I was just reading about Hypermiling - a new concept to me. I'm sure there are tons of tricks to it, but I just read about some basics ones: overinflating your tires to their maximum-rated psi for less road friction, "drafting", accelerating slowly, coasting, etc.

While drafting isn't something I think I would do (for safety), I'm wondering if anyone who owns a slant has tried this concept with any appreciable increase in mileage.

Evan

Well, Evan....where were you reading about hyper-miling? If it was that article in Reader's Digest last month, I seriously hope you won't do any of that crap that character did. His driving habits while attempting his "contest" run put a lot of innocent people in danger.

Roger

Roger's absolutely right. "Hypermiling" might as well be "Death Avengers of the Highway". It is pointlessly dangerous.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Did anyone see the mythbusters about drafting with a semi?

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Yep, but they didn't test how much the mileage on the semi decreased when someone was drafting.............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

I did not see the Discover Mythbusters series.

I asked about Hypermiling to find out if any of the more SAFE techniques that some Hm's employ is something someone with a slant has tried to a good or great increase in mileage.

Obviously, the subject here is how to improve my car's performance. I'm having my mechanic make sure the carb and all mechanics related to gas mileage are functioning flawlessly, but I realized the other day "Duh, leadfoot here better change his actual driving habits" and now I'm trying to find out what all I can do.

Fair enough. Just like with a race car.....weight reduction. The less weight you carry around in your car/truck, the fewer miles you'll get from a gallon.

Roger

you do mean MORE miles from a gallon do'nt you?

regards,Rod

Since I just got my Valiant running well I'm going to try some of the techniques I've been using in my Scion xB and more currently a 90 Civic Hatch.

The techniques I use are not ones that I consider dangerous (because some of them are).

- Keeping tires inflated to max recommended (and checking them often!)
- Slow and steady acceleration.
- Paying more attention to timing of lights you live near and paying attention to lights up ahead of you. Try to adjust your speed to avoid coming to complete stops if you can.
- Driving the speed limit (or a little less on the highway)
- Taking advantage of gravity as often as I can (coasting down hills, slopes, etc)
- Some pulse and glide technique which is basically slow acceleration up to a target speed (like 60 or 70 on the highway) and then coasting to the lower target speed. If you drive the same route to and from work every day, you can combine the pulse and glide with downhill or down slope areas. (Don't do this if there are cars behind you, though)
- Turning the car off at long lights. However, I'm not sure I'll incorporate this one with the Valiant. But for the fuel injected cars I do it when I can remember to do it.

Just doing these I went from averaging about 32 mpg in my Scion to just over 40 mpg.

I read an article in ADAC (German auto club) that tested the slow and steady acceleration in a BMW against a "jackrabbit" start in an identical car. The result was surprising-- the slow and steady approached used more gas that getting to speed quicker. They didn't do a WOT take-off, but a bit more brisk than usual. Of course, vehicle weight and tune affect it a lot, but it would be interesting to see the results of more testing.

I saw a huge increase in just airing up my tires and changing the air filter. I am up to 19 mpg on the interstate.

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If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

Does anyone know the highest recommended psi for 14" radials? Is there a standard or does it vary by make?

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Whoops! Boy, did I use the wrongs combination of words, there.

I'd suggest adding a vaccuum guage to your dash and drive by vacuum.

Roger

Look on the sidewall of the tire to find the max pressure. My tires call for 44PSI.
Putting it in neutral and coasting down hills is illegal here in PA. I don't know how the Popo would tell if you were doing this though.

My buddy had a 93 Mooswang LX 5.0 and swore up and down that getting to speed quickly, but not flooring it got him better milage.

Mythbusters showed that the closer you got to a semi the better milage you would get until you were so close (3 feet) that you had to constantly adjust speed to not hit it. You can watch complete episodes on discovery.com it is in episode 80.

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Letting it in neutral can actually use more gas with fuel injection...............


gas is used to keep engine idling, where if it's in gear and above idle, some fuel injections systems cut off fuel flow

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

I've heard of the brisk accleration benefits before too.

The idea is that you spend more time in light-load cruise config.

You want to stay out of any fuel-enrichment schemes (power valve, power section of needle) to get the benefit of this. So you need to know at what point your carb enriches the mixture.

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes