What in your experience, is the hardest skill to master in hypermiling ?

[MT bucket]

For you it's going to be difficult since you will have to learn an entire city to pick and choose the best routes.
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I just let my tomtom guide me nowdays, but I got to watch it sometimes, it will try to lead me into some bad zones! Good thing i have been doing this for 4 years before I got the thing or i would never have learned the city hehe

[2TonJellyBean]

I'll echo the host's post... the frustration of winter temps! Between that, driving almost strictly as a rush courier when I needed building supplies and then doing half those trips pulling a trailer the logging stopped - logging to me seems to be the key part of hypermiling.

[WoodyWoodchuck]

For me it has been trying to find what techniques will give me the best mileage in the Yaris. Techniques would include what speed, what engine load and what rpm’s. I have a SG2 and only look at the trip and tank MPG a couple times during a commute. Every now and again I will check at a regular point on the trip and it is 5 or 6 mpg higher than normal. I’ll try and think back to exactly what happened and what I did differently, usually to no avail. Results need to be repeatable and that is my hardest skill for me to master.

[jim isbell]

I agree with the person that mentioned attitude. I used to get upset at my poor summer mileage but I finally setteled down and said, "What will be will be." and now when summer gets here and mileage goes to hell, I just relax and quit getting frustrated by it.

But what was also hard for me was learning that most of the people on these lists live in milder climates than I and what works well for them does little for me in our very hot climate. Winter is NOT a problem for me as we seldom if ever see 32F. So I have learned how toi cope with hot weather by myself.

[JusBringIt]

finding the balance between avoiding speeding, avoiding ticking off the next driver, driving safely while doing this, and hypermiling once those parameters are met. It's not easy with daily traffic, especially with being in upstate NY were the temp can be 90F one day and 35F the next. Rain, wind, powder snow, sleet, cloudy bright clear and sunny all in one day.

[lightfoot]

What I'm struggling with lately in the Insight is realizing when the highway behind me is empty (in light-to-moderate traffic obviously). When it's empty I can let the speed sag a bit from my target of 50mph, which is the minimum I feel comfortable with on a "65mph" highway when traffic is coming up on me. The Insight's FE seems better in the 40's, so if I can sneak in some <50mph bits I gain a little. Likewise, it helps to crest a hill at say 46mph when I know the downhill on the other side will increase my speed into the 50's.

The Subaru is different because I use P&G there (Insight is mostly DWL in lean burn, with some FAS's and downhill regens). For the Subaru, the tough part for me is timing my Pulse's so I'm approaching the upper end of my range when traffic comes up behind me.

Another tough hurdle was getting used to faster traffic coming up behind me. I try to remember this whenever someone says that faster traffic will run you down if you drive slower than the flow. It simply is not true, but it seems that way at first.

But overall as Andrew says, attitude and attention.

[GaryG]

The hardest skill for me is to adjust my driving to the tailgaters and other attitudes on the road. For the most part I try not to get in any ones way and pick routes I can do my thing but sometimes others want you to do their thing and break the law by speeding. An example is a two lane road I use with a 30mph speed limit that people will tailgate and honk their horn if your going 35mph. Keeping my cool is the hardest thing to master IMO.

GaryG

[jdhog]

Right off the bat I'd have to say DWL

To expand a little bit on that. It's the consistency and patience involved with it. I've started hitting cruise a lot more recently....

[jdhog]

Originally Posted by GaryG

The hardest skill for me is to adjust my driving to the tailgaters and other attitudes on the road. For the most part I try not to get in any ones way and pick routes I can do my thing but sometimes others want you to do their thing and break the law by speeding. An example is a two lane road I use with a 30mph speed limit that people will tailgate and honk their horn if your going 35mph. Keeping my cool is the hardest thing to master IMO.

GaryG

I feel for you! But do you know what, when I see someone going along relatively slow and near the speed limit, or another driver that is not afraid to leave a nice big gap in front of them it gives me a breath of fresh air to see it!

Just imaging how many speeding tickets and reckless driving tickets we could have issued if we could arrest people!!!!!

[msantos]

I'll pitch in with my two cents on this one:

Like Wayne said, you can still get great FE no matter the setting. Yes, it is not always easy to do it the smart way and sometimes laboring at it, is the only option left... but I would say that the biggest challenge I see from person to person is reduced to what I usually call "Legal and Thick"

Rule 1: "Legal": Drive within the explicit legal limits afforded to you by the traffic regulations in your area. A lot of people assume they have to accelerate hard and heed to the honkers and rubber burners around them, but as I and many others have found, the limits of the law can easily accommodate sensible and efficient driving that is quite frankly right up our alley. More than once, I have found the law to be the best friend - especially once it reaches the desk of an Insurance Adjuster or a Judge.

Rule 2: "Thick": You have to develop a thicker skin when surrounded by aggressive traffic. By focusing on our own compliance with rule 1, we do well ignoring the occasional mean stare and honk. Getting aggravated with it or even responding to it is likely to interfere with your focus, so I usually suggest people develop the thick skin in tandem with a return to good driving skills. Picking up a drivers ed manual all over again and reading it carefully will give you all the re-assurance you need.
Most find it hard at first, but for the vast majority they will soon find the mastery of the individual techniques far easier and more productive when they are not affected by irrelevant attacks of conscience.

Cheers;

MSantos