If you have an accurate digital boost/vacuum gauge, you will notice the reduced drag effect from any vehicle in front of you, especially a semi (intake vacuum increases indicating reduced workload required to maintain speed)...and you don't need to be right on their bumper...the vortex wake from a semi can lead back several hundred feet and beyond at highway speeds so you can follow at a safe distance and still get a significant boost in milage...

 

I try to be a hypermiler, and I do pretty damn well I think. On my Clubman S, I usually average about 37.5 mpg. About 75%/25% highway/city. Here's my system:

I try my hardest to get my average MPG to go up, or as I like to call it, "beating my score"

If I am successful in beating my high score, I reward myself by taking a drive on one of my favorite windy roads, and mashing on the pedal. Sure, it cancels out the outrageously good gas mileage, but it's worth it :P

 

No disrespect but hypermiling in a Mini seems like an oxymoron...no hard acceleration OR quick turn as that scrubs off speed (without applying gas)...what do you end up with? A Chevy Aveo...

This activity only makes sense if you also purchased the Mini for its luggage capacity...

 

Well quite a few of us, me included, purchased the MINI for its fuel efficiency. Because of that, it's really nice to maximize its potential. That's not to say that I don't have an absolute blast with my MINI, and honestly even while driving efficiently I am still able to have fun.

I suppose it's all about finding the right balance between efficient driving and fun driving.

No matter what, driving a MINI at 5 mph is more fun than driving a Chevy Aveo at ANY speed. 'Nuff said.

 

I've heard this technique before and I agree with this.

Although I have an S, I still have found the same thing. If I lightly accelerate to get up to a 45 mph speed limit, i find myself getting a much longer period of poor gas mileage under acceleration than if I were to accelerate quickly to the speedlimit.

Get up to speed as quick as possible, then cruise. The more cruise time that you have, the higher your mileage will be.

 

Got 51.1 mpg average on the OBC this morning coming to work.

Mix of city and highway...about 30 miles distance.

Take that Prius.

 

SO Thumper, did you use the accelerate to speed quickly method to get that or another method?

 

Not as much as I normally would. The key is to just get to a speed and stay there in 6th gear and use the least amount of throttle application possible to maintain it.

 

#2 is a myth... Since the storage tanks are way below the ground they are not impacted by the local temperature...

 

# 1 is so wrong on so many levels.

I m no mechanic and don't know much about cars. But drawing from pure physics and reading car manuals, the recommended tire pressure by Mini is for optimum performance and car stability. By inflating your tires to the highest psi you are increasing the risk i.e decreasing the stability of your car. It will jump around. The reason front tires are not inflated to full is to take away the load of the engine. Engine weight on over inflated tires can also cause spontaneous bursts.

#9 is again not recommended on car under warranty. You don't want to ruin your warranty just to get few extra miles. Plus Minis are good on gas. Few extra miles might not be worth the risk these 2 suggestions bring in.

 

Nice Cooper S or Cooper?

 

Yes I can litrally feel the the car having trouble gripping and remaining stable. Make GP handle like a Ford Focus. But I still wanted to find out if there are any folks that run 30wt for performance reasons not mileage reasons?

 

It would be interesting to do an actual check on this. It sounds like a great way to fool the OBC into calculating a better MPG, but I can't figure a way that it would improve ACTUAL MPG (gas used / miles driven measured by filling the tank twice and dividing by the miles driven). I've found that the OBC was at least 3-4 MPG optimistic in my hypermileing experiment.

Maybe I should repeat my hypermileing experiment, but using the 'accelerate quickly then cruise' as my rule instead of 'accelerate slowly and keep the RPMs low'.

 

This thread has gotten me really curious about tire pressures. I was always taught to fill tires to the pressure indicated by the vehicle manufacture. I was told that any thing much over or much under would increase wear and create instability. I am a photographer for a living and as part of my job I photograph NASCAR and IRL races and have seen how these teams manage tire pressure. I have also read on a hypermiling disuccion forum that people are recomending well over max side wall and saying they get better handeling and much better tread wear but I some how dont under stand how. Thoughts?

 

Find out what they're smokn and send me some...

 

It scares me that hypermilers share the same roads that I drive on.

 

They're usually found stuck to back end of semis so I would worry...

 

Besides uneven wear on tires because of higher inflation P, which specific idea would cause faster wear and on which part?

I don't hypermile, but just curious ... thanks.

 

I think there is some uninformed info about hypermiling on this thread. Take a look at http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/ and read up. I'm sure there are dangerous hypermilers just like there are dangerous non-hypermilers, but responisbile hypermiling forums do not recommend dangerous practices. Like drafting too close, etc.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...C%7D&dist=hppr

 

Overinflation wears out tires faster and results in less grip, both of which waste money and fuel in the bigger picture (you have make a trip using gas to go out and buy new tires - also made from petroleum products). Slightly higher pressure helps, but don't trade off safety or long-term costs.

Single weight oil improving performance is an absolute myth, HAS to be. 5w30 means it flows like a 5w when cold (or "the oil is thinner when cold" - which improves gas mileage and engine warm-up times) but protects like a 30W when hot (when it's operating as efficiently as it ever will) . Multi-vis oils IMPROVE mileage on startup and until the engine warms up. The only reason racers use single weight oils is that their engines work at one temperature, they're not really stopped and started as part of their intended operation, they're only raced once warmed up, and racer's don't care as much about cold engine fuel economy or emissions.

Drafting too close can cause accidents - that's premature "wear" if I ever saw it! Besides, IF your drafting causes the person you're drafting to speed or drive erratically you've wasted fuel in the bigger picture - just shifted the use from your vehicle to theirs (though I agree with the practice of "drafting" 2 seconds behind semis IF they know you're there and IF the road conditions make this a reasonable practice).

Coasting, especially while turning the engine off, is actually illegal in some states - and MUST be done with caution. If you're at a light, great - but what if someone's coming up behind you? Can you start in time? If so, great - kill the motor. If not, then don't. Remember, the engine ALSO runs the power steering and brakes on most cars - want to be coasting along without those little "options"??

Also on Coasting: On many fuel-injected cars, "coasting" in Drive or in gear means the engine computer shuts fuel OFF to the engine, letting the car's motion keep things turning until the engine reaches a certain speed... as opposed to keeping fuel running (albeit at idle speed) to idle the engine if you're out of gear.

A few things to think about as you contemplate your ever-changing driving conditions to maximize the balance of safety, cost, and fun...

now on with your day!

 

I've found that I can get about 2 miles more per gallon just coasting a lot and planning my stop-n-gos.

I been wanting to ask this of other people hypermiling.

I do a lot of faster speeds through the hills of WV and then coast up and down them until I slow down. What I've noticed is that I tend to get a bit more agitated and frustrated when I'm caught behind a "normie" because I cannot accelerate and coast like I normally do.

I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing the "get out of my way, you're ruining my gas mileage" feeling.

 

I don't hypermile but I have been getting 26-27 MPG in my R53 S with 45K miles in city driving. Still having lots of fun though. As long as I get 350 miles per tankful I am happy.