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So I've been working with a lady here that has an interest in trying to save gas. She likes to speed, she likes feeling safe, and she hates wasting time.

Vehicles she has as her disposal:

2004? Jeep Grand Cherokee
2006? Dodge Durango (non-hemi)

They do have 3 teenage girls and a 2-horse trailer, so a truck of some nature is a necessity (can't pull a 2 horse trailer with a Prius! ).

Well, I worked with her on "Adjusting the nut behind the wheel" a little once when we had to visit a satellite office. The Jeep has an AVG display, but no instant. It was at 16.2 over a trip distance of 13 THOUSAND miles - yeah, they use that feature a lot.

Well anyway, it's been about two weeks now. Just from anticipation and coasting, she's up from ~16.2 to ~18.5 MPG on her morning commute - one day she was all excited to get 18.7!

I'm trying...

Very nice! Let me play with the math here.

16.2 mpg = 14.52 L/100km
18.7 mpg = 12.58 L/100km
She's saving 1.94 L/100km

33 mpg = 7.13 L/100km
80 mpg = 2.94 L/100km
I'm saving 4.19 L/100km.

Her move from 16.2 to 18.7 mpg is saving half as much gas as my all-out no-holds-barred hypermiling. If she could get 22.8 mpg, she'd be saving as much as I do. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that being possible.

It's always encouraging when you have a willing student. For a Jeep GC or Durango, or any other heavy V6 or V8 vehicle, the primary focus is always to keep it rolling whenever possible, with the trans in top gear (depending on PSL) and easy throttle movements.

I remember teaching someone while I was driving him over to pick up a used minivan. I showed him how to anticipate light changes and coast to minimize or eliminate time stopped. Smart braking to avoid a complete halt, and not using the brakes except when really necessary. We had driven at one point for 9 miles and I hadn't touched the brake pedal once.

At one point while he was driving his car and I was a passenger. I was giving tips and he was just laughing with amazement. After 5 minutes, I was getting hoarse from barking, "take your foot off the brake!" "take your foot off the gas and coast!" Now every so often, he calls to ask questions and he tells me what he's doing and how he's doing it - just to check for approval or correction. He is very pleased to be using far less gas than he anticipated, and he is still trying to work on teaching his wife. She's the Idling Queen (never turn the key off under any circumstances) who is 15 minutes late to everything and tries to make up for lost time on the road. I told him my personal belief is that you leave earlier to arrive on time. And if you are running late, it really doesn't matter if it's 15 minutes or 20 minutes, and so there's no point in burning an extra $2 worth of gas to try to beat every light and end up drastically increasing the risk of a crash or being stopped for a violation. Either one will make you far later than if you just "drove like your life depended on it".

Keep up the good work and remember to ask how things are going with the improved FE. People are usually eager to share accomplishments and kind words go a long way toward rewarding the good behavior and promoting its continuation.