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Trying to figure this one out...next week I'm going on a short trip with my mom to Springfield and Branson, MO. We'll be taking her Patriot...trying to think of ways to say, "Hey, Mom, did you know you can save gas by...?" It's a long drive, so if I were driving, I wouldn't be able to hypermile like I do in my PT the whole way, and she's doing most of the driving. There are a lot of hills on this drive, so I'm thinking tires, speed, DWL, dwb and coasting (but not in neutral as that still freaks her out). I was thinking about ridge riding if it rained but it seems Roscoe P Coltraine is everywhere in these smaller towns. Also, no drafting or Fas...that ranks right up there with coasting in neutral. Any other thoughts on how I could suggest ways to save fuel?

FYI we'll be coming back with new fishing gear since the Patriot seems to have a radar that picks up Bass Pro and just seems to automatically go into the parking lot. So we'll have that to deal with on the way back.:D

Hi PTDixieGal:

___Throw your ScanGauge on the dash and let her decide how much she wants to pay to get to Branson. The CPM display is always a good one as she gets to deice how much per mile she would like to toss out the window ;)

___Highway driving is all about your setup, speed and DWL/DWB. RR should be done under all conditions for safety reasons so do not wait for just the rain.

___And do not forget to post some pics of the Patriot at Bass Pro!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi PTDixieGal:

___Throw your ScanGauge on the dash and let her decide how much she wants to pay to get to Branson. The CPM display is always a good one as she gets to deice how much per mile she would like to toss out the window ;)

___Highway driving is all about your setup, speed and DWL/DWB. RR should be done under all conditions for safety reasons so do not wait for just the rain.

___And do not forget to post some pics of the Patriot at Bass Pro!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I forgot to mention...my bad...I still don't have a ScanGauge. They gave me a raise recently so I may be able to get one now that the raise has kicked in.

... There are a lot of hills on this drive ...

In this type of driving environment I make sure that I don't force the vehicle faster up the hills ... and on the flipside ... try to avoid decelerating too much on the downgrades.

Usually this means towards the tops you are slower ... and by the time you approach the valleys you are then not too fast ... even without braking or letting up too much. Depends on finding suitable traffic spacing ... not to catch up-to, nor slowing others down behind you ... on that undivided highway.

(Your mom won't notice peak speeds in the valleys if a more conservative gaspedal lets the vehicle be slower by the top of the many upgrades. When she's driving she can easily pick up on that idea .... to practise a bit of that winning strategy as well.)

With more precise trip timing ... can give you the projected winds/windspeeds as well ...

In this type of driving environment I make sure that I don't force the vehicle faster up the hills ... and on the flipside ... try to avoid decelerating too much on the downgrades.

Usually this means towards the tops you are slower ... and by the time you approach the valleys you are then not too fast ... even without braking or letting up too much. Depends on finding suitable traffic spacing ... not to catch up-to, nor slowing others down behind you ... on that undivided highway.

(Your mom won't notice peak speeds in the valleys if a more conservative gaspedal lets the vehicle be slower by the top of the many upgrades. When she's driving she can easily pick up on that idea .... to practise a bit of that winning strategy as well.)

With more precise trip timing ... can give you the projected winds/windspeeds as well ...

Like my PT the Patriot is front-end heavy...when I'm in my PT I like to hold it slow but steady going uphill and use the momentum generated by the front end's weight to get it up to speed on the downhill. How slow I go uphill depends on the degree of incline on the downhill side, traffic, speed limit...among other factors.

Like my PT the Patriot is front-end heavy...when I'm in my PT I like to hold it slow but steady going uphill and use the momentum generated by the front end's weight to get it up to speed on the downhill. How slow I go uphill depends on the degree of incline on the downhill side, traffic, speed limit...among other factors.

RE: "how slow I go uphill depends on the degree of incline on the downhill side"

Do you predict the downgrade over the next hill based on general area elevation .... or is it also because this route is familiar to you ?

With my 94 Saturn 5 speed I still find estimating the grades to be tricky ....

RE: "how slow I go uphill depends on the degree of incline on the downhill side"

Do you predict the downgrade over the next hill based on general area elevation .... or is it also because this route is familiar to you ?

With my 94 Saturn 5 speed I still find estimating the grades to be tricky ....

When I'm in my PT, it's generally because the area is familiar to me as I don't make so many out of town trips. When I'm in unfamiliar territory, it's based on general area elevation. When I'm in my PT, I have an idea of what she can and can't do when going downhill, but this time I don't have that luxury as I'll be in the Patriot. When I'm basing it on general area elevation I think that there's more likely to be some error but the fact that I'm in a familar car helps because I know how much or how little it takes to slow it down. That's not the case this time. We're talking about showing my mother some basic hypermiling techniques.

The main thing is to have a good time on this trip; the most important technique to remember. Enjoy your vacation.

Well I just found out I may not get to go next week...a friend of my family's is dying...the doc is saying that it's a matter of hours or even minutes, not days.

Sorry,

Hang in there ...

There are lots of sunny days ahead ...

Well, our friend did pass. I am going to Branson on Monday but the funeral is Tuesday so the trip will be cut short. I really feel that I need to be at the funeral. Our friend's daughter is one of my best friends...we've known each other since elementary school.

Sorry,

Hang in there ...

There are lots of sunny days ahead ...

Thanks.

You are travelling at the west end of a HI this morning.

'ADDS' shows Winds are nearly Calm in your area ... a bit of tailwind possible.

A tailwind might be good for FE if we're not driving into it. The Patriot has a tendency to rock as she is high off the ground. Not like my PT which kind of hunkers down.

55mph with 5mph tailwind creates the same drag (or power-draw) behind your vehicle as going 45mph with a 5mph headwind.

If you'd have gone on Monday Oct 20 ..... would have had up to 5mph tailwind (reduced oncoming wind) both ways ... once when travelling north in the morning and again when returning southbound to AR again that night or Tues morning.

Surface wind is easy to predict with ADDS and to check on wunderground. If there's lots of flags around it's also easier to monitor fairly-well while enroute.

Well, today we were in the funeral procession and I saw something that really got me riled up! The family opted to send the hearse on ahead of the procession...the church hosted a luncheon for the family and the cemetery was about a two hour drive away. So here we are, no funeral home car in front, no police escort, but we did a pretty good job of staying together (with the exception of my mother who had to pull over for gas but she comes into play later) and we had our headlights and emergency flashers ON. We get to just the other side of Russellville (my mother has pulled off for gas and is now trying to catch up). This guy in this eighteen wheeler pulls onto the interstate and gets RIGHT ON THE REAR BUMPER of one of the vehichles IN the procession (so he's broken the procession in the middle AND he's riding their rear bumper while Mama's playing catch up. She does get around him and then guess whose bumper he's on! MAMA'S! So now we're yelling at him to back off the pedal or better yet, out of respect for the family get his butt over to the side of the road and park it. I SOOO WISHED I HAD A PA so I could make him hear me whether he wanted to or not. I'd tell him, "IT'S A FUNERAL PROCESSION, SO PARK YOUR DUMB BUTT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND IF YOUR BOSS DON'T LIKE IT, THEN YOUR BOSS NEEDS TO GET SOME MANNERS!"

Anyway we did get back in line with the procession and exited. When we did that the driver blew his airhorn. So now we're wondering if he was too stupid to realize he was in a funeral procession and got ticked off because we weren't going the unposted rig-enforced speed limit or if that might have been an "I'm sorry."

Is there a lot of trucks on the road down there too ?

The funeral highwaydrive sure sounds like a different experience.

I can't imagine how hypermiling could fit in there ever (now that you brought this type of scenario to our attention) , even on a highway, esp as that driving is usually 'slow and steady' / 'bumper to bumper'.

Is there a lot of trucks on the road down there too ?

There's always trucks on I-40. Though most of them are not driven by jerks.

You'll have to enter him into that competition :(

... it's the last thread on this forum