Ok, I'll disclaim this upfront. I am a new HCH owner and have questions. Hypermilers and others, please don't flame me, but I have some sincere curiousity.

How do you balance good gas mileage and 'courtesy' on the road? Here in CA, people routinely go 70mph plus if the HOV or regular lanes are open and unimpeded. Yet, to get optimal gas mileage, I would be driving 45 - 55 mph!

So, it has only happened on rare occasion, but what if I want to enjoy my HOV lane access and get good mileage? What if I want to drive 50mph on a freeway where everyone else is going 65mph - 70mph? Do hypermilers have concerns over slowing the overall flow of traffic and making drives slower and less efficient for others?

Thus far, I've tried to walk the fine line driving slower when no one is behind me, but keeping up with the flow of traffic on HOV and regular lanes when there are other drivers.

How do some of you 60 mph guys manage this????

Thanks!
Lansing

 

Hi Lansing:

___Just my $0.15. If the non-HOV lanes are moving at a decent clip, run the right lane instead of the HOV lane. An HOV sticker does not mean you have to drive in them, it just means you can drive in them. I have no idea what the speed limits are in the HOV lanes where you live but given it is meant for those who have multiple passengers or hybrid’s and they are running that HOV lane to get somewhere fast, it is time for you to consider a close or distance draft. If the limits are 60, 65 would be my max with a pull into the non-HOV lanes to let others pass and the non-HOV lane is clear for 200 + feet with traffic moving close to HOV lane speeds. If the HOV lane is 70 +, all you have are drafts and up around there, you aren’t doing much unless you are way to close. Even a decent sized sedan at 70 mph can be a draft target but it will not be the same as a UPS dual trailer at 58 mph no matter what you do … Be careful and make sure you are looking through the targets windshield at the traffic farther ahead if at all possible if you decide to use draft techniques. You will know by watching the driver ahead if you are a bit to close for his or her comfort. Darting eyes to the rear views, small changes in orientation on the road, and sometimes even in speed. If you see this, back off a bit to get them comfortable again. Remember, Bulls and Bears make money while Pigs get slaughtered. In other words, do not be a pig and suck up every ounce of draft available to you so as to cause the driver in front undo angst. He or she simply will not allow you to hang that close for long … Hanging on to a great draft for 20 + miles is an art all to itself so make sure you test the target and then run in his comfort zone until the next guy comes along that may be even better?

___This is what I would try but you may find yourself in a traffic situation where nothing works? I hope other HOV lane drivers will chime in with their own techniques?

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

And on the sainer side I don't think any of the hypermiler types would obstruct trafic just for a few MPG. There are a few threads on this and basicly people will speed up if they have to to keep the flow of trafic moving. Its more of a problem off the highway than on. Most of the time people can pass you on the highway.

I do almost all my driving on city streets. I tend to accelerate faster from a stop if someone is behind me. Also, If someone is behind me I will speed up to the speed limit. I don't feel guilty even if they are impatient because I will not be forced to break the law by someone that impatient. Most people will tollerate you going the speed limit.

 

I very rarely use the carpool lanes.
People drive like animals in that lane.
Pluse you can't get into or out of it except at certain places.

 

Hey Wayne,

Thanks for the good post and '411.' I'll try the drafting thing--I never thought of it! I think I want the best of all worlds--faster commutes, better MPG, and less stress. So far the HCH has helped me in these categories!

So, selfishly, I tend to gravitate to the carpool lane just because here in CA I never know when I'm going to hit a patch of traffic. (Or should I say--I never know when I'll hit a patch of clear sailing!) Today, for instance, I was traveling between offices in off-peak traffic. The flow in the carpool lane was 80mph while the 'general public' was going 65ish but there were spots of heavy traffic.

I get around 41mph with my commute in generally heavy traffic. It just baffles me how some get considerably more. I guess I have to hone my driving technique.

 

Drive "around" the speed limit. Not too slow! Not too fast. If you want to ride around at 45-55, take the secondary highways instead. Their speed limits are more to your liking.

 

I find taking the longer way to work gets me better fuel economy, with the drawback of it being longer (in time AND distance). But that way, I can stay at a slower pace.

Although I enjoy fuel economy, I must say, I routinely travel around 5-10 mph over the speed limit in my hybrid.

On my motorcycle, I probably go around 10-20 mph over the speed limit.

 

Yeah, here in CA 65 is the MINIMUM you can safely drive on the highway. Anything else is asking for trouble.

 

I'm a southern California driver myself and I don't find 60MPH to be unsafe at all, as long as i'm in the right-most lane. Although I've only had my HCH for 6 months, I've never had someone honk at me or flash their lights, and I navigate the 405/55/5/605/91/210 regularly.

I try to drive with the load, with my target being 60MPG on the instantaneous mileage meter. That doesn't always translate into 60MPH. Southern California freeways have numerous subtle elevation changes so I might be driving 70MPH on a slight downhill while still achieving my target MPG and hitting 60MPH on slight uphills/flat areas. Now if someone is following me in the right hand lane, the numerious changes in my speed would probably drive them mad, but usually, no one ever follows me, other than the commuter on auto pilot who doesn't seem to care what speed I'm driving. Aggressive drivers that are behind me seem to move to the left most lanes rather quickly. BTW, even at 60MPH, I still overtake a few slower cars/semis driving below 60MPH.

I've used the HOV lanes a few times during rush hour, and most times (in OC), the HOV lane traffic is rather congested as well, and the traffic isn't flowing much faster than 65MPH. If the HOV lanes were noticeably at 70-75MPH, I wouldn't even try to use them. The HOV sticker is really the most useful for the HOV lane on some onramps - I can bypass the signal meter on the regular traffic lane during rush hour.

 

For the conditions that I drive, I find that 62-65 mph, in the right lane, works well. On a flat stretch of highway, I can push the FCD to 80+mpg easily. On a run up to a hill, I will push the engine a bit harder, letting the FCD slip to 64mpg and try to maintain my speed at that point. If it is a steep hill, and there are alot of trucks, as they slow, I slow, only moving out to pass them if they force me to down shift to 4th (less than 40 mph). On the downhill, BOH FAS run, run, run.

My highway runs average abou 68-72mpg, adding to that the city and country road that I drive, I can usually see a 58-60 mpg.

It helps to know how your car "runs". My car seems to like 62 mph ::shrug::