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thewh00sel  United States. Aug 25 2012 14:09. Posts 2734 | | |
So it's been four months since I purchased the Honda Fit. I've been keeping a pretty close eye on the various costs associated with car ownership lately, and I have been experimenting with hypermiling a little bit.
For those of you that are unfamiliar, hypermiling is the practice of driving your car above and beyond the EPA estimates using certain techniques, and sometimes going as far as modifying your vehicle to achieve ultimate gas savings. Now, I'm not going as far as buying any type of gadget to put on the car to help me effectively monitor my instantaneous MPG (yet); nor am I turning off the engine on long slopes to achieve infinite MPG for that stretch of road. But I am, and have been, changing the way that I approach driving as a whole. These small changes that anyone can do have bumped up my average MPG since ownership to 36mpg versus an EPA estimate 29mpg.
Estimates
My results
I've traveled 4,392 miles on 121.99 gallons of gas for an average price per gallon of 3.447 for a total spent on gas of $420.50. So if I traveled 7 Miles less per gallon I would have needed 29.46 more gallons of gas to achieve that same distance traveled. That's an additional $101.55 or 24% more. And that's only over the course of 4 months. The projected savings of continuing to drive this way for the next 8 months would be a savings of $304.65 per year doing something that is pretty easy and makes driving more fun imo. Also, I expect over a full 12 months my savings would be higher given that I've still been blasting the A/C during the summer heat. But I'll ignore that fact until I have the results next year.
Now 300 bucks a year doesn't seem like much, but think of it as saving 25% every year on something the average American household spends $1500-$2000 on every year. So if you want to save some money on something you probably do a lot of I'll throw in some basic tips.
Avoid Idling and fast acceleration
Idling at a stoplight is one of the worst things for strong MPG numbers. You are sitting there, burning up fuel and not moving; seems pretty obvious and yet I know for a fact there are people who gun it from the light just to sit and wait idling at the next one 200 yards away. Idling burns between $0.50 and $2 per hour. By comparison, acceleration burns $15 per hour. So avoid that as often as you can.  Also, the breakeven point on turning off your engine is 9-10seconds. So if there's ever a time where you know you are going to be stopped for more than 10 seconds it's technically +ev to turn your engine off.
For acceleration, it's the most efficient to be in the highest gear and at the lowest RPMs. So if you have no one behind you, you can save a lot of money by accelerating from a stop in the highest gear you can start in, and then get to 5th/6th as soon as possible.
Look Ahead, get nitty with neutral
This is important for safety in driving anyways, but if you see a light or traffic up ahead, or your exit is coming up soon go ahead and pop it into neutral. While you're coasting in neutral you are getting up to 200 MPG depending on your speed. Take advantage of this fact. Try and remember this rhyme that I read somewhere about hypermiling: "If you have to brake, you've made a mistake." Think of pressing the brake pedal as cash flying out of your exhaust pipe and then you'll have the right mindset. Also, going beyond neutral, if you are going down a hill but know you will have to stop soon, you should leave your car in gear, as your engine will cut the fuel supply and you will not be using any gas. That will actually save you more than neutral, but you will not coast as far, so you have to use your discretion on when to coast in neutral, and when to keep it in gear.
Maintain Momentum
A lot of these ideas tie into each other, and this one's no different. If you coast as much as possible, you will maintain your momentum, thus reducing the amount you need to accelerate. It's a very similar concept to racing. In fact, if you think about hypermiling as efficiency-racing within the speed limits, it makes it more fun to do. You are driving as efficiently as you can and chuckling as people are unknowingly dumping money all over the road.
Well this post turned out longer than I was planning, but I guess it's fine. Consensus, ME LIKEY THE FIT, and compared to my last car which was chilling at ~20mpg I am crushing.
-wh00 out
ps: we still havent gotten rid of our SUV. The current plan is to save up to buy a 10k or equivalent car (maybe used prius) off of craigslist when the money won't affect the roll too heavily. Currently downswinging a little so who knows when that will be. Hopefully by Christmas.
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| A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. - Ayn Rand | |
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Ket United Kingdom. Aug 25 2012 14:16. Posts 8665 | | |
omg is this the same guy that once owned a r35 gt-r?
f mpg, i still try to keep mine firmly below 15. accelerate hard, brake harder, don't upshift until u have to |
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RiKD United States. Aug 25 2012 14:39. Posts 8584 | | |
cliffs?
how much do you save a month? |
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thewh00sel United States. Aug 25 2012 14:53. Posts 2734 | | |
| | On August 25 2012 13:39 RiKD wrote:
cliffs?
how much do you save a month? |
~25% of your gas bill |
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| A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. - Ayn Rand | |
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mnj United States. Aug 25 2012 15:06. Posts 3848 | | |
i wonder if the gas savings make up for the electricity required turning your engine on/off and wonder the effects of your engine.
most of what you write are good tips for sure but i don't agree with neutral. you can save on your brake pads and "engine brake" through switching to a lower gear as you approach a light. you aren't giving your engine any gas, but the momentum of the car will cause the rps to jump up as you down shift.
i also drive like a nit 95% of the time and usually avg around 36 mpg. it's all about coasting when applicable. i drive a 2010 vw gti which gets 26/30. but i usually aim for 30/36. |
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thewh00sel United States. Aug 25 2012 15:28. Posts 2734 | | |
| | On August 25 2012 14:06 mnj wrote:
i wonder if the gas savings make up for the electricity required turning your engine on/off and wonder the effects of your engine.
most of what you write are good tips for sure but i don't agree with neutral. you can save on your brake pads and "engine brake" through switching to a lower gear as you approach a light. you aren't giving your engine any gas, but the momentum of the car will cause the rps to jump up as you down shift.
i also drive like a nit 95% of the time and usually avg around 36 mpg. it's all about coasting when applicable. i drive a 2010 vw gti which gets 26/30. but i usually aim for 30/36. |
yeah that's why I posted that if you know you will be stopping soon you should stay in gear and you will save more gas. Neutral should be for longer distances of coasting, where if you stayed in neutral you would be at a stop by the time you approached your stopping point. Kudos on the higher than EPA MPG. |
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| A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. - Ayn Rand | |
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NewbSaibot United States. Aug 25 2012 15:40. Posts 4944 | | |
| | Also, going beyond neutral, if you are going down a hill but know you will have to stop soon, you should leave your car in gear, as your engine will cut the fuel supply and you will not be using any gas. |
Engine braking increases RPM's, certainly doesnt cut gas off (engine still running obviously) and puts extra load on the transmission/engine, which can induce repair costs later in life. |
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thewh00sel United States. Aug 25 2012 15:58. Posts 2734 | | |
| | On August 25 2012 14:40 NewbSaibot wrote:
Show nested quote +
Also, going beyond neutral, if you are going down a hill but know you will have to stop soon, you should leave your car in gear, as your engine will cut the fuel supply and you will not be using any gas. |
Engine braking increases RPM's, certainly doesnt cut gas off (engine still running obviously) and puts extra load on the transmission/engine, which can induce repair costs later in life.
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Via Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/...news/coasting-in-neutral-fuel-economy
| | Almost all vehicles show a pulse width of zero when coasting while in gear. Zero, as in there is no fuel injected at all. Yes, the engine is turning over, the pistons are going up and down, the water pump, alternator and a/c compressor are working, so technically you can say the engine is running, sort of. But it's not consuming any fuel. And that goes for automatic or manuals.
Coasting and Fuel Economy - Popular Mechanics |
It's counter-intuitive, but while you are slowing down in-gear no fuel is consumed at all.
In fact after reading the article I'm going to try to avoid coasting in neutral altogether unless the hill is steep and long. |
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| A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. - Ayn Rand | Last edit: 25/08/2012 16:02 |
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thewh00sel United States. Aug 25 2012 16:05. Posts 2734 | | |
| | On August 25 2012 14:06 mnj wrote:
i wonder if the gas savings make up for the electricity required turning your engine on/off and wonder the effects of your engine. |
Well something you could do, is turn off your engine completely and "kick-start" your car if it's manual when you are going slow enough to where you would need to start it manually. (must have a manual for that trick obv). |
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| A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. - Ayn Rand | |
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whamm! Albania. Aug 25 2012 16:46. Posts 11625 | | | |
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killing the fun of driving tips. Good tips if u wanna save as much money as possible though.
I'm taking different approach: Focus on earning more money so you can enjoy life. Think it's much more fun this way. |
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| | Last edit: 25/08/2012 18:01 |
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Silver_nz New Zealand. Aug 26 2012 00:11. Posts 5647 | | | |
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mnj United States. Aug 26 2012 02:59. Posts 3848 | | |
| | On August 25 2012 14:28 thewh00sel wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 25 2012 14:06 mnj wrote:
i wonder if the gas savings make up for the electricity required turning your engine on/off and wonder the effects of your engine.
most of what you write are good tips for sure but i don't agree with neutral. you can save on your brake pads and "engine brake" through switching to a lower gear as you approach a light. you aren't giving your engine any gas, but the momentum of the car will cause the rps to jump up as you down shift.
i also drive like a nit 95% of the time and usually avg around 36 mpg. it's all about coasting when applicable. i drive a 2010 vw gti which gets 26/30. but i usually aim for 30/36. |
yeah that's why I posted that if you know you will be stopping soon you should stay in gear and you will save more gas. Neutral should be for longer distances of coasting, where if you stayed in neutral you would be at a stop by the time you approached your stopping point. Kudos on the higher than EPA MPG.
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hate to beat a dead horse, but that's what i'm disagreeing with. i don't think staying in neutral while coasting would be any different than say letting your car stay in 5th, give no gas and coast either. if my car is idling at low rpm, might as well leave it in 5th than in neutral no?
but i do like most of the tips. something i have been practicing for a very long time. it's all about slow acceleration, keeping momentum and letting friction slow you down instead of brakes. |
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uiCk Canada. Aug 26 2012 20:30. Posts 3521 | | |
i have been practicing a similar approach to driving. i also drive a '10 fit standard. this is alot of good/precise information, which will come in handy. thanks for the effort. |
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| I wish one of your guys had children if I could kick them in the fucking head or stomp on their testicles so you can feel my pain because thats the pain I have waking up everyday -- Mike Tyson | |
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GoTuNk Chile. Aug 26 2012 21:13. Posts 2860 | | |
nit life
Awesome tips, I think would be cool if u actually could afford a more awesome car because of saving gas doing this stuff |
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thewh00sel United States. Aug 27 2012 18:05. Posts 2734 | | |
| | On August 26 2012 01:59 mnj wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 25 2012 14:28 thewh00sel wrote:
| | On August 25 2012 14:06 mnj wrote:
i wonder if the gas savings make up for the electricity required turning your engine on/off and wonder the effects of your engine.
most of what you write are good tips for sure but i don't agree with neutral. you can save on your brake pads and "engine brake" through switching to a lower gear as you approach a light. you aren't giving your engine any gas, but the momentum of the car will cause the rps to jump up as you down shift.
i also drive like a nit 95% of the time and usually avg around 36 mpg. it's all about coasting when applicable. i drive a 2010 vw gti which gets 26/30. but i usually aim for 30/36. |
yeah that's why I posted that if you know you will be stopping soon you should stay in gear and you will save more gas. Neutral should be for longer distances of coasting, where if you stayed in neutral you would be at a stop by the time you approached your stopping point. Kudos on the higher than EPA MPG.
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hate to beat a dead horse, but that's what i'm disagreeing with. i don't think staying in neutral while coasting would be any different than say letting your car stay in 5th, give no gas and coast either. if my car is idling at low rpm, might as well leave it in 5th than in neutral no?
but i do like most of the tips. something i have been practicing for a very long time. it's all about slow acceleration, keeping momentum and letting friction slow you down instead of brakes. |
You coast a lot farther in neutral, so if you can coast for 1/8th-1/4 of a mile farther you can just turn your car off in neutral while you are coasting a longer distance. |
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| A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. - Ayn Rand | |
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