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Drive slow, save gas and chill. Today! (http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10015275?nclick_check=1)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2006_Toyota_Prius_II.jpgGary Richards - Mercury News - July 27, 2008

Gary really does drive a 2006 Toyota Prius.

A hitter gets it… even if the math near the end was messed up a touch ;) -- Ed.

I won. I really won.

As the debate rages on setting a national speed limit of 55 or 60 miles per hour to help lower the cost of a fill-up, a reader issued me a challenge. Drive his preferred speed of 75 mph vs. 55 mph, and he would buy me a tank of gas if I improved my mileage by 20 percent

"You don't stand a ghost of chance of breaking 20 percent," taunted Kirk Fry of Palo Alto, 61, a molecular geneticist who owns a red Corvette and hums to work going 75 - speeding to be sure, but a far slower pace than many drivers on his commute to Brisbane up Highway 101 or Interstate 280. "You will be lucky to crack 15 percent."

I countered challenged: I don't need a free fill-up. If I won, he would slow down to 55 for two weeks. A deal, he said.

Ease off the pedal, 'ol buddy.

I got 59.9 miles a gallon going 60 or under in our Prius, compared to 42 mpg at speeds that would have made me prime bait for the Fab Five, the Highway Patrol's elite anti-speeding team that has written around 15,000 tickets in less than two years in the South Bay.

Geez, 59.9 mpg - a 30 percent improvement. I drove an extra 117 miles on a tank of gas by merely slowing. That's like lowering the price at the pump by 20 to 30 cents a gallon - and about 10 mpg better than Prius EPA estimates.

Call Mr. Roadshow stunned, flabbergasted, ecstatic.

I normally get around 50 mph in the hybrid, and while conscious of my speed, I am not consumed by going slow. But this past week, I was obsessed… http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10015275?nclick_check=1

Nice Find HazelDazel!

Cool article in the San Jose Mercury News today - A reader bet "Mr Roadshow" that by slowing down from 75 to 55 he couldn't save 20%. Mr. Roadshow didn't save 20%, instead he saved 30%! Since the reader lost the bet, he has to drive 55 for two weeks. A real positive article on hypermiling. Yay!

He did a good job but he needs a bit of a math lesson. He went from 42 to 59.9 mpg. That comes out to a 43% improvement, not the 30% he claimed. Then he claims it saved him 30 cents a gallon. By my calculation at 42 mpg $4.00 gas would have cost him $5.70 to go 59.9 miles so I figure he save $1.70 for each gallon of gas he used. That comes out a whole lot better than he claims.

He did a good job but he needs a bit of a math lesson. He went from 42 to 59.9 mpg. That comes out to a 43% improvement, not the 30% he claimed. Then he claims it saved him 30 cents a gallon. By my calculation at 42 mpg $4.00 gas would have cost him $5.70 to go 59.9 miles so I figure he save $1.70 for each gallon of gas he used. That comes out a whole lot better than he claims.

It's quite probable he calculated how much driving 75 *reduced* his MPG rather than how much driving 55 increased his MPG.

42/59.9 = 0.70 so 42 MPG represents a 30% drop in MPG.

Many people don't realize that you can't just flip things around and use the same calculated percentage.

This molecular geneticist is surprised that that molecular geneticist would make such a hopeless bet. Embarrasses the whole profession.:o

Red Corvette, huh? Pay must be a lot better out there.

"It makes absolutely no personal economic sense for me to drive slow," he said. "My time is worth more."

It's that selfish way of thinking which has made gas prices what they are today for people who can't afford it. Hopefully this way of thinking will start to change.

Red Corvette, huh? Pay must be a lot better out there.

Maybe he doesn't have a shopaholic wife around the house.

What is a molecular geneticist?

It makes absolutely no personal economic sense for me to drive slow," he said. "My time is worth more."

I would have thought that a molecular geneticist would know how to properly use an adverb.

"It makes absolutely no personal economic sense for me to drive slow," he said. "My time is worth more."
That's only true if you're being paid for that time. That's usually not true. I know I don't get paid to sleep in bed, or to eat dinner, or to watch TV. If someone does, I need a new profession!

That's only true if you're being paid for that time. That's usually not true. I know I don't get paid to sleep in bed, or to eat dinner, or to watch TV. If someone does, I need a new profession!

You just need to start your own reality show!

Pfffft! Hahaha! :D

That's only true if you're being paid for that time. That's usually not true. I know I don't get paid to sleep in bed, or to eat dinner, or to watch TV. If someone does, I need a new profession!


I used to get paid for sleeping, eating and watching TV.....of course, that was when I was a firefighter.....;)

that would be great... CBS debuts "My hypermiling life" this fall...