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Hi,

I just recently started to apply some HM techniques.

To start with, I drive a 2004 VW Golf GL with a 2.0 liter gas engine.


Performance
Base Number of Cylinders: 4 Base Engine Size: 2 liters
Base Engine Type: Inline 4 Horsepower: 115 hp
Max Horsepower: 5200 rpm Torque: 122 ft-lbs.
Max Torque: 2600 rpm Drive Type: FWD

Fuel
Fuel Tank Capacity: 14.5 gal.
EPA Mileage Estimates: (City/Highway)
Manual: 24 mpg / 31 mpg
Range in Miles: (City/Highway)
Manual: 348 mi. / 449.5 mi.

So far, these are the steps I have been taking to improve efficiency:
Slower starts
Cruse control when to maintain regular speeds
Speeding up and slowing down with the cruse control when ever possible
Putting the car in neutral when approaching stop signs and stop lights
Putting the car in neutral on down hill stretches of road
I rarely ever use A/C and I try to keep my windows most of the way up when driving on the highway


I've only been doing this for two tankfulls.

So far I've gotten MPG of about 31-32mpg avaerage per tank.

My drive to work is all local roads except for about 1/3mile highway. I guess it's good that I'm getting highway mpg on local roads.

I have a question that popped into my head while driving.

Sometime I'm trying to coast down a hill in neutral but traffic in front of me is too slow and I have to ride the brake. If I put the car in a low gear (say 3rd) and stay off of the gas peddle, am I using more gas than if I just leave the car in neutral? (it seems to me that in both cases the engine is just idling so it should be sucking about the same amount of gas either way, right?)

Cheers :Banane35:

Hi 2004Golf, great start you have, you're already above EPA. Cruise control was great to start off with, but the next step in the MPG ladder is to try out DWL. If you don't have a SG, the easiest way to do it is to keep constant throttle - this means you will slow a bit as you go up hills, and pick that speed back up as you go down the hills. Check out Wayne's article "Beating the EPA" at the bottom of my signature for a lot of good information.

To answer your question about coasting in N vs in a high gear (low RPM), the answer is it depends. Coasting in neutral is the best, since you don't have engine braking as you do in gear. However, if your car has DFCO (there are many threads about it here) then in gear above a certain RPM, your car uses NO fuel. In the case where you're going to have to slow down anyway, you might as well be using no fuel rather than idle fuel. Check out this thread (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12396&page=2) about DFCO.

Kirk