How to save gas - Hypermiling 50 years ago!

Pravus Prime · #11 08-05-2006, 12:13 AM

Amazing how little things change, isn't it?

Rosendale Roc · #12 08-17-2006, 10:04 AM

Great article.
I didn't realize that there was a term for what I was doing, until I listened this AM on Air America, and heard Rachel Maddow talking about it. She interviewed Wayne Gerdes, and I was in awe that I had been doing these things all along. It all started with my first car.
I had a 1964 Chevy Nova that consistantly got better than 30 MPG. That was with the GM straight 6. It was a boxy little number. Sporty too. It had a big chrome plated valve cover, because it was the SS model. Bucket seats that were indestructible. A 2 speed "slushbox" automatic. It was my first car, and I loved it. It was so cheap to run back in '74, during the first fuel "crisis." I went everywhere with that car.
To think, that car was made in the beginning of the "muscle car" era!

xcel · #13 08-17-2006, 10:14 AM

Hi Rosendale Roc:

___Let me be the first to welcome you to CleanMPG!

___I can only hope there are that many more who will begin to push tanks as you have been for over 30 + years! To think that most have just started to think about and then act in a positive manner with regards to our waste of fossil fuels the way we have all these years with techniques such as these … You my friend are what I will deem an old pro! Congratulations for doing what we all should have been doing over our driving career and I want to personally thank you for it.

___Good Luck and welcome.

___Wayne

jcp123 · #14 08-12-2007, 06:24 PM

Doesn't surprise me one bit. I've come across many Mobilgas economy runs, even Lincolns won them a couple of times.

I do wonder why overdrives, reasonably popular in the 50's, went the way of the dodo bird until the oil crisis and the 80's resurrected them again?

And I'm happy to see classic cars being vindicated. They aren't necessarily the resource terrors everybody seems to think they are. I have several articles documenting Cadillacs getting 17-20+mpg in the early 50's, and Lincolns not far behind! Even my '68 Mustang was capable of well over 20mpg on the freeway.

macword · #15 08-17-2007, 05:26 PM

It's fun to see that others were hypermiling that many years ago. I started in the early 70s, even though no one really cared about mpg. In everything I've owned since then, it has always been a pleasure to see what my max mpg could be.

Back when, if I could squeeze 18 mpg out of a '65 Mustang, things were good. Many straight six cars could do better if coaxed.

The oil embargo of 1973 suddenly brought a new reason...gas lines and higher prices.

It will happen again, and those of us who have learned to squeeze a few extra miles out of a gallon can only benefit by the experience.

tigerhonaker · #16 08-17-2007, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macword

It's fun to see that others were hypermiling that many years ago. I started in the early 70s, even though no one really cared about mpg. In everything I've owned since then, it has always been a pleasure to see what my max mpg could be.

Back when, if I could squeeze 18 mpg out of a '65 Mustang, things were good. Many straight six cars could do better if coaxed.

The oil embargo of 1973 suddenly brought a new reason...gas lines and higher prices.

It will happen again, and those of us who have learned to squeeze a few extra miles out of a gallon can only benefit by the experience.

Hi macword,

Welcome to CleanMPG

Nice Post you did here. I like the way you think and you are correct in that fuel cost is going to only go one way and it is NOT-DOWN !!!!!!!!!

Thanks for dropping by here and sharing your thoughts.

Terry

laurieaw · #17 08-17-2007, 09:48 PM

i can remember some of those old cars. i started driving in 1964, and a couple of my first cars were early 50s vintage chevrolets, and most had a manual transmission.

what shocks me about the article is that for some reason, for the most part, FE has not made any overall improvements since then.

macword · #18 08-20-2007, 05:59 PM

The lack of significant improvement in FE since the 1970s surprises me somewhat as well. Hybrid technology aside, a basic econobox such as a Civic could easily attain 35 mpg on the highway back then. I had a 1981 Honda Accord that got upper 30s. A friend with a Datsun 1200 used to brag about 40+ mpg.

Cars are likely a bit heavier now, have more features, and more power. But they've also had 25 years or more to improve significantly over carbureted engines with cumbersome smog equipment.

An honest question...can we attain 50, 60, or even 70 mpg without hybrid technology?

Right Lane Cruiser · #19 08-20-2007, 09:18 PM

Absolutely you can! I'm able to hit over 50 in my car with the right commute, Wayne (xcel) regularly nips at 60 in his non-hybrid Accord AT, Larry (DiamondLarry) was regularly getting 60+ in his Saturn before getting a Prius, and basjoos pulls insane numbers in his aero-modded '92 Civic. Have a look at the non-hybrid section of the Mileage Logs (in the green bar to the left) for more examples.

desdemona · #20 08-23-2007, 09:15 PM

Back when I was a kid (ok I was fighting off dinosaurs not really in a car. :-)), my dad used to always say things like "gas is too cheap. It needs to be $5 a gal so people won't drive so much."

My dad was aware, even though gas was less than $1 a gal. (You see this was a LONG time ago). I think he was ecodriving back then as well, at least to some extent. When the big SUVs came out, he said they were obscene.

--des