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Cead mile failte to my fellow hypermilers. I drive a 92 civic and get 40 to 50 mpg. Its the vtec-e version so is made with efficiency in mind. Incidentally, the times i get 50mpg are on long drives fully laden. So i suspect weight hasn't as much to do with fuel consumption as driving style. I keep my tyres up to the limit (44psi) and although it is harsher, i'm saving loads of fuel. My mates seem to think my braking distance would be severely impaired. I'd like to find info regarding this. I have a deep mistrust of insurance companies and the last thing i need in the event of an accident is my insurer crying at me about my "over hard" tires.
I'm a fitter and love tinkering with machines so i guess i'm in the right place here!:)
I'm looking fwd to talking with you guys in the future and hope to learn a few things along the way. See ya!

Hi Vtec-e:

___The best way for you to find out is to do a little testing on your own. That should be fun although a waste of fuel :( GoodYear performed some of these tests a number of years ago and found with a specific brand of tire on 3 or maybe it was 4 different vehicles that max sidewall decreased stopping distances in all conditions other then snow vs. a steadily decreasing tire pressure all the way to under inflation. I am sure someone will do a future study coming to other conclusions but right now, that is the best we’ve got. Under inflation is what is dangerous, not over inflation. At MAX sidewall, you are well within any legal and warrantable condition as that is what the tire manufacturer has stamped on the tires themselves.

___The other benefits to MAX sidewall are well documented. Reduced rolling resistance and better FE, better turn in for better handling, reduced hydroplaning with longer and more even tread wear.

___The negatives, more NVH.

___I hope that helped?

___As for the vehicle, if you do in fact own the VX (sounds like you do), that thing can perform magic out on the highway while running in lean-burn and with its lightweight and some advanced techniques thrown at her, can save a ton at the pump in the slow speed stuff as well.

___And welcome to CleanMPG again. It is great to see a European join our ranks.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Go raith maith agat. A hundred thousand welcomes to you also.

I'm trying to learn about tire inflation at the moment myself, so I can't help you much there, sorry.

I've never had so much fun driving, as I did in Ireland, in an Audi A3 rental. Especially in the west. Such a beautiful land, such amazing roads...

-Gren

Some rally experience helps with those potholes!

Welcome to CleanMPG

Its nice to see more real green hypermilers.
Although Irish, I have only driven for about two weeks on Irish roads compared to Japan where I now live. Trying to slow down must be difficult. The speed limit on the one lane road in Co. Laois where my brothers live was faster than the highway speed limit in Japan. Anyway I cycled everywhere, longest trip in one day was 200m Dublin to Killarney.

As your mpg(US or Imp) is already high tell us about your commute and techniques. Read the article section for advanced hypermiling techniques.

Good luck
Andrew

My mpg is in imp gal. I usually do it in L/100k though.
My commute is from Slane to Dublin north. Its a 100k round trip and is fairly flat. There are some ups and downs but they are gentle enough. From Slane to Ashbourne its 100kph and from ashbourne to dublin its 120kph. I used to be at the limit as much as traffic allowed but since joining this forum i've been 10kph lower on average. Rarely over. On principle!!
I meet a few lights in Dublin for the last few k and turn off the engine at most of them. Some lights are quick and i usually come upon them when they are nearly green anyway. I tend not to go too slow as i dont want to be late for work and dont want to be leaving home too early.
I work nights so am going against the heavy (legendary) traffic that commutes to and from Dublin. I think if i was commuting with everyone else i'd have to get a hybrid as most of it is stop/go stuff and maybe up to 20 or 30kph. I honestly dont know how people do it.
I've been practicing my NICE-off and its going well. I did it down 4 floors of a multistory car park recently and it was quite the rollercoaster ride! Who needs boy racer cars!??!
I tried a few small aero mods but will never really know how much/little they contribute as i'm doing all these other hypermiling tricks at the same time. I blocked off most of the front grille but left open the radiator bit. I also taped up joints around the lights, bonnet and rear doors. I'm going to look for something more subtle as black insulating tape doesn't look the best!:o
An under belly pan will be my next project. It'll have to be easily removeable for the NCT though.
The speed limits here need to be sorted alright. A private company is going to run the speed cameras and part of the project is adjusting the speed limits. Should be done by the end of 2007.
Whats the hypermiling like in Japan? Lots of steep hills i would imagine. A hybrid regen would probably set fire to its battery!! Are drivers more or less agressive there than Ireland?

I've just read the definition of hypermiling. I have my work cut out for me!!
Honda say that the vtec-e version of the civic will do 5L/100k. The best i got so far is 5.5L/100k. Mind you that was before i heard about hypermiling and the car has 280,000k on the clock. Would 0W oil be detrimental to my engine? I'd hate to screw my engine up trying to beat 5L/100k!:(

I suppose Japans roads make hypermiling easy, top speed on normal roads is 60kph but mostly roads are 40kph or 50kph. (Read the article on Teddy Girls achievements in a Prius using low speed P/G) Away from the cities, in the rural parts most people travel at or about 10kph above speed limits. There are almost 40% of cars with <660cc (in pickup, truck, SUV, cars) in the rural parts. There are few aggressive drivers. Most of the population lives on the plains, I chose a mountain route to avoid heavy traffic and numerous traffic signals. Although this was when I had a normal ICE (if you can call Mazda RX8 normal). The air is cleaner, no stress and I love winding mountain roads.
I use to cycle across Dublin, from high up in the Dublin Mountains to Glasnevin (DCU) so this type of commute just seems normal.
Although I am planning to try the low route(shorter) soon to compare overall FE and fuel consumption.

Dropping your 120kph section down to 100kph will give you another few mpg.

Best of Luck
Andrew