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Hi All,

I have an 08 Accord EXL 4 cylinder with an AT.

I'm new to hypermiling and am realizing that it is much more difficult with an AT (purchased mainly for the the wife and the anticipated expansion of the family - Previously owned an 08 Fit 5MT).

I've read the newbie guide and have been practicing some of the simple techniques but I wanted to get some insight into what advanced techniques are practical (read: does not screw up my starter or transmission) on this car.


Any suggestions in general?

Anything related specifically to this car?


To do list:

Increase Tire Pressure
Get a Gauge of some sort

Since I have a Honda with the 5-speed auto, I can share some thoughts.

Engine-off coasting is fine below 35 mph and only for 50 miles at a time. Since it's doubtful you'll ever find a 50-mile coasting opportunity, it'll be fine. On the highway I use neutral coasting engine-on. In town at stops I shut down the engine. Leave it in neutral and you can key-start it when needed. A warm engine doesn't take much to start so there's minimal stress to the engine, battery and starter.

Shift to neutral frequently. With the engine running it's completely safe for the transmission. Hondas have an annoying habit of holding a gear and engine braking when you let off the gas. Your momentum will take you a lot farther if you let it roll freely in neutral.

When you accelerate, learn the shift points. Don't let it go past that without shifting. You can let up on the gas slightly to encourage the shift, then get back on it (a bit!) after it does.

If you find yourself at 40 mph and running 2000+ rpm and it just won't shift, pop it into neutral and back to drive. Just a quick one-two back and forth shift. It should drop right into top gear a lower rpm.

On rolling hills you want to keep it from downshifting. You lose a lot of gas if it does. Attack the hill at a higher speed - maybe 50 or 55 - so you can let it drop as you climb and still be above the speed where it downshifts.

Hondas have an annoying habit of holding a gear and engine braking when you let off the gas. Your momentum will take you a lot farther if you let it roll freely in neutral.

I can attest to that as I have frequently used gear Nought in our Civic to good effect.

In fact my wife (NAH) would attest to it. Driving the Prius one day she remarked how readily the Prius will accelerate when going downhill. I explained that the difference was due to the engine braking/drag in the Civic and that was why hypermilers liked to glide in neutral or with the engine off. Stick the Civic in neutral and it really helps turn a downhill into a whee.

A "whee" is what I call a downhill section where the car can gain a lot of speed. ;)
One frequent whee we take allows the Prius to accelerate from 45mph to 65mph. I don't do it*, but my wife does it and loves it, getting very disappointed when somebody ahead uses their brakes.

If she used Nought in the Civic she'd be able to get some really good speed at a couple of places on her commute.

* Any more: passing a parked police car at >PSL+10 made me question my allowing the car to exceed PSL on downhills and I stopped.

I laughed at the "Whee." I know exactly what you're talking about as we have one just outside our neighborhood and it freaks my wife out a bit when I just let gravity do its thing.

That's all great stuff. I've been doing most of what you guys mentioned but was concerned with the impact to the tranny. Also great to know that its safe to engine off coast below 35 mph.

Forcing the shifts makes a great deal of sense and I'll try it on the way home today. Not sure what real time impact I'm having quite yet with the things I'm trying but will hopefully get a SGII or Ultra Gauge soon.