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I am considering taking one day on my drive to work, and maybe home as well, driving like a "normal" person. You know the whole gas, brake, gas, brake thing. It crossed my mind today as I was driving to work, I was running rather late and sped. (Got up to 70 MPH at one point. FYI: I was getting about 37 MPG at that speed.) I felt slightly nauseous when I saw my iMPG in the mid 20's. I ended up turning the SG down so as to not see it.

It would be solely to get a base line of what a non-hypermiler would get on my drive so I can see how much of an improvement I am getting. It would only be once just to get a general idea. I thought I would pose it to the members here to get some input.

I bet you can't do it. Remember to deflate your tires to 20psi on one tire and 27psi on the other three. Throw a bunch of extra stuff into the trunk and more in the back seat, tailgate all vehicles in front of you and rev your engine at stoplights, switch lanes erratically and race to the next stop light in time to slam on your brakes. Run your rpms up to harmonic vibration levels or to rev limit, whichever is higher before you change gears. Do this until you get hungry, then...stop at a drive-thru and gun engine until it is louder than your radio or the drive-thru speaker person. After getting food, race to the next light and slam on brakes to get them thoroughly warmed up and seated to the rotors. Repeat until angry and exhausted.

Let us know how you do, I can't imagine going back to that way of behaving, even when I'm not practicing all available hypermiling techniques, when I'm "in a hurry to deliver" I still use some hyper-techniques. intuitively now. :D - Dale

Go for it, but just once!

ollie

I do something similar - on occasion, I let my wife drive my car.

One of my concerns is the actual driving like an idiot. I am not sure I can go back. I may have to let my fiancé drive the car. If I did it myself I would take down the ScanGauge and maybe even cover the dash so I don't freak out when I hit 3500 RPMs.

I wouldn't bother. You can just plug in the EPA estimated mileage, which tells you what mileage an average driver would achieve.

Throw a bunch of extra stuff into the trunk and more in the back seat...

I actually have probably an extra 100 lbs or so in junk in my car. Mostly toys and other stuff for my kids. I keep putting off cleaning all that stuff out. I have a vacation coming up in a few weeks, maybe I will take the time to do it then.

Problem for me is even if I tried driving like the typical gearhead, I'd still sneak some hypermiling into it.

I'm always surprised at how good my mileage is when I'm in a hurry. So much of this stuff is second nature, and you can still do it at higher speeds. I lose a bit due to the speed, but it's on the order of 10%, not 50% back to EPA.

Problem for me is even if I tried driving like the typical gearhead, I'd still sneak some hypermiling into it.

guilty as charged :D

I'm always surprised at how good my mileage is when I'm in a hurry. So much of this stuff is second nature, and you can still do it at higher speeds. I lose a bit due to the speed, but it's on the order of 10%, not 50% back to EPA.

Please direct your attention to the Geo numbers below. :o It used to be 33mpg. Before Hypermiling. :D - Dale

22mpg pre-hypermiling here :)

I’ve only been playing this game since last August and I think it would be extremely difficult to abandon ALL hypermiling techniques and drive like I did in July 08. It would be like relearning to drive all over again… such as learning how to hypermile was to me then.

I have tasted the victory in hypermiling and seen the results at the pump. I don't think I could easily throw that away, even for a day.

Do some mild hypermiling and call it good.

I know how you feel about not wanting to abandon the driving style. Running really late the other day, I was actually doing the 70 mph psl on the interstate, and was eagerly awaiting my exit so I could stop going so fast!

I would try it but I forgot how to drive "normal":rolleyes:
Like others here, even when I had to drive faster than id like to get delieveries on time, I still am well above epa! Even on blizzard days i got above epa, though just barely:D
I wonder what my mileage in the van was like before hypermiling, but will never find out, because I never cared enough to try calculating a tank in that or any previously owned vehicles before!:rolleyes::o

Get your wife/significant other/friend to drive. Anybody that isn't a hypemiler. Use that as a base line. Andrew is right. Even if you went faster you would still get better then a "real" base because of your hypermiling techniques.

Not that I condone the practice, but try talking on your cellphone while driving. Even with a handsfree device, you'll be concentrating on conversation and at least a little less on driving. I find when I have to do this that the first thing to go out the window are my hypermiling techniques.

My pre-hypermiliing mpg?

26 winter, 28-29 summer.

Now? Pushing that 35 mark.

Not that I condone the practice, but try talking on your cellphone while driving. Even with a handsfree device, you'll be concentrating on conversation and at least a little less on driving. I find when I have to do this that the first thing to go out the window are my hypermiling techniques.


My mileage goes up when on the phone because I slow down even more and leave more space in front of me to to compensate for the distraction.
but I am with you in not condoning the practice. i am in my van all day so I sometimes answer a call if I am in a light traffic area ...

I actually did this for a few months while I was on a fear induced hypermiling hiatus. I dropped from the high 40s mpg to around 32mpg in my Paseo, but didn't reduce tire pressure or anything. I just drove PSL everywhere I went and didn't FAS at all. It was interesting. I'd toyed with trying this in my new car, to put tires at door placard and drive PSL for a tank just to see what my baseline is for my particular commute, but I ended up just going right to slightly over max sidewall and reducing my speeds. I'm too impatient apparently. Also it just kills me to burn fuel I don't need to burn.

I can see the value of doing this, because it may be that your particular use-cycle varies from the standard EPA, as mine does.

I can see the value of doing this, because it may be that your particular use-cycle varies from the standard EPA, as mine does.

My commute is about 26 miles. The first 6 miles is in the country with a psl of 40-50. The next 19 miles is highway and the final mile or so is city. So my commute isn't very "EPA" hence the desire for wanting a baseline.