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Good morning all y'all. As I posted last week, the HCH II and I are beginning to feel more like "one" on the road. I'm able to ancitpate minor changes to the throttle well ahead of time, and am doing well with my DWL, and DWB. Only problem is that I had hit a "plateau", and couldn't seem to break through it. I went back and re-read xcel's article on hypermiling, and Tarabell's article on hypermiling the HCH II.

Low and behold, rather than climbing further up the tree to pick the juiciest fruit, I found more low hanging fruit, easy for the picking! The "secret" uncovered is something I had done early on, and then had set aside. The secret? Nothing more than kicking off that right shoe, and "barefootin'". It's to be found in Tarabell's article, although I suspect it applies to automobiles other than the HCH II. This simple technique added nearly 10% to my Fuel Economy.

On Sunday, I did attempt to call Cousin Brucie on Sirius Channel 6 (The 60's station), but forgot that he's on live on Wednesdays. I'll try to make that call again this Wednesday, to dedicate the following song to our dear Tarabell! However, for those of you without Sirius, here's Tarabell's song ... :Banane24: ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUOXgL4rvYk

Have a great one y'all, and Tarabell, thank you again! You're one in a gazillion!!

Pax,

Fr. John

hilarious! and i totally agree with your assessment of tarabell :D

LOL. :D

Yep, my wife tried "toe driving" last summer as well, but without much success... However, she's now willing to give it another shot since I gave her a good pair of moccasins for Christmas. This way, her feet will remain warm... and who knows, maybe it will work for her this time. ;)

Cheers

MSantos

Liked that video, did ya Laurie? We'll have to add DWT to the glossary for "Driving with Toes" ... :D Or, perhaps that should be DWS for "Driving without Shoes".

Pax,

Fr. John

I guess I'll need to clean off my floormats first...

FrJohn, how MUCH do I love that video! :)

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself --just wait till it warms up and you won't want to drive any other way. The foot and accelerator do become one and wearing shoes becomes like doing surgery with leather gloves. Yes I know about DWT ;)....

it's just not practical at this time of the year up here in the frozen tundra. stepping out of the car into a snowbank in socks just doesn't appeal a whole lot. in the summer, though, it's easy to just kick off my sandals, which i wear all season, starting the minute the snow goes..........about the end of may LOLOL

Congratulations on your new numbers, Padre John! I assume by now when you hit (feather?) the gas pedal it doesn't sound like a toilet flushing anymore? :p

Thing about bare footing though, for me, it's been a mixed bag. I haven't tried it long enough to really see, but the MPG numbers seem to be similar, shoe or no shoe. Thing is however, I run the risk of a charlie horse in the arch of my foot if I just use my big toe to drive (that and my struggling with rev-matching). :p

(Should I give it another shot though?.)

tarabell FrJohn, how MUCH do I love that video!

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself --just wait till it warms up and you won't want to drive any other way. The foot and accelerator do become one and wearing shoes becomes like doing surgery with leather gloves. Yes I know about DWT ....

Tarabell, I can't believe how much that simple technique has helped my FE. Upper 40's to mid 50's, just by removing that right shoe. And yeppers, I am VERY MUCH enjoying myself. Both with the HCH II, and the wonderful folks on this forum. 'Tis a great way to start the morning.

laurieaw it's just not practical at this time of the year up here in the frozen tundra. stepping out of the car into a snowbank in socks just doesn't appeal a whole lot. in the summer, though, it's easy to just kick off my sandals, which i wear all season, starting the minute the snow goes..........about the end of may LOLOL

ROFLOL ... I did forget yestereday when I stopped for my morning coffee. I walked into the Wawa with one shoe on and one shoe off. Luckily, no one said anything.

zef95 I guess I'll need to clean off my floormats first...

Yeppers, zef95, clean floormats are a prerequisite to barefootin' ... :D

lamebums Congratulations on your new numbers, Padre John! I assume by now when you hit (feather?) the gas pedal it doesn't sound like a toilet flushing anymore?

Thing about bare footing though, for me, it's been a mixed bag. I haven't tried it long enough to really see, but the MPG numbers seem to be similar, shoe or no shoe. Thing is however, I run the risk of a charlie horse in the arch of my foot if I just use my big toe to drive (that and my struggling with rev-matching).

(Should I give it another shot though?.)

I'd surely give it another shot! And, I don't really drive with my toes ... rather, I kind of "kiss" the accelerator with the "palm" of my foot. No charlie horses for this old guy ... ;)

Pax,

Fr. John

I prefer driving barefoot. It definitely gives one a better sense of feel as opposed to wearing clunky shoes.

I've heard its illegal. But, I need to research that one on my own.

It's not illegal. Snoop around barefooters.org, it's all there.
.
_H*

When I went through drivers' ed, we were taught that women (or men) who are wearing high heels, so take them off and go barefoot while driving.

Wow! I tried driving w/o shoes yesterday, and I almost stalled pulling out of my driveway (5spd MT) because I didn't give enough gas. The perceived effort by my leg was the same as usual, but MUCH less pedal movement. I see how this works now...

I not sure about the legality of driving without shoes (DWS? not another acronym!) but it typically isn't recommended because 1) loose shoes can jam behind or get lodged between pedals, and 2) in the case of a collision, shoes protect your feet. There were kids who showed up to driver's ed in flip-flops and they got sent back to get shoes.

zef95,

See hobbit's post (#11) regarding the legality.