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This is a fun technique that I heard Wayne describe on a podcast. Basically, if you find yourself in a U-shaped trough, there are instances where it would be advantageous to roll past your target, as far as your can up the other side of the hill, then back down to your target.

I finally found a place to use the technique here in the flatlands. The driveways on both sides of the street are about three feet higher up than the road, which was probably a drainage scheme when the neighborhood was built in 1929. Anyway, if I give my car a little shove at the garage, it will eventually roll backwards to the end of the driveway, and hit the street at about 7mph, heading backwards.

I could brake to kill those 7mph, or I could keep rolling up the driveway across the street, let gravity bring me to a stop in his driveway, then roll forward at about 5mph headed the right direction. In warmer weather, that might be enough momentum to reach the stop sign at the end of my street... eventually. In cold weather, at least it means I'm already rolling forward while letting the clutch out in 1st gear.

Hi, Robert -- I use this technique in my neighborhood. The driveways are all downhill and heading up the culdesac is slightly uphill. I give a foot out the door push when leaving the garage (shutting the door before I even get to the entrance), roll down the driveway, cut hard right (my right... facing up the driveway... so left if you were looking direction of travel), roll up the culdesac, cut another right (again, facing opposite direction of travel so same side of street as my house), roll up the neighbor's driveway slightly, then let gravity reverse my direction and start the car when I'm approximately at the property line between the houses. I only do this for my morning commute (early in the morning and dark with no one around). The culdesac levels out toward the circle so I just roll to a stop if I pass the neighbor's driveway.

I also regularly overshoot parking spots on hills so that I can roll backwards into them in a face out. ;)

When the traffic light permits, I do this on approach at work. Sometimes it's backed up too far and I just brake and turn.

I roll past my left side parking lot and up the hill. Left into another parking lot for a U-turn and back to my lot, all on gravity.

Uh, so this is simply to increase the distance traveled? Or am I missing something? Because it sounds like you guys are trying to travel further but without any real purpose. Just extra wear on your car (however microscopic that wear might be).

Personally, I use it to avoid wasteful fuel burning. Coming out of my garage is already downhill -- might as well use the momentum for something other than manufacturing brake dust. As for the parking spots... it is safer to pull straight out because the view is better (hello little kids in the parking lot!) and reversing in a really low gear, then stopping, then accelerating forward again wastes a lot more gas than simply pulling straight out. I may burn a tad more gas parking but it is less than I would spend getting back out later with a cold engine.

Hi Sulfuric:

If you can avoid using the brakes while incurring no fuel consumption, you are far better off then the alternative, braking to a stop on the bottom of a trough and then accelerating into your drive o, gas station, mall parking lot whatever. Burning brakes and fuel is best left to the uninformed and MIB works very well in many cases when your destination is in a trough and you cannot make the turn directly due to much speed to bleed off or traffic.

I hope that helps explain its use and when you use it.

Wayne

I also use a variation of this when I park at work. I pull in to the highest elevation spot, facing in. Then I roll back and swing around to back into the third spot, facing out. I'm ready for a downhill gas-free start, and didn't use any fuel to get into that position.

The move I mentioned above, passing my turn and then rolling downhill back to it, allows me enough momentum to cross the parking lot without a final 2-second pulse. I hate those - you waste as much gas starting and stopping as you do actually pulsing.

(and it does gain me another tenth of a mile, with the mpg bump that comes with it ;))