gang

I am not trying to rain on anyones parade, and if i seem so , i apologize. However, There are several cars out there -especially standard gearshift -where we could get much better mileage as well.

In my case i bought a 98 ford escort (thats right, a ford!!!) and it gets 30mpg combined driving normally. I suspect that every hypermiling effort has little to do with the fact the vehicle is 'hybrid' at all. It can be applied to any car. Especially a standard.

If i was to use these efforts on the escort, I suspect i could get 45 -55 mpg . When you factor in the $2000 purchase price, savings on insurance costs, and very low depreciation at this point, its the hands down winner.

So i think it comes down to 'choice' about owning a new vehicle , and then choosing hybrid for the enviroment , rather than the best choice in saving money.

Others choose an SUV , while others choose an 'escort like' pruis HCH , insight , small car for the mpg .

We choose the fully deal with the highlander, giving up nothing, while still getting 25mpg real world. To us it was the best choice. Certainly not the wisest economically.

cheers

That's pretty good. A fellow coworker just went from driving his F-250 (7.5L V8) to a Prius. He said his mileage went from 8 MPG to 46 MPG! His commute is only 20 miles each way.

For a manual transmission Escort in highway driving that may be possible. But don't speculate, do the test.

My 03 Prius replaced a manual transmission, '91 Camry and I had moved my daily commuting mileage from 32 MPG to 38 MPG just before 'the accident.' The accident was not related to hypermiler driving but a rain-slick, blind overpass and a reckless driver who blocked both lanes and the exit ramp I was going for that led to the Camry's early demise with just over 183,000 miles. The only techniques I used were predictive braking and pushing in the clutch to coast, never engine off!

With my 03 Prius, I'm getting +50 MPG, which has an automatic transmission (aka., no clutch or gear selections.) Unlike a gas-only car, the Prius automaticly handles engine start-stop, which is a moving violation in most jursidictions.

The other engineering enhancements including regenerative braking, aerodynamic improvements and electric powered modes makes +50 MPG my average after more than 12,000 miles. Built-in to the car, no amount of 'technique' with a gas-only car can replicate regenerative braking and electric power modes.

There are folks convenced that driving technique is all that separates hybrid mileage from any other vehicle. But from what I've seen, the additional driver overhead and sometimes ticketable techniques are not something I'd recommend. For example, turning off the engine to coast and clutch restart at the end of a glide. In many jurisdictions you could get a moving violation for turning off the engine or coasting down a grade in neutral.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

hi bob


very good advise. This is why i dont hyper mile. I dont feel comfortable with many of the suggestions, but other people do.

However, I will take up your task of actually trying it out. I am going to reset my trip odometer and refil my escort , then try every technic possible.

I hear you about the driving in neutral and or off altogether. Remember that most of us have a CVT tranny, so they actually have to take it out of drive and into neutral.

I have noticed the highest hypermiling and average mpg comes from the manual insight. I know from my college days driving an old honda civic we used to coast around in neutral - being lazy -rather than hypermiling , all the time. I never stick an automatic tranny in neutral when operating the vehicle.

I've noticed some adversion on this board to hypermiling, with a few that seem alienated by the practice (general remark not oriented by anyone in this thread). Even worse is some people in urban areas seem to go out of their way to harrass people that go a little under the speed limit, even if they make it easier for faster drivers to go past them.

Again, this is a general statement. If the freeway speed limit is 60, drivers decide to do 70 or 75 anyway. If you go the speed limit, you are likely to get harrassed. My pet peeve is using the freeway ramp as a passing lane.

Another board had a story about tailgaters. Someone commented that some RX-7 Mazada sportscars had this devilish quirk when downshifting the tailpipe would shoot foot-long flames - serves them right.

I'm convinced that better fuel economy is mostly a behaviorial thing. If drivers could get out of their combative mode and not drive poseur vehicles, imagine how much gasoline would be saved!

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Since the hybrid is my first car, I can't add to the general list about the fantastic change and fuel savings getting the hybrid has gained us except to say congratulations to those of you who made the switch. Going from guzzler to sipper is the smart thing to do! Good for all of you!

But the real reason I wanted to post is to respond to the hypermiling swipe- not all hypermilers do risky or borderline-illegal things to achieve better fuel efficiency. Going a little slow and using a few different driving techniques to make the most out of what you have is not inherently dangerous, and 'ticketable' manuevers aside, it is actually true that the things hypermilers do can often be used in conventional ICEs to get much better FE. Everyone has to do what they're comfortable with, of course, but dismissing *all* the techniques because a few people take the extreme view and perform risky tricks to raise FE does not seem reasonable to me. JMO.

Back on topic- I'm happy to read about people like these, who go from 14 to 41 or 8 to 46 because it gives me more ammo in my discussions with SUV owners or would-be owners about how much more impact they can have on the market than anyone else by making the switch. ''Other people do it and they're happy about it! So why can't you?''

Tomdavie you have some good points, and one thing you mentioned:
That isn't neccessarily true, depending on the hybrid model.

My HCH has had mid 60's last winter, upper 60's since spring and +900 miles since spring (March or so). I did the 73MPG in my signiture two tanks ago.

If you can show me a standard Civic (AT...or MT for that matter) which can hit these numbers tank after tank after tank, I'd like to know who...so I can shake his hand!

If your comment was on Escort only I apologize but I see this posted around the net regarding Civic and Prius as well.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

True-but will your emissions be lower? Certainly not.

It's not all about the FE, it's also about the emissions.

But for most here it isn't strictly about the cost savings, but it is a compromise. Most here want a modern car with modern features, refinement and safety, otherwise we would go out and buy old Civics and Escorts.

It would be very impressive indeed if you could get 45-55 mpg hypermiling the Escort as that is a 30% increase in its's highway EPA rating.

Good news: Dieter Zetsche of DaimlerChrysler will announce just that - the sale of the smart fortwo in the USA, for the beginning of 2007 - in Detroit tomorrow (Wednesday, June 28).

The model to be sold is the new generation car that is presently in testing, and will be sold beginning in spring 2007. It looks somewhat similar to the present model, but is slightly longer and has a more aggressive look to the front end. Spyshots are on the general forum at www.clubsmartcar.ca.

Initially, the only models available in the USA will have gasoline engines, but expect a gasoline hybrid and possibly a cdi diesel and/or diesel hybrid in 2008.

2008 Mercedes-Benz B 200
2005 smart fortwo cdi pulse cabriolet
1966 Peugeot 404 Coupé Injection
1989 Peugeot 405 DL