As you know, I've claimed my dirty '09 FEH gets better mileage than when it's cleaned and waxed. I have not washed or waxed it now for 22 months and over 12,000 miles. Just for kicks, I just inspected my front rims for signs of brake dust. There is still no sign of brake dust today on those rims and I've never rotated from back to front. The rear FEH has drum brakes starting in '09.

GaryG

 

I don't get anything on my '09 FE either. Some vehicles depending on their body design, air flow, etc. will throw the dust onto the doors in a large arc, visible more on the lighter colors.

 

The Kia Hybrid that was hypermiled to 64 mpg can be looked at as (1) amazing and/or (2) unrelated to those folks who drive in the real world.

The driver(s) of the Kia Hybrid admitted that "speed" kills which brings up the question on how fast did they travel? A few years ago, one of the drivers drove from Chicago to New York City in a Prius on one tank of fuel along Interstate 80. Impressive until you realize this driver averaged 47 mph on this Interstate. That is 18 mph under the speed limit at that time. Is this what real folks do on the Interstate highway during clear and warm weather?

That said, I do not know the technology of the Kia Hybrid. Are they pressuring the fuel prior to it enters the combustion chamber? After all, this was done years ago to achieve 300+ mpg in an "old Opel"

If you didn't notice this vehicle has only three wheel(s) in an attempt to reduce drag. It also drove like a dog with no power.

 

If I drive at 40 MPH, I could drive from Canada to Mexico on one stock tank of gas.
But that is going to be one long trip... especially by having only one cold start in the beginning to improve the odds of making it. A stunt, just like the others... not practical.
Just possible.

 

I think in the real world, an average of 47mph is very good considering stops to relieve yourself and eat may reduce the average speed limit.

GaryG

 

My father told me that he and his brothers developed a vapor carburetor in the 1950's, and their invention made an otherwise stock '52 Plymouth sedan do around 32MPG with reasonable performance. That may not sound impressive but it was for vehicles of that time.

Vapor carburetors aren't new but they tended to be complicated:
History
One design

I haven't seen their design but it was apparently fairly simple which employed a type of wick to create the vapor. The device was verified to authentically work by a couple independent testers and it was scheduled for production on an unused factory line in a facility which also made a large number of other automotive parts for other manufacturers.

Apparently everything was set for the carburetor to be made except the factory withdrew its production line offer last minute because a number of its other manufacturer customers said they would pull their business out of the plant.

They chose not to pursue it further.

 

I think in the real world, an average of 47mph is very good considering stops to relieve yourself and eat may reduce the average speed limit.

You have twisted the posted information from the CBS report. It was as I stated: 47 mph average during actual movement not including bathroom or food stops.

 

I may be blind, but I don't see that in your post above.

 

I didn't twist anything, The members here can read the story here:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11441

GaryG

 

Hi again fellas! After posting my initial question about hypermiling and clarifying some follow ups, I've been MIA for a few months. Now I'm back with my report. Hopefully, this will stop all the bickering and get this thread back on topic. ;-)

I failed miserably. I was aiming for 45 MPG after reading other people's posts about their gas-saving tricks, but I only got 34. I tried all these new tricks for about 8 or 9 tanks of gas. I'm still happy to get 34, but it's not the 40+ you guys have been getting. Oh well...

Here's what I've been doing (in addition to what I've always done before):

1. Leaving the battery indicator as low as possible when parking so I can maximize the charging when I start again.
2. Shifting to L more often whenever I slow down (after cold start, warm start, downhills, etc)
3. Shifting to N more often whenever I get to coast (downhills, off-ramps, before a stop)
4. Doing more fake shifts while accelerating, mostly between 20 and 40 mph I see the biggest drops in RPM.
5. Selectively starting the ICE on purpose during city driving so I can better control how much charge I have. This helps me avoid running the ICE at a red light.

I tried P&G (at 41 mph) by shifting to L and lifting off the throttle, but the ICE never shuts down unless I do a quick double-tap. Then I shift back to N to glide, but usually by then, the car had already slowed down too much for traffic conditions. So I'm kind of giving up on the P&G thing unless conditions are just right (downhills with no traffic mostly). Also, drafting is still rare for me due to my commute and personal safety concerns. So there's my report. Maybe with more practice, I can get better, but I doubt it'll be much. I'll gladly report back if a revelation occurs, but this is my two cents for now after trying out the hypermiling tricks all summer.

Thanks for the help with all your suggestions guys!

By the way, here are the things I was doing before adding the new tricks:

1. Park backwards so I start the car and drive off right away
2. Drive at or below the speed limit
3. Double-tap the brakes to stop the ICE when slowing down
4. Accelerate really slowly to keep ICE off
5. Not using AC/Heater very often
6. Pump up tires to about 40 psi