Why lock this thread. Rich posted a credible post of what the Fit is capable of. It is like most subjects, some are interested, some are not.

He has a Fit, I don't but I do know several people that have them.

I have a Honda Insight and a Honda Civic Hybrid. If they come out with a hybrid model for the Fit in 09, I may be interested. I follow several forums that are specific to cars with potential. (fuel efficiency)

 

And the information is there. It will stay there forever if locked, but at least we can all stop arguing over it.

 

No argument here! I haven't seen anyone "THROW A FIT."

I think that more people would find : The Official Post Whore Thread much more offensive. Maybe it should be deleted, not locked???

 

That would be true if it was not in "The Wasteland".

really don't care if this thread stays open. It was just a suggestion.

 

the problem i have with this thread is that you guys are bragging about unsafe practices to save some mpg. it sets a horrible example for the younger members. there is a reason i dont post my time improvements down my canyon road. because i know street racing is dangerous and illegal. i dont want a 16 year old kid to read about something i did at my own risk and try it (because they will). it should not be allowed to talk about illegal driving practices. i am done with this thread.

 

I agree with Cavie on this one...the arrogance of this statement is amazing. I've put down more miles in my 4 years of professional driving than most here will drive in their life, and I can speak from personal observation that drivers who are constantly changing speed are a profound disruption to the flow of traffic...not to mention the reaction they illicit from other drivers. Once again, showing wanton disregard and disrespect for everyone else on the road. Selfish...






Now it's my turn to sound arrogant...how many "far right" lanes do you see on MOST major interstates in the country??? In my experience it's usually the one separated by a dotted white line from the "far left" lane. (ok, that was more sarcastic than arrogant.)




Finally, lest anyone should call into question my ability to speak with at least SOME semblance of authority on this subject, would everyone burnin up 2500 to 3000 miles every week please raise your hand?


*pause*





Mine's in the air...(now THAT was arrogant)

 

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A bit of history on that report that was passed on by Channel 5 - Seattle...the reporter never mentioned to Wayne Gerdes about spending at least half of the story on the rare practice of drafting semis and the like - borders on slander.

If you want to see a truly professional hypermiling story done nationally, this is a video from last week's The Early Show on CBS.

_________________________________________________

For the rational - tell me what's unsafe about these hypermiling techniques:

• Accelerating and braking as little as safely possible - don't pass other cars, charge to stop lights...
• Do acceleration and braking moderatly - don't get in a position to slam either.
• Don't idle for more than 10 seconds at stop lights (a Canadian govt site promotes this)
• Have the foot off the accelerator when coasting
• Keeping a sharp eye for drivers behind, infront, road conditions ahead (including intersections), the dashboard.
• Using the alertness in the above point to coast thru intersections more often than not.
• Picking less congested routes or different times when possible.
• Driving on the rightmost lane to allow passing.
• Occasionally shifting left one lane to allow drivers behind to pass.
• Using emergency flashers to encourage would-be tailgaters to pass immediately (works 95% of the time for me)
• Go the speed limit - maybe just under.

This is a frequently used set of hypermiling techniques - not the cherry-picking of rare/bad techniques such as drafting by detractors.

Hopefully some of you can rise above the grade school playground mentality of "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" propaganda.

 

It's unfortunate, but inevitable, that hypermiling has gotten such a bad batch of publicity. A small handful of truly radical folks have ruined a good thing by advocating and practicing some clearly unsafe methods that not only inconvenience others but put them at risk.

I know RichXKU and I know he is not one of those people.

My own "hypermiling" tests are probably more along the lines of "extramiling". I'm unwilling to trade time for money, so I'm not about to poke along just to save a fraction of a penny per mile; getting an extra 15 minutes' sleep at the end of my nightly commute is far more valuable to me. And I absolutely refuse to inconvenience other drivers or put them at risk, so I save my pulse-and-glide or pulse-and-coast sessions for times when there are few cars and/or many lanes. I also do my "extramiling" on roads that I know very, very well.

I agree with the trucker who says that people who can't maintain their speed drive him crazy. They drive me crazy too! My wife is one of them; she doesn't like cruise control, so her speed goes up and down as the terrain rolls. It drives me nuts, and it has gotten her a fair share of speeding tickets from cops smart enough to set up their traps at the bottom of hills. My point? She's not trying to save gas, she's just not paying attention to what she's doing.

Hypermilers are paying attention. And responsible hypermilers are not inconveniencing other drivers, except perhaps those who think the speed limit is just a suggestion. I often find myself disagreeing with hypermilers on when and where to practice the techniques, and I disagree with them about driving below the speed limit when the road is crowded with drivers going at or above it. But I totally agree with the general concept, and I'm proud and happy to be averaging about 5MPG better through the safe and careful exercise of hypermiling techniques.

 

I can't see the video, because it's blocked at work, but I got my whiff of hypermiling from this article:

This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk.

Call him a radical or whatever, BUT he is the FOUNDER of "Hypermiling." The article clearly states the unsafe practices that he uses. Perhaps those that are more of a responsible "hypermiler" should not label themselves as such and come up with a differnt name, because any time "hypermiling" is mentioned, I will automatically divert to the article above and will state that "it's unsafe."

 

This is the print version of the CBS Early News story. Note that it's nothing like the Mother Jones article just referenced. Yes, some things in the Mother Jones article turned some readers the wrong way, but it's live and learn. Wayne is focusing on the non-controversial techniques that can allow the typical American driver to get a 20-30% improvement in fuel economy.

Hope you get a chance to see the CBS video at home!

 

Yeah, I'll check it out at home. And I'm sorry, but I don't know if I'm blind, but the link you posted was a very short article and all it said was Wayne G. got 71MPG while the other guy got 45MPG on the same trip? Didn't say anything about driving techniques.

But my main point was, This Wayne guy coined the word "hypermiling", which to me, means drafting, turning off the engine, holding up traffic, etc. ALONG WITH those practices you mentioned above to save gas. I don't have any problems with those that are mindful of others around them, but when you refer to yourself as a hypermiler, I will always cross-reference that to the person who was the founder of it. And like I said, if you're not "one of those people", I think you should label yourselves as something else. "Sedatedmiler?" "Greenmiler"? "Reformed Hypermilier: The Responsible Sect"?

 

The beef is the video, but at least there is some text.

I think you are sophisticated enought not to blindly believe everything in print...hypermiling articles again will interview us (yes, I've been interviewed), then when it's in print dwell on stuff NEVER mentioned in the interview such as drafting...sounds like distortion to me. Might as well say:
Really adult - really intellectual isn't it? It's no different than posters here insisting on painting hypermilers in the most unfavorable manner with no interest is validating those assertions.

If you want to an accurate picture of hypermiling, visit CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling

 

 

Okay, good to hear he wasn't doing any of that in that instance. BUT, does he do it and/or endorse that kind of "radical" hypermiling practice? According to the article I posted, he does, but maybe I'm not getting the full story.

And I do not believe everything I read. I try to use my best judgement. In this case, Wayne claiming he can get 100+MPG in a Honda Insight, I was very very skeptical, until I read how he did it. It made sense, but then brought on a negative perspective of the whole "movement."

 

Had a look... and the opening sentence of the CleanMPG "How to hypermile forum"

 

Thanks Delta and wdb for the backup. I guess I failed to mention that would never be doing anything beyond what Delta Flyer mentioned if there's traffic around, and never during rush hour. My record runs this weekend were done early and late with no more than 2 or 3 other cars in view most of the time, as most people apparently stayed home this Memorial day. I specifically schedule my "road errands" around times when I know very few will be around.

 

I understand the techniques here, and agree with them -though i may wait for a slightly longer stop to turn off the engine- it is not unreasonable. If you really wan to defend your practices you may want to admit that there is faults with the driving techniques expressed by the OP. I am not arguing hypermilers in general. If you read what i have said before, you will realize that i am in disagreement with a few of the practices mentioned. -of the which you purposely left out of your description of hypermiling. (not because you didn't want to argue the point, because you don't agree with them).

FOR THE RECORD I don not think all hypermilers are bad people on the same level as charlie manson or jeffrey dahmer. My point here is some of the things mentioned by the OP in this thread to achieve 70mpg were in my opinion not smart and borderline dangerous.

turning your car off on the highway - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe"

keeping inconsistent speeds - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe"

paying ore attention to your ignition, scan gauge, and gas level than the traffic around you - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe" - "it's unsafe"

Anyone that wants to argue that; I've got all day, but people just defending for the sake of defending something, spare me the effort. -it's not relevant anyway.

 

The disclaimer at CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling is one of those legal CYA stuff ... among other things we have members that join and advocate some of those questionable stuff, that I often have to state: "CleanMPG condemns drafting semis" etc.

Hypermiling is not an all-or-nothing proposition....would a Honda Fit without all the options not be a Honda Fit? My point is the same as the video Wayne made on CBS last week - you can save 20-30% by doing the things I've listed earlier in this thread. Yes, some do more but most of hypermiling is not edgy stuff, but it's always the edgy stuff that makes the press.

Honda Insight getting 100mpg - very doable. On a warm day cruising 40-45mph, you can do 100mpg or even better....that's down to 85mpg at 60mph and 50mpg at 80mph and above.

 

I agree.
I think this hypermiling stuff is just as dangerous as street racing. I sense more strict laws to come about "hypermiling" and turning off your engine while on public roads.
I think if you want awesome MPG you do not buy a Fit, you buy a Prius. The Fit is not a pure MPG machine like the Prius is. Instead of putting your life, and others life at risk on the public highway, why dont you just trade your Fit in for a Prius.
I mean to each his own but lets not get to out of control in this "hunt" for the best MPG.

Tyler