Hypermiling - A beginner's guide to eco-driving

Hyper-miling is the North American version of Eco-driving, which essentially involves driving better to use less fuel.  It is a practice where car owners can routinely exceed their vehicles rated fuel economy through the use of their skill and common techniques.  These techniques can be employed safely to effectively reduce the cost and environmental impact of driving while still allowing the driver to travel effectively.


Hyper-miling acknowledges a spectrum of driving ability, attitudes, conditions and vehicles.  The people involved vary from folks who don't want to pay more than they have to for gas, to hyper milers who modify their vehicles, route, habits, and fuel in order to achieve astounding mileages like 100 mpg, all the way to irresponsible idiots who tailgate big rigs and drive dangerously while inconveniencing other drivers.

It not only involves using less fuel, it can also involve driving less, and even transforming the traffic around you using techniques like traffic smoothing, wave cancellation, and defusing aggressive driving.  It all depends how seriously you want to be about your driving.


Maintenance:

• Use a lower viscosity engine oil like a 5W30 (or 0W30)  instead of a 10W30
• Inflate your tires to the recommended inflation (or a tiny bit more)
• Consider purchasing harder tires when replacing them.
• Remove dead weight from your car's trunk. (golf clubs, sand bags, lumber)
• Clean air filter
• Clean spark plugs
• Use a fuel additive to clean your car's fuel injectors (read the ingredients, the less expensive and more expensive additives may be the same)
• (Some additives may also help improve your car's combustion efficiency)

Aerodynamics
Reduce your vehicles drag so it slips through the air more smoothly.  The more "slippery" your vehicle is, the less energy you will spend "fighting the wind"

• Keep windows up
• Remove roof rack, roof top carrier and bike racks when not in use
• Reduce your top speed to reduce wind resistance. 

Strategy
It is a game, a puzzle, a challenge.  Information can give you an advantage.  Thinking about your approach and keeping your goal in mind can help you do better.

• Avoid unnecessary elevation gain
• Parking with Potential   (park facing downhill where you can take advantage of any elevation gain in the parking lot to get going.
• Parking to pull-through  (reversing out of parking spots, braking and pulling forward wastes more energy)
• Avoiding unnecessary traffic lights and other "stops". (fewest number of traffic lights, less populated areas)
• Using routing software like maps.google.com to confirm the most direct route
• Purchase a real-time fuel economy gauge so you can "see" how well you are driving.
• Combine errands to reduce unnecessary driving around town.
• Create a carpool that works for you.

Driving skill and style
By consciously altering your driving style and building skill, you will reduce your fuel costs through;

• Do not accelerate quickly or brake heavily: This reduces fuel economy by as much as 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town
• Anticipate what is coming.  Be looking ahead to watch traffic, pedestrians, traffic lights.
• Timing lights and smart braking (continue slowing before you actually stop until the light changes to green and you can re-accelerate without having to do so from a stop.)
• Using the Pulse and glide technique
• Driving with buffers (driving without brakes)
• Coasting in neutral (While coasting you might get as high as 131 MPG (US) )
• Idling in Neutral (You idle anyways, why not idle so you use less gas?)
• Avoiding Idling (At gas station line-ups, drive-thrus, train crossings and long lights you will use more fuel idling than you will turning your car off and re-starting)
• Minimizing AC use (A car idling with AC on will use 1.7 Litres per hour, but a car idling with no AC will only use 1.2 Litres per hour)
• Maintaining (more) speed in corners.
• Driving with Load (rather than focusing on maintaining a constant speed, maintain a constant load on your car.  As you climb a hill, you lose some speed but keep the engine at a constant load)
• Smoothing out stop and go traffic (act as a shock absorber in rough traffic to improve safety, traffic flow and fuel economy).
• Do not use 4-wheel drive if it is not needed. 4-Wheel drive reduces fuel economy.
• Driving without shoes (to get a better feel for your throttle)
• Invest in a real-time mileage gauge like a ScanGauge II
  (shop around for the best price)

Here is a Link to Amazon where you can purchase the ScanGaugeII if you are looking for one.

So this is really more of an appetizer plate to whet your appetite, to peak your curiosity, and to extend an initial invitation to the world of hyper-miling.  Come, join me.  I pay slightly less for gas but still get where I'm going in the same amount of time.  Got some questions?  Check out the links above, and post your questions in the comments below where everybody can benefit from the answers.

Happy Hyper-miling,

Greg.