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I am curious. I started here about 6 months ago and got some good advice that increased my mpg from 34-35 to 36-38. With the sharp increase in gas prices I am back for more. BUT I dont want to get so obsessive over more mpg that the stress and watching every little aspect is killing me. So I have a few questions:

1. Can one(me) get to a point where driving can be fun again with still saving $$ by getting better mpg?

2. Can I expect more than the 36-38 with my Yaris manual shift without risking my safety by drafting close to an 18 wheeler? If so what will help?

3. How often does everyone check and adjust their tire pressure to meet the maximum side wall pressure?

4. Has anyone employed a governor to their car to help with mpg?

I am curious. I started here about 6 months ago and got some good advice that increased my mpg from 34-35 to 36-38. With the sharp increase in gas prices I am back for more. BUT I dont want to get so obsessive over more mpg that the stress and watching every little aspect is killing me. So I have a few questions:

1. Can one(me) get to a point where driving can be fun again with still saving $$ by getting better mpg?

2. Can I expect more than the 36-38 with my Yaris manual shift without risking my safety by drafting close to an 18 wheeler? If so what will help?

3. How often does everyone check and adjust their tire pressure to meet the maximum side wall pressure?

4. Has anyone employed a governor to their car to help with mpg?

For me, hypermiling = LESS stress.
1. Sure! I think driving is MORE fun now - used to be a chore, now it's a hobby and a challenge.
2. Yes. See my gas log in a similar-ish car, and my numbers are still rising.
3. When weather is on a warming trend, not that often. In the fall, when it's cooling, weekly. There's a gas station a few blocks from work with a free pump, so it's no big chore. Be sure to use your own gauge and don't trust the station's built-in gauge.
4. Not that I know of. Your right foot is a more effective tool.

#1; Only you can answer; What makes driving fun for you, and can you learn for driving to be fun in other ways. Over the weekend I enjoyed a nice trip, avoiding major roads, and increased my mileage a bit over the usual visit taken on the interstates & highways. I didn't always go the required 55, and actually we poking along an 30/40 mph for several extended periods (no traffic behind me). We came across a beautiful (and very stupid) pheasant standing in the middle of the road. If we had been going even the normal max of 55, we might have hit it, but instead we slowed down, slowy went around it, (honked twice hoping it would move) and finally left it standing there looking into the woods. I hope it survived the next car. For me, that was an enjoyable drive. While I don't like being stuck in stop & go traffic, I do take some enjoyment that the stop part costs little to nothing while the others around me are running their V8 hemi's and costing themselves a forture. Joy is where you find it.

#2. Don't know; Ask a Yaris hypermiler, I'm sure one will be slowly driving by in a moment.

#3. There are whole threads on this. Some people check daily. I'd say visually inspect daily as you get in car and check once every 2/4 weeks. If you start seeing pressure drop by more than 1 or 2 pounds in that period, check more frequently.

#4; Haven't heard of anyone. Wish I had a button that would force electric only mode for my car unless it would violate a safety/emmission concert. (Ie too fast, engine too cold, etc, but not "ICE come on cause I pressed accelerator down a touch further than I wanted). If you mean a top speed governor, why not just take your foot off gas?

Good luck

You can employ whatever degree of hypermiling you desire - not an all or nothing thing.

For me, I've avoided tickets and collisions, along with less spikes in blood pressure from competing with aggressive drivers.

1. Can one(me) get to a point where driving can be fun again with still saving $$ by getting better mpg?

It's more fun for me now - instead of focusing on the idiot driver on the road, I'm instead focused on the Sg and trying to get as many miles to the gallon as possible. Regardless of what they do, their drive is costing a fortune and mine isn't. :flag:

As to road rage/other drivers, it's a major trigger for me - I'm normally laid back and relaxed, but one idiot on the road can cause me to throw a fit. I'm going to have fewer of those cases if I just say the hell with them, I'm cruising in the right lane, and if they want to pass they can go around, it's their problem.

2. Can I expect more than the 36-38 with my Yaris manual shift without risking my safety by drafting close to an 18 wheeler? If so what will help?

Easily. I'm pulling way higher than that with an Echo (same motor, 1NZ-FE and similar design). BailOut is even higher with a Yaris (and a beautiful commute to boot). I rarely Fas and I give it gas if I'm running late (I go 55 when I'm running late LOL).

The gearing is ridiculously short, even in fifth - doing 70MPH means you're doing 3,000 rpm's. Keep it to 50-52 MPH in fifth gear for the best mileage, and NICE-ON coast down any decline.

3. How often does everyone check and adjust their tire pressure to meet the maximum side wall pressure?

Once every few weeks on average. Which reminds me, I need to put more air in my tires. 52 PSI isn't enough. It's addicting to put air in my tires. :)

4. Has anyone employed a governor to their car to help with mpg?

As Chuck said, your right foot is more effective to save gas. Besides, you might need to go over the governor's limit as a safety issue (such as a semi bearing down on you).

My daughter has a Yaris 5 spd. She is not a hypermiler, but by listening to me she has inched up her MPG to the mid to high 40's. So hang in their and you can achieve the 40's preetty easily.

For me, hypermiling has reduced my stress level. I used to arrive to the office stressed out but now that I've slowed down my drive is much more relaxed.

I also agree that driving is more enjoyable as every drive is a new challenge.

Keep it up and enjoy.

My daughter has a Yaris 5 spd. She is not a hypermiler, but by listening to me she has inched up her MPG to the mid to high 40's. So hang in their and you can achieve the 40's preetty easily.

What suggestions have you given her that she uses?

I have increased the air in my tires and reduced my speed to 67-70 and i add acetone to my gas at 6 ounces per 10 gallons.(Heard this helps)

Suggestions?

What suggestions have you given her that she uses?

I have increased the air in my tires and reduced my speed to 67-70 and i add acetone to my gas at 6 ounces per 10 gallons.(Heard this helps)

Suggestions?

I would not use the acetone if I were you. I have not used it nor recommend it.

What I have got her to to is:

1) NICE on hillls. She lives near Nashville and has quite an opportunity to coast downhill.

2) Turn her engine off at extended stop lights.

3) Watch the rabbit starts and go the speed limit and no faster.

These three minor things have had a big impact on her FE

At times I can get a bit frustrated with the traffic conditions, but on the whole I'm a very relaxed yet alert driver. As others have mentioned above I love driving because of the challenge it offers... and I view every trip as an opportunity. :)

As Chuck stated, hypermiling is not an all or nothing affair -- you can engage to whatever extent you are comfortable with and never approach the "extreme" measures some of us employ.

What suggestions have you given her that she uses?

I have increased the air in my tires and reduced my speed to 67-70 and i add acetone to my gas at 6 ounces per 10 gallons.(Heard this helps)

Suggestions?

The acetone may or may not work for you. The ratio you should be using is 3 oz per 10 gallons of pure acetone. If you're using 6 oz, you could be decreasing your mileage. The ones you can purchase from CVS or Walgreens are not pure. Sally's Beauty carries pure acetone if you're looking to purchase local.

There is a reason there has not been a run on acetone - pouring additives in your tank is very unlikely to inprove your fuel economy.

Study Beating the EPA - The Why’s and how to Hypermile (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510) more

Hi Korbynlehr:

___I cannot add much more than what the others have already provided other than the fact the devil inside of me is biting the bit to get into one of the vehicles and take a drive to the grocery store, bank, Blockbuster Vid or wherever for FE but the :angel: inside of me straightens me out and if I do not have to go somewhere, I certainly don’t. Hypermiling is the biggest rush when you start punching out the ridiculous stuff and those numbers are within each and everyone of us with just a little work. Fun doesn’t even come close to describing what it can be like :)

___Back to earth Wayne … Hypermiling should be far less stressful. Leave earlier, arrive earlier and enjoy the extra stress free time.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

hypermiling = no stress

driving becomes Mucho fuN!

check tire pressure twice a month

no governor, just go 50-55 instead of 67-70. that will be your greatest gain.

If you try and do all techniques at once inititally, you are going to feel stressed. That's too much to absorb. Concentrate on some good basic skills-- neutral coasting, giving a big space between you and other cars, driving the speed limit, turning off gas at stop lights. When these become second nature you can try for others.

Hypermiling is less stressful IF you are able to do so without constantly worrying about it. Just have fun and smile as you pass all those $4 pumps!


--des

@Korbynlehr,

As others have said, Hypermiling can be a lot of fun. For me personally, I had to make some real mental leaps to eliminate the stress I did experience when I first started out.

I would worry about holding people up behind me mostly. And, I would also get stressed when traveling in the right hand lane on the highway and people were trying to merge from an entrance ramp, and I was forced to move into faster traffic because they don't understand the concept of merging. They expected me to move over instead of them giving way to traffic already on the road.....

Now though, I'm over that, and I roll along at 55mph without a care in the world, listening to books on CD from the library, or NPR. Another thing that helped me was I only Hypermile one vehicle (my Insight), which is my daily driver. This may not be a luxury others have, but my "toy" cars are used only on weekends, and I drive them like I stole them, which gets out any pent up stress and frustration.

IMHO, Hypermiling (and driving in general for that matter) shouldn't be stressful, it should be fun and rewarding. Best of luck!!

Cheers,

no governor, just go 50-55 instead of 67-70. that will be your greatest gain.

Korbynlehr, you are obviously not used to going slow on the highway. To me a lot depends on the speed limit. Most of my highway travel around here is on 55 mph or 60 mph roads. 55 seems too slow for me. 60 I can deal with. On the flats and going uphill I'll set the cruise control to 60. Going downhill I'll pulse and then shut the engine down (I have manual trans) and let er glide back down to 60, bump start and re-engage the cruise. I know I could get better numbers by DWL and going slower than 60 but it is not worth it to me. And heck, I still do pretty good as it is. If I head out to the rural areas where the Interstate speed limits increases above 60 I will drive at the speed limit whatever it is.

What really stressed me out when I first started hypermiling, and I know this is heresy, was having the Scangauge installed. It allowed me to tweak a few of my techniques, but then after awhile I got tired of watching it. I'd get too frustrated when thing weren't going well, and with the SG you know right away when they aren't. So I yanked it out and I'm much happier.

Do the simple techniques, add as much of the others as you are comfortable with, and be happy knowing that you'll be using less gas than the vast majority of people out there. :Banane25:

before hypermiling I was constantly looking out for cops (as I was most likely speeding)

I was much more stressed than I am now when I'm more in tune to the MPG display than cops shooting radar

Yes they make governors for cars, we call them "cruise control" though.

I have a yaris. I found the biggest difference was going from 70+ mphs to a steady 55 mph. You're on the right lane, they can't blame you for going too slow if the pack has caught up to you and now they can't pass on the right (which they aren't supposed to).

My biggest problem is knowing there is always a car who decides to be "ingenious" and pass on the right...doesn't bother me, just annoyed that they get mad at me and they saw from nearly a mile away that I was going slow.

Its been more fun and less stress the majority of the time for me. There's fun in notching up the average mpg for the trip, there's fun in trying to optimize the P&G points on my usual routes, there's fun in watching people accelerating to a red light, and then watch me glide past right as the light turns green...

The most stress has been when a certain hypermiler king has been in the passenger seat ;)

But really the usual cause now of some stress is when I'm late for something, and traffic is being uncooperative... I'm getting better at just saying 'oh well that just blows' and work on improving my score while others are jumping on the gas and brakes.

For me, I've avoided... spikes in blood pressure from competing with aggressive drivers.

Absolutely! Being very competitive by nature, I was guilty of this occasionally prior to hypermiling.

Now... I don't get stressed out. Rather, I enjoy the comedy show of seeing others compete and racing to red lights, and me still catching up and never slowing down. My health and my wallet are worth it!

I'm owner of an Echo, same drive train.

I think you are driving too fast. If you can convince yourself to drop back to 55 MPH, your numbers are going to go way up. Since highspeed driving frequently cause more braking, the trip time may not differ all that much.

As most others mention, you do not have to adopt all the strategies that the ultimate hypermiler uses. Just go slower, time stoplights, anticipate potential braking situations and avoid as many as possible, turn off the engine when you are at long lights, and your numbers should improve. With a manual transmission, you can also push it into neutral and let it coast on long downhills where the "payoff" is certain. (i.e. NICE-On)

There is an aftermarket cruise control for the Yaris which would make throttle application smoother and more even, making efficient highway driving less intensive. I installed one in my Echo. Ultimate hypermilers prefer to control the throttle themselves for superior results, but that requires lots of concentration and effort. If you are looking to maintain a constant 55 MPH, without drifting up in speed, the cruise control helps a lot.