Anybody know whatever happened to 'xcel' (Wayne) or 'lars-ss' (Larry)? They used to be quite prolific -- multiple posts per day -- buy I have not seen or heard from them in months.

Or 'electric troy' -- did he get booted off the island, or get fed up with heated discussions, or something of the sort?

I know that people come and go, but I was just curious why such frequent contributors seem to have dropped off the forum.

Moved on over to cleanmpg.com, I think.

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)

Thanks, I just took a peek and noticed it sure has a lot of Honda members.

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.

Xcel is actually running in the Tour Del Sol 2006 that started Today doing 105 MPG. Take a look at the "Events & Gatherings" section:

Best Tank = 54.2 mpg (Sep. 9'06)
Best Trip = 61.9 mpg

Okay, I see Wayne. Any idea why he bolted from GH? Is cleanmpg.com his own web site? He seems to be omnipresent over there.

And anybody know about lars-ss?

cleanmpg.com is dedicated to improving fuel efficiency in all cars, and primarily through driving technique. Wayne is rocking a non-hybrid Accord these days at something like 47mpg so the shoe seems to fit.

Xcel is co-owner of cleanmpg.com. He doesn't come over here much for 2 resons. 1. He doesn't own a hybrid anymore, 2. When he tries to give advice on driving for FE over here there is invariably someone contradicting him and giving bad advice.

The guy gets over 50mpg in his non hybrid accord with automatic transmision. That should speak for itself.

Also, I'm not sure but I think he felt a little *betrayed* when Jason sold the site to its new owners.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

Sad thing is some of those people have not let go of some of their agressive driving habits, or worse just want to disrupt good discussions on hybrids and better fuel economy.

I can understand that most people will not drive like him. I can't understand the people that hang around here that are polar opposite of xcel. That does frustrate him. I agree with his outlook: if you are not at least a little interested in improving driving habits for better fuel economy - why bother with hybrids?

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Uh, because hybrids get better fuel economy than regular cars even when driven identically? In fact regular cars sometimes benefit from hypermiling even more than hybrids. Regen and assist help make up for the inefficiency of accelerating and braking, so the penalty for not driving gently is less with a hybrid than with a regular car, as far as acceleration is concerned.

It's like you want to perpetuate the myth that hybrids aren't more efficient than normal cars unless you drive really slowly.

And for the record, before you attack me, I actually do drive my car 'like a hybrid' but frequent stopping brings it down and I drive too fast to raise it significantly (40-42 mpg at 75-80 mph doesn't increase it as much as 60 mpg at 60-70 mph). But I accelerate slowly, drive with a very light foot, coast alot, etc.

Hi Tom,

The internet is a big place.

It will be interesting to see how well it scales. Now there is a place where the primary goal is operator skills, good.

Been there, done that, have the job history. But I noticed you have two signature blocks with substantially different MPG numbers. Did joining "CleanMPG.com" suddenly result in a 6 mpg jump?

I remember back in January, shortly after passing 3,000 miles, that my first mileage 'tank', 39 mpg, was all that kept me from being a hypermiler. At the time, I asked if dropping that 'tank' was OK since it was a 'learning curve' experience. At the time, a chorus said, no, keep it so we will have the complete records. I kept it and picked up my hypermiler star three weeks later just as Xcel was dropping his 'congratulations' messages and we chatted about his plans.

If we 'cherry pick' the data used in our signature blocks, soon it becomes useless, anecdotal. Heck, with one simple software change, say "top n entries," and we're all in a race to exceed the EPA numbers. Like in Lake Woebegone, "Where all the children are above average." Complaints about EPA numbers being unrealistic are not cured by inflating signature block numbers. In fact, it gives EPA numbers more standing because they are reproducable.

So Tom, I'll message you the 'elephant in the room' question and we can chat (if e-mail is working.)

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.