Question for Hypermillers

[wab]

This is a question I asked a friend who is a certified hypermiller, he consistently gets 50+ in his 04 Civic.

 

Here's his answer.

"YES it bothers me..." I'll leave the rest of his answer off, to avoid bashing and ranting.

 

Now here's the question.

Does it bother you if you're 10th in line at a red light and a hypermiller putt  putt putts away from the light starnding you and 3 other people at the light?

 

 

We're at 825 miles, 38.0 MPG and I have to work at that.

NOT much (don't want to work at it at all) but I do work at it.

 

I'm a little disappointed they we're not over 40.

 

wab

Edited March 2, 2013 by wab

[ptjones]

Grill Covers will get you 2-4mpg more if your interested.

[SBGrad]

Now here's the question.

Does it bother you if you're 10th in line at a red light and a hypermiller putt  putt putts away from the light starnding you and 3 other people at the light?

 

 

It would drive me crazy, my blood pressure would go up a whole lot.  If they were directly in front of me they would be getting high beams flashed at them for sure.

 

As far as getting your personal MPG higher, put it in eco-cruise whenever possible.  Leave the HVAC off if it isn't too hot outside-- today it was 81 and not only did I put on the HVAC, but the AC as well--buh bye MPG.

[wab]

Grill Covers will get you 2-4mpg more if your interested.

 

Sorry, I live in Texas, couldn't leave em on but 3 or 4 months a yr.

 

wab

[wab]

It would drive me crazy, my blood pressure would go up a whole lot.  If they were directly in front of me they would be getting high beams flashed at them for sure.

 

As far as getting your personal MPG higher, put it in eco-cruise whenever possible.  Leave the HVAC off if it isn't too hot outside-- today it was 81 and not only did I put on the HVAC, but the AC as well--buh bye MPG.

That's what my hypermiller friend said. :rant2:

 

Anytime I've been with him he's courteous, keeps to the right, drives a little below the speed limit and accelerates nicely away from stop and red lights.

 

Both of us have the same feelings about extreme MPG, doesn't mean much it's all about the $'s..

He's VERY good, squeezes every penny till it doesn't even squeak.

 

wab

[Jus-A-CMax]

Nah, anytime you drive for MPG, you are always trading time for mileage and to worry about crap like this is absurd, so you're gonna get to the next red light a little later or sit there...big f*cking whoopie doo.

 

Plus when you are hypermiling you're should always conscious of the guy behind you so you need to back off somewhat from your game and go with the flow - start EV and then kick in the ICE. If no one is behind you, who cares if you EV from 0 to 35 mph. From my experience, I do not have any issues going from 0 to 10mph or even 15mph EV as most traffic in LA is somewhat slow anyway, everyone enjoying the bluebird skies and the 80+ temps  ;) 

Edited March 3, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[wab]

Nah, anytime you drive for MPG, you are always trading time for mileage and to worry about crap like this is absurd, so you're gonna get to the next red light a little later or sit there...big f*cking whoopie doo.

 

Plus when you are hypermiling you're should always conscious of the guy behind you so you need to back off somewhat from your game and go with the flow - start EV and then kick in the ICE. If no one is behind you, who cares if you EV from 0 to 35 mph. From my experience, I do not have any issues going from 0 to 10mph or even 15mph EV as most traffic in LA is somewhat slow anyway, everyone enjoying the bluebird skies and the 80+ temps  ;) 

 

I'm definitely NOT a hypermiller.

I DO know what the bottom half of the gas pedal does, this thing actually sounds pretty good.

 

I've always been able to get 1 to 2 mpg better than my wife, she's a pedal twitcher.

Which may be why I can't hit 40. I'm very good at maintaining a steady speed, don't move the pedal much.

 

wab

[GUZZI]

Using the cruise as much as possible at lower speeds will also help FE. The car and computer is smarter than you and can do a much better job of contolling the throttle than you can IMHO. :)

[Max Power]

The reason I bought the C-Max is so that I can make the jerk passing me on a two-lane road question his decision-making skills.

[DozerBob]

Using the cruise as much as possible at lower speeds will also help FE. The car and computer is smarter than you and can do a much better job of contolling the throttle than you can IMHO. :)

I never use the cruise control but I do pay close attention to the Blue threshold indicator to know when to back off the throttle a little to put it into EV-mode, that's something the computer and cruise control can't decide.

[Jus-A-CMax]

Using the cruise as much as possible at lower speeds will also help FE. The car and computer is smarter than you and can do a much better job of contolling the throttle than you can IMHO. :)

 

Yes and no. Yes if you are getting tired of P&G and no as the eco-cruise is bound to use EV or ICE on a flat area as compared to "manual", you can P&G with the regen on the pulse side as well as a coast side where NO ICE and you can decide how much EV you want to keep or use. For instance, if I know where the destination is, I can decide to keep the batteries as high as possible and use it on the surface street where you can do some EV P&G (at speeds 35mph-40mph) and cycle it.

 

Also sometimes when you can clearly see the road is flat and there is really high battery and still eco-cruise is on ICE, you can double tap or on/off to trigger it to switch to EV mode (assuming your read is right and that the road is truly flat and not inclined - the car will tell you by either staying in EV or kicking in the ICE).

 

It all depends and Ford gave us a really, really great car for us drivers to decide  :rockon: 

Edited March 3, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[roninsd]

"As far as getting your personal MPG higher, put it in eco-cruise whenever possible. Leave the HVAC off if it isn't too hot outside-- today it was 81 and not only did I put on the HVAC, but the AC as well--buh bye MPG."

 

I did the same, SBGrad, going from Mission Valley to Lemon Grove, a 9 mi. trip.  I actually got better mpg than usual (I travel this route everyday), no drag from the AC.

[RachelnLa]

I use my Eco cruise when possible. If my battery is high and it hasn't switched to EV, I tap the decrease speed button and EV kicks in. I have learned to set the cruise a little higher than the speed I want so I can tap down and still be at the speed limit.

[ptjones]

Sorry, I live in Texas, couldn't leave em on but 3 or 4 months a yr.

 

wab

The other 8-9 months you can use the center cutout cover to improve hwy mileage. There seems to be some miss conception that the covers are only for winter time which is not true. You could use full Grill Covers all year around if all you did was city driving and didn't use AC. That's a little tough when it's 100+ degrees outside but the point is it would improve MPG's. ICE efficiency is best with water temp 202-214deg.F which is a long way from 100deg.F. City driving the ICE should be only running about 30% of the time so 70% it's cooling off and you would be getting 60mpg too. 

[DR61]

This is a question I asked a friend who is a certified hypermiller, he consistently gets 50+ in his 04 Civic.

 

Here's his answer.

"YES it bothers me..." I'll leave the rest of his answer off, to avoid bashing and ranting.

 

Now here's the question.

Does it bother you if you're 10th in line at a red light and a hypermiller putt  putt putts away from the light starnding you and 3 other people at the light?

In my experience the drivers who cause 'stranding' are usually NOT hypermilers, but people not paying attention to the light, and who don't start promptly when the light turns green.   When leaving the light it is better technique for most cars to pulse up to speed, accelerating moderately to briskly, and then back off to cruise a longer distance to the next stop.  Good hypermiling technique entails situational awarness.

[Max Power]

Certainly this is not worse than the several people that leave a car length between them and the car ahead of them at stop lights, which prevents you from being able to get into the turning lane.

[PWBarrett]

I've seen more and more of this leaving 1 or even 2 car lengths at a red light in the last couple of years, and I don't understand it.

When I taught my son driver's ed, the course material said never to pull up all the way to the next car so you could get around if they stalled out.

First, how often does that happen, and second, that takes what, about 3 feet of space?  But 2 car lengths?  I wonder if some of them are just stopping early so they can start texting.

What they don't seem to realize is that in some cases, these large gaps let the signal lights time-out, causing the people behind them to have to wait through extra cycles of the light.

[wab]

I may be one of those you see.

I drive in Arlington TX a lot.

 

10 cars stop at a light

3 seconds later the second car moves forward a couple of feet, everybody behind pulls up.

5 seconds later the 4th car pulls up a few feet, everybody pulls up

4 seconds later the 6th car pulls up a couple of feet, everybody pulls up

It's like this the whole light, every light, all day long

 

Sometimes I don't pull up tell the 5th or 6th time, 2 to 3 car length

Sometimes I don't :runaway:

 

Edit: I was taught to stop where I can see the tire of the car I'm behind (sometimes I do it 4 or more times per light), NOT 5 feet of asphalt

 

wab

Edited March 3, 2013 by wab

[Recumpence]

Hmm, I feel as though I should chime in here......

 

First, my biggest pet-peeve is the fool who just HAS to get in front of the "Stupid Hybrid" and floors it at the light to get ahead of me before the lanes merge. I anticipate that and get on it when the light turns green. I have never been beat from a light in my Max if I am paying attention.

 

Second, here in northern Illinois, the people who absolutely creep from the lights are elderly people. I respect the elderly. However, it is truely insane sometimes. I mean, really, do you have to just let the car idle and accellerate by idle only? I know some people drive slowly to be safe. But, come-on, that is actually unsafe the way some people drive. I have seen older folks driving 35mph on the expressway. That is not only unsafe, it is illegal.......

 

Now, that being said, I am a Hypermiler. I like to try various tricks to sneak my MPG up. I have tried accellerating slowly, briskly, and everything in between. In the end, the best method I have found is to accellerate with the ICE power indicator at the second power level line. Once at 5mph over the posted limit, I back off so EV kicks in. At that point, I drop the power (now in EV mode, not ICE) to the first power line on the indicator. That normally will sustain around 35 to 40mph. The car is most efficient with the power level left consistant and the speed of the car allowed to increase and decrease with the elevation of terrain. This is, of course, if there is plenty of room behind me to make sure I am not creating a road rage scinerio with the impatient punk behind me.   :)

 

Oh, this is something I have figured out over the nearly 16,000 miles I have had my C-Max.......

 

Matt

[chryssa]

I'm not a hypermiler, unless you count the 1.7 mile stretch of coasting on my daily commute home.  Wheeeeee.

 

Chiming in as one of those drivers who may stop a full car-length or more behind you at a stop light:  If the vehicle in front of me is a diesel, spews blue or black exhaust, or if I can simply smell its exhaust - I'm gonna leave plenty of extra room between that stinky ride and my lungs.  I'll close the windows, turn off the fan, check out the location of the offender's tailpipe and veer to the opposite side of the lane as well.  Can you tell I spend a lot of time in traffic?

 

My Energi is scheduled for production tomorrow! Yay!  Ordered in late March, it's been a long wait.  Soon there will be no more wasting gas and no spewing exhaust onto the car behind me while silently sitting in traffic, ahh.    :)

[Adair]

WOW, that is a long wait Chryssa! Let the countdown begin!!! Keep us posted!