"garyg: Look it up in your states driving regulations. Get over it, you're telling people to do something that is illegal in something like 43 states if my internet info is accurate.

And yes, I did look it up in my states driving regs."

GPSman (John) has already told you the intent of that law. The law has already been discussed here at GH years ago when Wayne Gerdes had me do coasting test in my '05 FEH. Many States just copy and paste old laws from other States that no longer apply to today's vehicles. Florida recently repealed that law because it never applied in the first place. In addition, even with the old vehicles, the law only applied to downgrades to keep the old brake systems from overheating. I don't use neutral on downgrades because most new vehicles have Fuel-Cut in "D", and we have no downgrades in Florida to amount to cause overheating the brakes.

You stretched the intent of that law to include vehicle control. You stretched that worn tire issue the same way about tire pressure. Do you think we are that dumb?

You can't believe my mileage is real world and that's your problem, not mine. No one has come close to my 61.8mpg driving record in the '05 FEH over the years at the MPG Challenge at Hybridfest. With my newer '09 FEH, I'm confident I could improve that record in the FEH in a similar 27 mile course to exceed 80mpg with the same conditions. That is something you can never understand and do yourself.

I've put 80,000 miles on my '05 FEH and 30,000 miles on my '09 of real world driving without a ticket or an accident. I've only replaced 4 tires in that time and my present '09 tires look new. I would say the average psi in those tires were 47psi overall, and as high as 55psi with no kind of tire wear like in that picture you found. That tire looks to me like a large width tire on a thin rim not meant for that tire. It also could be an old tire without steel belts with very high PSI, not a few PSI like you claim. I try to explain all my techniques but when and how to use them in all real world driving is something that can't be taught in words or videos. Everything becomes habit and different for all the vehicles I own or drive.

GaryG

 

There is NO WAY you get better gas mileage by adding weight.

 

Since the brush guard weighs less than a Tenderfoot Boy Scout, I suspect the impact of the weight increase is going to be negligible.

I believe that the issue is aerodynamics. I had expected the brush guard to negatively affect the air flow at 75 mph. Based on this one data point I'm surprised because it seems to have improved air flow.

I've been down I-80 in this vicinity at 75 mph alot. The MPG readout seemed to always settle around 28.5. So I was surprised on this run.

More to follow if it proves out.

 

garyg: you're in luck! Florida repealed its law against coasting last May! Since May you've been legal!

 

LOL

GaryG

 

Whoa, I just wanted to clarify a few of the hypermiling techniques. I didn't intend for this to become such a heated debate. Hope you guys don't get too worked up over all this. Bill, the brush guard looks cool...regardless of the fuel economy effects. Gary, tell me more about not coasting in neutral downhill. I read in one of your early posts that coasting in neutral is more beneficial than coasting in D in terms of fuel economy. I didn't realize that only applied to flat driving. What is the danger of coasting in neutral on a downhill? When I take an off-ramp off the highway, I put it in neutral. Is that bad? Also, with normal cars, when I put it in neutral, the tach drops down to idle speed which I assume would save more fuel. Please let me know what is the reason I shouldn't do that. Thanks!

-mike

 

As far as I'm concerned, there are very few dangers coasting in neutral. Like I said, the '08 and older FEH have different programming for "L" than the '09 and newer FEH. In older models, I coast in "N" on flat and downhill grades and use "L" (not "D") if I need to slowdown or get heavy regen to charge the battery. The '08 does not have as heavy regen in "L" as the older models, but is still good for a controlled charge and slowing down the vehicle without the brake pedal. To make it a little clearer, I regulate speed on flat and downhills shifting between "N" and "L". If going downhill in EV, my speed may exceed 40mph so I use "L" to slowdown and prevent a restart at 40mph. Also, I use "L" to slowdown on Off Ramps and may shift to "N" to control my speed to a stoplight.

The key to hypermiling is to keep the engine Off as much as possible. Next is battery management for EV driving and preventing engine starts because of a low SoC. I take full control of battery management and start the engine before an automatic restart by the computer to charge the battery. A quick tap of the accelerator will start the engine without using the amount of SoC a automatic start will use. This saves charging the battery after being drained with an automatic computer start. With an automatic start, the computer uses the electric motors for a smooth transition from EV to engine take over power. Eliminating the smooth transition with the accelerator tap technique has really increased my MPG.

GaryG

 

garyg... $10 says that any judge you tell that line to maxes out your fine.

The issue with neutral is on the side of what you do should you need power quickly. Most people will just push on the gas pedal... and watch the rpms go to maybe 2500.

You have to remember to put it into gear and then press the gas pedal...

But nice try.

 

There is only a couple vehicle types which I would disqualify coasting in N.

1. A columb shift as it is too cumbersome
2. A transmission in which the reingagement to D is not smooth.

I have a 2001 Grand Caravan which both counts fail. It's a columb shift and I get quite a jolt when going from N to D, even with engine rev matching.

Generally speaking, the safety of it in other vehicles is really a non-issue if done with common sense and caution.

 

You're looking at this as if you're on your best day, thinking clearly, just had a good cup of coffee, good nights sleep... etc

I'm talking from the perspective of your S--- happens day. One where you've got a cold, your cold cup of coffee doesn't get it anymore, you're been up a long time and are probably pushing things a bit, maybe the kids are crying...

That's when the s--- happens rule kicks in and you do something dumb and lo & behold... its probably what you do all the time like put it in neutral but 5'll get you 10 you forget to pull it back in gear when something sudden happens.

These kind of regs are written for your worst day not your best day.

Look over at my post on Transaxle lubrication. I recently discovered a new Ford Patent for an electric transaxle lubeoil pump (2nd generation transaxle). From this I gleaned that the current transaxle pump runs only when the ICE is running. I infer that the transaxle is lubricated when in electric mode by either residual oil, a drip down system or splash up of oil by one of the electric motors.

So there is the possibility that there is a time limit to how long you can remain in electric mode. Just an educated guess at best.