A beautiful day to decimate the EPA 
Wayne Gerdes -
CleanMPG - Aug. 4, 2009
Jennifer Geiger (Consumers Guide) and Tony Gasbarro (Examiner) with the PZEV 05 Accord rated at 21 city/31 highway/24 combined per the 08 EPA.
A schedule to perform a lengthy driving clinic with both Jennifer and Tony was setup a few weeks ago and today was their day of reckoning.
Setting the table
A discussion is held about hypermiling and all of its nuances. The students are given a basic overview on the history of hypermiling, safety, vehicle setup, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced techniques and the types of courses they will experience both with and without guidance.
A baseline is simply a drive around a 4-mile standard “Shopping” course which consists of leaving home on an errand run to the grocery store, a video store, a hardware store and back again. It consists of 6 stop signs, 8 stop lights, 3 parking lots, a subdivision and speed limits between 25 and 45 mph. This course is driven without guidance other than direction from point to point to see how the student reacts to traffic and to assess their standard habits (good or bad
).
The Final exam is driving the same course while “throwing the book at it” including animated guidance and instruction. The std. “Wayne” clinic.
The Highway clinic consists of a drive from Gurnee, IL onto the Interstate (I-94/294) to O’Hare’s departure terminals and back again. This one is relatively simple as it includes discussion about lane placement (RR), proctologist avoidance (RP and alternates of alternates), speed limits, DWB, DWL, ventilation and quite a bit of discussion about what “everybody else” is doing on the roadways and the myths that are attached to Hypermiling while I accentuate safety and being 100% legal.
On the Road - Baseline
First up was Jennifer, the
Midwest Automobile Media Associations Vice-President of Membership and one of the editors at Consumer Guide. She had to experience the warm-up hit on her baseline but it was really only a course familiarization drive. The tally? 19.7 mpg.
Tony, a Chicago area “Examiner” drove the same course next with a warmed up vehicle and although mostly uneventful, got caught up in the front of the grocery store parking lot with traffic and shoppers walking into and out of the front door. A great lesson learned by both Tony and Jennifer which is exactly what is supposed to occur. His baseline came in at 23.5 mpg.
The FAS, Braking and Steering
With Tony still behind the wheel, I instructed him to drive to an empty parking lot and perform his first FAS from about 30 mph. During the Glide, poor roadways giving rise to poor FE was discussed as was power and unpowered steering. After his glide through the “rough” area, I instructed him to brake as hard as he could while simulating an Emergency Stop. We stopped from 25 mph in a very short distance with the ABS working as expected. Both Tony and Jennifer took away from that planned activity the knowledge that there are brakes during a FAS but with power brakes - vacuum limitations.
All highway - Off to the airport we go!
With a freshly reset FCD (the OEM in the NAVI unit), we headed off with three in the car to O’Hare. Most Clinics end in the 51 to 54 mpg range but today, the stars and planets must have been aligned as the FE achieved by both was out of this world! Construction for almost the entire distance left us in 45 mph construction zones which meant strict attention to SAHM in the Accord (LOD under 50% and IGN between 29 and 37), DWL and handling traffic while being one of only 3 “legal” drivers on the Interstate that we were driving along up with. With Tony at the wheel, we arrived at O’Hare’s Departure Terminal #3 at an amazing 57.2 mpg. We were using simple basic and intermediate techniques with the NICE-On being the farthest up the ladder.
For the drive back, Jennifer got in and within 15-minutes; she was flying solo with only slight guidance from me. With traffic building, we took an alternate of an alternate going up and around an Oasis (rest area) allowing some of the higher speed travelers to continue on their way and back down onto the interstate we went. Through the Death Turn clover leaf off-ramp at 40 to 20 mph, a pulse up the overpass and a NICE-On all the way to the first and second stop lights and back to our final destination at the mall. She experienced her first FAS and the accompanying heavy steering feel while gliding to a stop in the large mall parking lot. Her segment, 55.0 mpg.
A few more minutes of clinic time with basic to advanced techniques practiced around the empty mall parking lots and we were off to my home just over the ridge.
Both appear ready for guided advanced techniques...
Final Exam
With a quick break after the O’Hare trip, we went over the lessons learned on the highway and what if anything they can incorporate into their own daily routines. Additionally, we discussed what they will experience on their final exam. Some here know what that means
Jennifer was out first and the first person out is always at a disadvantage as they have no idea what they are going to experience.
The 3-block glide from the drive to the first stop sign showed what a little elevation potential can do. A slight wait for traffic to clear before exiting the subdivision was enforced. A strong pulse with a long glide afterward, some smart braking and we made it through the first light, another long accel and glide through the second.
She was caught at the third but arriving at < 15 mph is not bad. A few more lights and signs, into the Grocery Store parking lot, park in a face-out and take off to the video store. A Face-in with Potential, the 270-degree swing, 2-block glide to the Hardware store without using a single drop of fuel (I really like this part of the course
) and a wait for traffic to clear before taking on the next two stop signs and three lights with some Smart Braking. Long FAS down the suburban arterial while slowing for a 23 mph subdivision entry and back home again...
Her final, 35.1 mpg with heavier traffic and more technical conditions vs. the 19.7 mpg achieved earlier in the day.
Tony’s turn... Tony has been practicing some of the techniques previously so he had some idea as to what he was supposed to do prior let alone watching what Jennifer had achieved in her final exam left him in the cat bird seat.
Through the same course, he arrived back at my home with a 36.5 mpg run vs. the 23.5 mpg achieved earlier in the day.
Clinic Results
| Driver | Course | Distance | MPG | Percent above/below EPA |
| Jennifer | City Shopping Trip (Baseline) | 4-miles | 19.7 | -6.2% |
| Jennifer | City Shopping Trip (Final Exam) | 4-miles | 35.1 | +67.1% |
| Jennifer | Highway - WI Border to O’Hare Airport | 32-miles | 55.0 | +77.4% |
| | | | | |
| Tony | City Shopping Trip (Baseline) | 4-miles | 23.5 | +11.9% |
| Tony | City Shopping Trip (Final Exam) | 4-miles | 36.5 | +73.8% |
| Tony | Highway - WI Border to O’Hare Airport | 32-miles | 57.2 | + 84.5% |
The true Mid-sized Accord is a highway driver but to almost double the EPA without resorting to bevy of advanced techniques and novices behind the wheel? An impressive clinic in my book!
Taking an AT equipped Accord around the 4-mile city nightmare is lesson in futility as this is Full hybrid - Prius/Fusion territory but the drivers pulled their weight and achieved what I think we can all agree is excellent mileage.
Let us all hope the “Lesson for a Lifetime” was taken to heart and both continue to improve as they place the miles on their current and future rides.
All said, nice job Jennifer and Tony! Another clinic down, 5 + billion to go
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