the gains from the PS delete were particularly "strong", tyically only 1-3 mpg, but all those little amounts add up.
Water pump drag should vary significantly with speed, but you've still got me more than a little tempted to get back into the ecomodding game, see if I can't push the truck just a little bit farther...

[prodarwin]

As a point of reference, our Lemons car was on track for approx 9 hours and maybe 20+ engine starts before it died and we realized the charging wire from the alternator wasn't hooked up.  (Doh!)

[Joet]

Ah diesel, yea who cares :) glow plugs heh

[prodarwin]

I was editing that other post but got distracted.

Our Lemons car ran for a long long long time on just the battery.  A 4cyl operating between 3000-6750rpm (fuel cut) for 9ish hour + quite a few starts.  It was a gas motor, no distributor (coil packs), electronic fuel pump and injectors.  When it finally cut out, the battery was pretty much toast.  Around 8.5-9volts IIRC.

Anyway,  a modern ignition system on a gas engine will run for a long long long time on a normal battery.  My biggest power draw concerns would definitely be lights, wipers, and repeated starts.

[Bakari]

RV / Marine type deepcycle battery takes care of those problems

[No Name Guy]

Side comment on this:  I'm no hypermiler, not by any stretch of the imagination.  However, a recent weekend getaway was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate to a young, not very mustachian young man the benefits of improving his driving technique.

On the outbound leg of this trip, young leadfoot Larry we'll call him was driving.  We started off the trip with a full tank, and part way there, he asked, paraphrasing, "does the gas gage go down this quick all the time?" to which the response was "no, it doesn't, when one doesn't mash the gas like you're doing."

Anyways, just before heading back home, we gassed up and reset the trip odometer, so we had a perfect estimate of the mileage while Leadfoot Larry was driving.  I drove the return leg.  Granted, we took a different route - his was state highway, with some stop lights and very minor city driving along the way, with only one mountain pass.  My leg was a mix of state highway with no stops and interstate, with higher speed limit, but had 2 mountain passes. 

I drove my typical style, going easy on the gas, staying within 5 MPH of the limt, drafting behind semi's where safe and practical, cruise control (yeah, I know, it's not P&G) etc.  Upon getting home, we gassed up at the same location as we did at the start of the trip and noted the trip odometer distance. 

Delta mileage?  15% improvement with my mild but not hypermiling style of driving versus Leadfoot Larry.  With gas in the Seattle area hovering in the $3.80 neighborhood, that's the equivalent of 57 cents a gallon extra he's paying.

[AlmostIndependent]

I'd love to get my SO to go a little lighter in the gas but I'm afraid that will just end up being a fight. For the time being I'm keeping my mouth shut.

[Kriegsspiel]

Driving slower is also a lifestyle improvement. It's much more chill to just coast along and let everyone else pass you then to have to worry about passing, missing exits, being distracted constantly watching for speed traps, the choice to get in the right lane and let someone who's tailgating you pass you by when you might get "stuck" in the right lane... etc etc.

Chill driving experience, no speeding tickets, better gas mileage. I think the only downside is the longer drive times.

[Paul der Krake]

Driving slower is also a lifestyle improvement. It's much more chill to just coast along and let everyone else pass you then to have to worry about passing, missing exits, being distracted constantly watching for speed traps, the choice to get in the right lane and let someone who's tailgating you pass you by when you might get "stuck" in the right lane... etc etc.

Chill driving experience, no speeding tickets, better gas mileage. I think the only downside is the longer drive times.

Amen to that. I don't get paid enough to worry about idiots and everything else you mentioned on the commute.

[Bakari]

I'd love to get my SO to go a little lighter in the gas but I'm afraid that will just end up being a fight. For the time being I'm keeping my mouth shut.

Won't work for everyone, but a trick is to just casually "discover" the idea for the first time, when SO happens to be there... like, start watching my youtube video or the episode of the MythBusters or reading the MMM article, and comment "hey, this is kind of interesting".
No comments about SO's driving specifically, but maybe personalize slightly by adding "I think I'll try some of that"

Then, a couple weeks later "hey, remember that hypermiling thing?  I ended up saving $xx!!  Its awesome!"

Lead by example, prevents people from getting defensive