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Well, I guess I will start this one off.

RAIN. NASTY HEAVY RAIN. COLD.

With the rain being heavy and needing the wipers on full and the lights on and the dropping temperatures the ride in today was very poor. I think I got about 46. *sigh*

Oh well. Maybe I should be the one to drive my coworkers to lunch today to try to raise it up a bit.

That's about 10mpg better than I did this morning. No rain here, but it can't have been much over 50F.

Here's how my day went so far. On the way to the wife's work I got 56.4, from there to my work was 69.0, from there back to pick up the wife this afternoon was 72.6, and from her work back home was 62.6. This is a little bit better than usual. I have started to pulse between 20 and 35-40 in 4th gear. The rpm's are just a touch higher than usual when going to near 40 in 4th but I think with the lower average speed and longer coast times the FE seems to be better. In fact, the afternoon trip from my work to the wife's work today was anywhere from 8-12 mpg better than it ever has been; even since coming back from Wayne's.:thumbup: :)

Hi Tom:

___Fortunately or not, it is my day off so hopefully tomorrow we will see better weather? The heavy rain and high 50/low 60 degree temps are a killer! Imagine in just 3 short months from now when it is 0 degrees F and the EPA combined is all but a wish for many …

___Tim, hang in there. You are still kicking the EPA in the teeth and that is all that can be expected given you are driving a non-hybrid Accord after all!

___Larry, you are becoming a world class hypermiler by any measure … and fast too!

___My day of reckoning starts in the morning with a trip into Libertyville, IL. to see the doc. Right in the middle of the worst traffic nightmare period in the area through 2 small towns with traffic lights every 3 to 4 blocks :( Then a drive out to work afterwards.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

_Larry, you are becoming a world class hypermiler by any measure … and fast too!

Thanks Wayne, I had a very good teacher.:D With your help and watching my Scanguage, I will hopefully reach elite status before the winter "crapoline" hits the stations. That may be difficult though since, if everything goes well, I will pick up my new car this Saturday and I'll have to start over.:(

Update. NEW RECORD! I just got back from picking my daughter up and set a new record. In 5.3 miles I hit 83.3 at an average of 25 mph.:D :woot: :bananajump:

NO FAIR! My tank so far is 10mpg lower than last tank. You are stealing my FE :)

This tank is well into it's second week. In fact, this Friday it will be exactly 2 weeks. So far I'm at 493.2 miles with 1/4 tank showing on the guage.(12.2 gallon tank) Maybe you accidentally pumped some of your gas into my tank.:D

Tanks holding at 51.6 by the SG.

Awright, I think I get how this is working -- a thread per week
instead of everybody starting their own new ones. Makes sense.
.
At about a half tank down I'm sitting at an average of 65.something
and thinking that in all the impending errands in and out of
town, I should take a back route instead of 93 and try to
work that up over 70 -- just to have something to show
off at Altwheels (http://altwheels.org/) next week -- a high average over a
substantial mileage, especially since some press release is
going out saying something like "hobbit has tuned his prius to
get over 70 mpg". Not exactly, but if they'll accept my right
foot as tuning, I'm not going to put 'em through the hair of
changing it since they're all way-hosed with larger issues as
the show gets closer...
.
It's definitely being colder around here these days, though.
Time to get serious about building a better WAI.
.
_H*

in encouragement so that larry doesn't steal all the thunder I"ve been at hard work trying to up my numbers. Now that I have an afternoon shift this whole week I managed to pull going to work at a 55 mpg segment, and on the way home with a 61 mpg segment for a total of 58 combined for the whole day @ 20 mph speeds.

Although It looks like larry has some nice speed limits to play with ;) mine are only 35 mph and 30 mph max on my roads, with tons of lights of course ;)

4 work days left, I hope to smash some records, tank sitting at 47.8 mpg maybe my first 50 mpg tank!!

I had to wear a jacket this morning. It's really amazing how the cold weather affects FE! I could get 42mpg on a 70F morning, and then do the exact same thing on a 44F morning like this one and only get 36mpg. It's almost an extra tenth of a gallon, presumably at the very beginning.

Woke up motivated this morning and decided to try another attempt at FAS, something
you don't hear discussed with a HCHII.

I performed this test on flat road during the first 7 miles of a 40 mile commute.
I FAS'd 3 times during this period, starting each attempt at 45 to 50mph, shifting
into neutral then shutting ice off 2 seconds then restarting electronics.
I let each attempt drift to 30 mph before restarting the ice, at that speed I did
not rev match and did not have any jerking when putting back into drive.

At the end of the last FAS, 7 miles into commute I was at 71mpg, not bad but
I can repeat that without using FAS. I believe for me to get into the really impressive
numbers I need to have several more FAS attempts during my commute but
don't really have any good alternate route to accomodate this.

Does anyone use FAS at hway speeds? If so what speed do you start at and at what
speed do you restart the ice.

Thanks,
Perry

Made it in this am and managed to keep my tank at 51.3 mpg. Lost .3 mpg. :( On the upside this was with a brisk north wind and temps in the lower 60's. With the slight WAI mod I saw high 80's for intake air temps.

53.3 MPG on the 23 mile segment to work this morning, not bad for a rainy morning. Still sitting at 48.8 MPG for the tank, down to 4 bars and 465 miles or so on the tank. Still hoping for 500 miles and 50 MPG. Not sure if I'll make it or not, but it still is my best ever tank at this point.

in encouragement so that larry doesn't steal all the thunder I"ve been at hard work trying to up my numbers. Now that I have an afternoon shift this whole week I managed to pull going to work at a 55 mpg segment, and on the way home with a 61 mpg segment for a total of 58 combined for the whole day @ 20 mph speeds.

Although It looks like larry has some nice speed limits to play with ;) mine are only 35 mph and 30 mph max on my roads, with tons of lights of course ;)

4 work days left, I hope to smash some records, tank sitting at 47.8 mpg maybe my first 50 mpg tank!!

I do have some higher speed limits but I'm not using them. Yesterday, I stayed at or below 40 mph during my pulses. Most of the pulses were 35 mph or less.
The last thing I want to do is steal the thunder. The biggest reason I post my results is to try and show people what's possible. I would never have attempted a segment that was over 60 mpg until Wayne told me it was possible. Even then, I thought he was crazy at first.:rolleyes: Since he showed me it was possible it's fairly easy now.
Nice work on the 61 mpg segnment! The thing to keep in mind is that improvement is the most important thing. The value of the numbers are not as important as that they are going up. Try to set a goal of a 65 mpg segment before the temps go down for the winter. 50 mpg is very doable with a few more 60+ segments.
Today's numbers for me are 64.4 to the wife's work(new record), 72.2 from her work to mine(new record), 61.3 from my work back to the wife's work this afternoon, and 50.6 back to my house. It was raining this afternoon which is why the afternoon numbers were a bit lower than usual.

Does anyone use FAS at hway speeds? If so what speed do you start at and at what
speed do you restart the ice.

On Saturday of Labor Day weekend, I took a trip to a family get together and did some FAS on the highway portions. I pulsed up to 60 mph, started the FAS, then glided back to 50 mph and kept repeating that.

Hi All:

___Raining like crazy both to work this morning and back again … Headed out to the local Dr. Office with the traffic :( Still got to work at 46.7. Just got back home a few minutes ago at 51.4 mpg’s. Average speed heading out was 51 mph and for the return was < 40 mph with all the traffic jams.

___Phil, although you have a few thousand miles to go before being recognized, you are doing an excellent job by any stretch given that stop light to stop light mess you face on a daily basis :(

___PCK, 70 will become your new floor soon enough. It sounds like you are P&G’ing with a range of 45/50 - 30 and back up again vs. FAS’ing to a near or complete stop? Either way, nailing down 70 + mpg segments to work is certainly a nice rise vs. the 50 mpg EPA combined by any stretch! You are beyond Insight territory for most drivers and its nice to see another HCH’er pushing tanks! I wish I had Terry HCH’II for a little while longer! I know what a LS P&G was worth in his but we didn’t really have the time to see what it was worth in a MS or HS P&G scenario? Pulling the CVT’s back online at 30 should not be an issue (caveat’s apply) but 45 + is where I would be getting a bit nervous?

___Psy, you are back into the thick of it. Was it because you don’t have to run the darn A/C 100% of the time like most of the summer? Either way, I am glad to see you pushing again!

___Wburke, you are still learning and considering where you came from on your first tank, I would say you are doing a great job for the commute you must be facing?

___Larry, as always, holy smokes ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

___Psy, you are back into the thick of it. Was it because you don’t have to run the darn A/C 100% of the time like most of the summer? Either way, I am glad to see you pushing again!

I tried to keep A/C use down to social drives and such durning our heat wave. Fact is I sped up to limit my time on the road with the heat induced crazy drivers out there. And yes some of the induced speed was more than enough to drop 15 mins. off my drive time. The Civic limits its forward speed to 127 mph. :) havent found the reverse limit if there is one. Also durning the heat was when I was having issues with the car and warrenty repairs done. A low point in its life with me. alpt of techs driving the car at times and tanks ruined in that operation. None of them ever got on it hard thou. SG tells all when hiden. :)

Tried testing FAS one more time this morning on a slightly different route and still
was not able to get any better numbers than I can achieve not using it.

Oh well this was more a test for my curiosity than looking for an additional technique
to use, although I still might be tempted to use where I can extend my roll
towards a complete stop.

Of course I wan't paying attention this morning and reset the trip I use for monitoring
the tank instead of the one I use for segments. Anway before the accidental reset
it was at 66.x mpg.

I managed to keep my 51.3 mpg tank going this am. Temps ranged from 47f to 54F. It was chilly. SG reported intake air temps in the high 70f range to low 80f range for the drive in. I have a feeling mild WAI will help me alot this fall and winter. :)

I did a little better this morning. Pulled in 37.4mpg in 50F temps or a little cooler. This tank is hovering at 37.5mpg. Could be better, could be worse. To tell you the truth, I'm pretty happy with that since what I'm doing is closer to smooth driving than all-out hypermiling. The proctologist and sanity factors are well within acceptable limits.

On a side note, my gas station of choice took a tremendous nose dive in price within the last 24 hours. They were at $2.899 a week ago and 2.869 yesterday morning. This morning they were straight down to $2.779. Supposedly there's another Shell station about two miles away in the $2.65 range. I got a sadistic little thrill from watching prices go up, but I have to admit that this trend is a little easier to watch.

More Cold. More Rain. Less Mileage. Need I Say More :(

More Cold. More Rain. Less Mileage. Need I Say More :(

When this happens in Dallas, the silver lining will be - "less home A/C bill" :)

Nothing like a ice storm or alittle snow to bring that place to its knee's. From afar Dallas is comical in a sick way. We refer to it as the silver lining on the ground. :)

My numbers for today aren't too bad considering the weather. The trip this morning taking the wife to work was 62.8, from there to my work 70.0, from there back to the wife's work in the afternoon was 73.3, and from there back to my mom's(3.4 miles farther than back to my house) was 62.0. When I pulled in the drive just now, I had 604.38 miles on the tank and the Scanguage is saying that I have 1.9 gallons left. There is more than that because my tank is 12.2 gallons and the SG doesn't do 1/10's.:( Looks like a 650 mile tank.:)

Decided to perform a P&G test on the same 7 mile route as my FAS test using the
same criteria start at 45 mph and glide to 30 mph. On the FAS test I was able to
get 71 mpg at the end of the 7 mile stretch where with P&G I hit that number at
5 miles. By the time I reached the 7 mile point I was at 72.8 mpg using P&G.

I consider it a wash since during the FAS I lose data when I shut down the car
till I intialize the electronics again.

Both tests were performed from a cold start includes backing out of garage, one of these
days I will clean garage so I can back in.

Also instead of proceeding to the hwy as I normally would I decided to drive my
entire 40 mile commute on slower roads 40 to 45 mph. I loss count of all the
traffic light stops I had to make but still managed a 64.x mpg segment.
There are traffic lights here where you can coast for a minute and still have stop
for another 30 secs.

I filled last night at the exact same pump and time of day as last time. 37.2xmpg. At least I'm consistent. :rolleyes: That's about a 9% FE hit vs. my summer peak, but still an easy 15-20% better than the best I could do a year ago.

This morning's commute could have been better. I took the shorter but slower back road route and managed 35.5mpg. FE might have been better on the highway but I would have burned much more gas due to the distance. Again, nothing to complain about there.

Not bad today, 52.2 on the way in. It was a bit cool this morning, down in the lower 50's, so it was a bit of a struggle to get my FE up. The good thing is I should lose the big hit I've been taking in the afternoons when it is so hot. High today is only supposed to be about 79.

I tried drafting behind a double-trailer big-rig and it did not help my FE this time as it was cruising 68 and got only five miles of it.

Got 72mpg this morning when it might have been mid-80s.

Live and learn....

My numbers for today were about average except for the trip to my work from my wife's. I set a new record for that segment at 73.8 mpg.:D The rest of the numbers were: 65.9 to the wifes work, 62.8 back to her work this afternoon, and 58.6 back to my house. I'm up to 640+ miles on this tank and I plan on refilling tonight if it goes over 650. I only need to find an extra 5 miles and I'll have it. I think I can do that.:D

I just got back from filling up and have some fairly decent numbers. I went 655.6725 miles(darned oversize tires!) and used 11.515 gallons for 56.94 mpg. SG was reporting 62.7. I reached the two goals I was shooting for though: 650+ miles and 55+mpg.:woot:

Hi All:

___Having a good tank and a great segment in the Accord. 53 - 61 degrees F this morning only allowed 54.3 mpg. This afternoon was a bit better … Probably one of the last of the year as it is getting colder and the Winter E10-RFG is starting to show up in IL. by now :(

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/505/61_2_mpg_92_5_miles.jpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne

today was my first day of rain for the longest time. It rained hard then light and kept alternating between the two. At one point water was flying hard that it was making alot of noise against my bumper! the rain and the resistance dropped me down to 100% EPA (35 mpgUS) And the discouragement dropped me down to 50MPG for my way back for a score of 42 for the whole day. I normally consume .2 gallons for my whole day but today it looks like a start for the upcoming cold days since i managed to consume twice as much. (.4 gallons)

Those rainy days sure discourage FASING ,you slow down to easily.

Decided to really work my P&G the first 8.5 miles till I reached the hwy. It was a great
morning for this since I had no cars in front or behind me the entire distance.
I was at 72.x by the time I approached the hwy.

This great start allowed me to get my best segment to or from work from a cold start.
I apologize for the photo but my phone takes lousy photos, had to use levels in
photoshop just to get this, was too dark to see without adjustment.

73.6mpg for 43.8 miles

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a35/pkfare/09-15-06_0642.jpg

Got gas last night. $2.47 at Wadsworth/Hwy 41 (xcel).
684 miles averaging 63.0 MPG. A personal best.

Odd part, though. I could only fit 9.555 gallons into the tanks (I don't top off). When I ran the numbers 684/9.555 = 71.58 MPG which is nowhere even near 63 MPG. What's up with that?

People are definitely driving faster again now that gas has gone down.
Even though they go around to pass me, they come up so fast behind, it's scary. Lately my eyes are fixed on my rearview mirror. Sometimes I swear I'm about to get swiped as they pass so close. However I'm also getting followed more often and more closely. Hobbit's yuppie flashers seem more and more useful.

Had an off day today on the way in...I only got about 49.5 MPG. Once again, it was pretty cool this morning, low to mid 50s. That said, how big a hit will I take when the temp is in the 20s or 30s in the mornings???

This is my first Daily Grind post. Keep in mind that I just got my car and SGII, which isn't calibrated yet so I'm not sure how accurate this is. Anyway, I got 39.2 MPG on this morning's drive in even though I missed a couple good coasting opportunites because I was paying too much attention to the changing numbers on the Scan Gauge. :o (Yes, I'm easily amused:D )

15 miles beginning on country 2-lane and working into a small city. ~58 degrees and a little foggy (had to run the defroster a few times). Light traffic.

Even though I don't have enough data yet to know what I'm going to be able to do with this car, it's encouraging because:

a) The car isn't broken in yet (620 miles total)
b) I don't know the car that well yet (only 80 of those miles are mine)
c) I paid less than rapt attention to my technique.

EDIT Update: 38.4 on afternoon segment from work to home. Heavy Friday traffic and some construction.
Joe

This is my first Daily Grind post. Keep in mind that I just got my car and SGII, which isn't calibrated yet so I'm not sure how accurate this is. Anyway, I got 39.2 MPG on this morning's drive in even though I missed a couple good coasting opportunites because I was paying too much attention to the changing numbers on the Scan Gauge. :o (Yes, I'm easily amused:D )


Just wait until you start playing with the display colors. I'm easily amused too.:D While calibration is important, the real important thing is to see improvement in the numbers.
Todays numbers so far are 62.0 for the trip to the wife's work, 70.5 from there to my work, 62.7 back to pick up the wife this afternoon, and 62.6 back to home.

Finished up a tank today. I had it holding steady at 51 mpg per the SG. then came this afternoons drive home. I had 20 mph head winds to deal with. No semi's in site to draft,,, no way to save it. :( Tank ended up at 49.4 mpg. Seeing that Ive had morning drive temps in the 50's to high 40's and this afternoons 20 mph head wind. I dont feel to awful bad. :)

psy

PS: there were afew redline romps this week. (wink)

To sum up this week, let's call it one more in the "rebuilding" stretch that I've been going through. I have been trying to iron out a few deficiencies in my fundamental driving technique. For some reason I just haven't felt smooth with the clutch lately, as if I've simply lost my feel for it. Either I don't quite catch it at the right RPM, or else I'm too early or too late with the throttle. In other words, stuff that needs to be corrected ASAP or else my equipment will suffer. But that seems to be improving with extra attention, and I would like to start pushing the FE back up for the rest if this tank. I'm pretty sure I said the same thing for my last tank but that's just how it goes sometimes ;).

Just gotta do it! :Banane26:

I just had a VERY strange segment. I marked a course on Google Earth and it came out to 24.27 miles. I plotted it from my hometime gas station and back again(to the same pump). When I got back to the station, I could only get .091 gallons in even after shaking and bouncing the car to the point of drawing attention from other customers. This comes out to 266.703 mpg. The average speed was 27 mph. Both fills were to the top almost to the point of overflow. What happened!? Thoughts? Explanations?

Hi Larry:

___Although I have not driven a Saturn, 266 mpg is a bit much … Or maybe we will all be purchasing used Saturn’s in the next few weeks ;)

___More then likely, the following is at work. Drive the course a few more times over the next few days and see what occurs …

Overfill question. (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2115)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Larry:

___Although I have not driven a Saturn, 266 mpg is a bit much … Or maybe we will all be purchasing used Saturn’s in the next few weeks ;)

___More then likely, the following is at work. Drive the course a few more times over the next few days and see what occurs …

Overfill question. (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2115)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Iagree, 266 mpg is WAY too much. I just had someone at mpgresearch suggest that perhaps the fuel got heated and expanded while I was driving. What do you think? When I first coasted back into the station, my pump was occupied so I stop and waited. I waited at least 10 minutes for the guy to fill his ice chest with ice, wait for someone else in his party to fill up thier vehicle, and wait for several others of his party to come out with McDonalds orders BEFORE pulling away from the pump. Does this happen to anyone else?
Edit: The SG indicated .3 gallons which would give an mpg of 80.9 which is a bit more believable. Also, I always do the over-fill method to keep inconsistencies to a minimum.

To sum up this week, let's call it one more in the "rebuilding" stretch that I've been going through. I have been trying to iron out a few deficiencies in my fundamental driving technique. For some reason I just haven't felt smooth with the clutch lately, as if I've simply lost my feel for it. Either I don't quite catch it at the right RPM, or else I'm too early or too late with the throttle. In other words, stuff that needs to be corrected ASAP or else my equipment will suffer. But that seems to be improving with extra attention, and I would like to start pushing the FE back up for the rest if this tank. I'm pretty sure I said the same thing for my last tank but that's just how it goes sometimes ;).

Just gotta do it! :Banane26:

that's how i used to feel when i was getting the hybrid fever, but as your shift smooths and them hybrid prices are still high ;) its not so bad!

mostly short trips today, (like 1 mile trips) averaged 38 mpg for the whole day. Warming up the CAT sucks.

that's how i used to feel when i was getting the hybrid fever, but as your shift smooths and them hybrid prices are still high ;) its not so bad!

mostly short trips today, (like 1 mile trips) averaged 38 mpg for the whole day. Warming up the CAT sucks.

Nice work! Not too shabby considering the short trips.

ok so I made two trips to two malls, since I have family inside my car and it was somewhat chilly I had to idle for at least 2 minutes total (at red lights of course, not when i just started the car) to keep the passenger compartment warm. Then getting at the first mall with 2.5 miles netted me a nasty 30 mpg

What's interesting though is that I decided to take the city route instead of the highway route (it was jammed up) which is shorter in distance (10.5 miles compared to 15.5 miles) but has at least 40 + lights I have to battle through. With all that I learned so far, I tried to keep at least 3 car lengths when I can and FAS whenever possible. I was pretty much pulsing and then FAS gliding whenever I get the moment. You wouldn't believe the number of times I interrupted the radio when I keyed on at every red light I stopped at (at least 10 +) and add on the number of bumps I had to perform (15 +) . But after all that stop and go with 35 mph max top speed I manged a nifty 41 mpg. Not bad for a car with proper driving habits! I burned .2 gallons on my way there or 1.0 liters

On the way home I had some nasty idling with 1st gear creep riding the clutch out of the parking mall lot (mall was closed and everyone wanted out!) There was so much creeping and going that I couldn't risk keying on/off now since my engine is somewhat cold from the long park. But 7 minutes later I managed to get out and then take the highway route home which was at least 5 miles longer than the city route, but it was a straight stream go (well to get to the highway I had to battle at least 10 lights as opposed to 40 on the route I took before) and funny enough even though my score was better (47 mpg) I had to burn more fuel just to get home (.3 gallons or 1.3 liters) so the results was interesting for sure but the highway route maybe saved me 10 minutes of commute time?
And also to note the highway had a lot of hill climbing while the city route to the mall was more downhill than anything else.

On the highway home for mild hills I DWL while trying to maintain 40 mpg + , for steep hills I gas a little more until my revs are at the peak torque for 5th gear (usually 2700 rpms for me) and then when the hill does start I start DWL bleeding according to how much the climb has left (with my revs that high my speeds are as high as 110 km/h or 65 mph so I have tons of bleeding space before the person behind me gets close). Since If i try to climb the hill with such a lower speed and revs, my car would bleed much faster and I end up downshifting to 4th gear which is a huge gas waster already. BY keeping the revs at the torque peak I manged to climb up steep hills with 30 + mpg while bleeding slowly like 65, 64, 63.....

In the end, its tough to save fuel... too many options :P I have somewhat EV envy here and there but heh... not much one can do when one stops.