Good point DF

I do still FAS but only on downhills steep enough that you keep your speed up. My mileage has of course plunged and if I was still keeping track of such things I might be ready to cry. (last tank was in the high thirties, 70 mph cruise into a cold, rainy, headwind)

If I keep track it almost forces me to get into the hypermiler routine so in order to drive "normal" I had to quit keeping track.

 

This is a fun post to me. For me personally I was a maniac and menace to society while driving (80-85 every chance I got, weaving in and out to get that one car length advantage, etc.) until I bought my Prius in late 2005. My driving style today is what I would call modified hypermiling. I do try to stay out of the way and stick to the left and center lanes unless turning left shortly. In other words, I try to obey the traffic laws and be courteous to other drivers. But here is where I differ from the negative perception of hypermiling some have mentioned earlier in posts. Mini-rant to follow. First of all, it doesn't matter how any of us drive as there will be someone who finds fault with it. Drive fast in a hybrid and people will think you are an idiot and wasting your money. Drive the speed limit or slower and everyone will think your an idiot and a tree hugging, Green Peace extremist. Its enough to drive anyone crazy (pun intended). Secondly, I don't care about the flow of traffic. If half the drivers on the road had their way, they would be the ONLY flow of traffic. Well, I'm not going to haul a$% to keep them happy and if they want to be the only thing on the road they're just going to have to go where there aren't 6.5 million people within 75 miles. They would just drive the faster anyway. Win at at any cost, whatever winning is. Mini-rant done.

 

Abowles

I imagine that the flow of traffic is something like a bell curve with most people driving within say 10-15 mph of one another. Driving anywhere within that band of people will most likely be the least disturbing, least stressful of your options. It is when you get into the thin areas of the bell curve that tends to cause problems. I confess that years ago I was a menace (like yourself) by driving far faster than most everyone else. More recently I became a different kind of menace by driving far slower than anyone else. Now I'm still a hair on the slow end of things but I'm at least going the speed limit or sometimes even 5-10 over.

BTW I'm not judging anybody else for the way they drive, merely point out that my driving has changed over the years.

 

lakedude.

I think according to how much time one has on their hands has a certain effect on how one drives also. I personally do not have a lot of free time and therefore I now drive with the traffic flow.

Also as you have pointed out I also was driving at a much reduced rate of speed for awhile and "Yes" I knew the people around me were upset. So Along with time constraints and trying to not Offend-Other-Drivers I have chosen to drive with the traffic flow. Much nicer in my opinion.

However as you just pointed out in your Post I am not suggesting to anyone else how to drive or what speed. I mention this because I am more aware that there are going to be Readers here that do the {Hypermiler} thing and I do not wish to step on toes. What is right for one person and works very well for them does not necessarily for the other person.

Live and let live:

Terry (tiger)

 

Sometimes I'm in a hurry, but manage to employ some hypermiling techniques to reduce my losses:

- speeding but without heavy acceleration getting there, nor doing a lot of speed/lane changes
- Don't charge up to lights/intersections. In fact, there is still a place for forced autostop.
- anticipate what is ahead
- Some forced autostop cruising downhill at high speed or exiting the freeway.

...if you know you are going to arrive with a little time on your hands, why not take it a little easier and also reduce the wear-and-tear on your car?