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Surrey driver says he got tired of being at the mercy of gas companies and wanted to make a statement (http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=c9eeba58-4dfe-45cb-b991-13f0ad979656)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/phil.jpgPete McMartin - Vancover Sun - Nov. 27, 2007
Well done - Phil! :thumbs_up:

Usually, when a man goes in for auto mechanics, he is the kind of guy who likes to go fast.

Then there is Phil McNeal (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/member.php?u=13).

Phil is 22. He lives in Surrey. He drives a 2004 Toyota Prius and is enrolled in auto mechanics at BCIT's Burnaby campus, which is -- as Phil can tell you, because he records mileage and gas consumption religiously -- a 15-km commute from his house.

My guess is that if you came up behind Phil in traffic, your first inclination would be that you figured there was something wrong with his car and that he was limping down the road to the nearest gas station.

Your second inclination, which would come to you some agonizingly slow minutes later, might include your horn, some swearing and possibly a middle digit… http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=c9eeba58-4dfe-45cb-b991-13f0ad979656

great job, phil! do you still post here? i love the comment of being tired of being the oil companies' b$$tch :)

and of course, the writer had the required "drafting behind semis" quote. :mad:

...and of course, the writer had the required "drafting behind semis" quote. :mad:

Well, it is mentioned on this site. If we don't want it to be mentioned by others, then it should never be alluded to here. As long as they acknowledge, as this writer did, that the practice of close in drafting is not recommended, what's the big deal?

It was mentioned, but not overdone like early hypermiling articles.

The article was good overall.

Good show, Phil. :)

Nice grill block. Good article.

Well, it is mentioned on this site. If we don't want it to be mentioned by others, then it should never be alluded to here. As long as they acknowledge, as this writer did, that the practice of close in drafting is not recommended, what's the big deal?

thanks, point taken. :)

Great article, Phil! :D

Nice article Phil! I like the eyedropper... :D

I stopped smoking because I hated what the tobacco companies were doing to lure kids into smoking. I am hypermiling because I hate what the oil cartel has done to our country.

A quick note on drafting. About 25 years ago while heading down to Miami, the car in front of me who was drafting a truck exploded when the truck tried to stop, lost control & jack knifed. As I remember it, he was not following that close, but had no where to go when it jack knifed.

Personally, after seeing that, I don't do much drafting.

I stopped smoking because I hated what the tobacco companies were doing to lure kids into smoking. I am hypermiling because I hate what the oil cartel has done to our country.



good reasons, bob. i add that i hypermile because i hate what most automakers have created in our country....bigger and faster is better.........

Very nice article Phil. I'm a fan of the eyedropper and the related huge grin on your face. :D

Great article.

Sometimes Canada is so refreshing compared to the stuffy USA. I cannot think of a single daily newspaper in our country that would have printed the "b-word".

boy i do look stoned in that picture... why couldn't he picked the other ones! then again I blame the heavy rain and the bright flashes from his camera!!!

the funny thing is, there was another priuschat member's wife that has a grill block @ BCIT and I just thought, "hey they sell that at home depot!" and to my suprise it was way cheaper than the coroplast option and as a added bonus it required no tape. Just shove it in!

the person just sent me a PM through cleanmpg (after checking 2 weeks later!!) and then the next day i was on the phone interview answering all his questions. Then after school on the next day, the photographer came (not the person who interviewed me) and although it was a long wait (he had to get the eye drop bottle from a student and he wanted to go as far as making the liquid looking like gasoline but the rainy day sure got worse!) I can see that it makes the picture more, "in detail."

Although on the phone I'm pretty sure i said "CIVIC".. he must be thinking about Wayne's Accord that gets true over 47 mpg US, since when people read that article they must be thinking, "wow this guy is full of s***! 5L/100km on a Accord?!?!"

In the end, that piece got me more attention than I thought, people knew about the article way before i got a chance to pick up the paper and read it! Although I wish the photographer blinded out my liscence plate number =\ oh wells now everyone knows who I am and when they are behind me BEWARE hehe...

just kidding, i'll speed up until there are two lanes, then you can go ****self, but remember your right foot doesn't need to be a victim...

thanks for the responses! Cleanmpg is still my home of hypermiling, although I still check out gassavers once in awhile.

edit: Didn't expect the newspaper to print out my quote on quote! that's awesome!!!

Hi Phil:

___Excellent job! A reporter was asking about someone in the Vancouver area a week or two ago and I could only remember Billy in Kennewick. He said that was to far?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

hm interesting, now CTV wants to contact me for another interview, perhaps video?

although i'm uneasy about the attention already, I've already got fears that people reconize my car and hate me upon it, ( found banana peels in my tire wells, and my valve caps got stolen). Its werid but little details like these (plus certain dirty looks i've been getting from some students (not in the same class though) ) prevent me from wanting to conduct more public attention because i'm often more being pointed at, rather than trying to get my message across.

I think I am used for entertainment, in that case they made me their bitch, that's the last time I do interviews for free.

I hope that you are not really that soured by the experience, Phil. :(

Try to think of all the people you have impacted positively through your exposure!

Nice job Phil! Keep up the good work and don't let them get you down too much.

haha i still chuckle over this... my times have changed. One day you going into the dealership business full throttle to become a tech only to find yourself doing something different. Now that I'm a Jr.Service Advisory I'm going to have this framed on my desk so customers can see that I'm indeed a professional when it comes to fuel consumption :)

CBC radio interviewed me for 2 hours and I never saw it on the air nor never got a call back, so I guess it was canceled due to not enough entertainment for TV use.