In fact, 101.0 mpg in mine this morning for the 34 miles to work - until I got to the parking garage that is. That's despite a stiff headwind.

(1) How is turning the car off on the highway "unsafe"? In an emergency situation I hope you'd go for the brakes or steering first, not the gas! Assuming I start with the booster vac fully charged I get 3-4 full-power brake applications in any car I've driven (unless the booster is leaking, and THAT should be fixed), and even after that the brakes still work at a higher pedal effort. Hydraulic-assisted steering gets heavy (but works); electric-assist would be unaffected. You re-key to ignition on, so airbags would be up.

This is not something one does other than situations with clear visibility and restricted cross-traffic over a length that makes it worthwhile - not every two seconds.

If one DOES need to accelerate while coasting engine-off:
- An MT car restarts very quickly by simply throwing it into gear and releasing the clutch, faster than an AT can hunt around and find the right gear when you punch the gas even with the engine on and the AT in "D".
- Modern AT cars rely on the engine to lubricate the trans, so while you can coast in neutral with them, you need to keep the engine running to avoid damaging the trans. So engine-off coasting applies only to MT cars anyway.

(2) Varying speeds aka "pulse and glide" - the driver narrows the speed range if traffic is behind precisely to avoid issues, but if no one is behind there is no problem - being well aware of following traffic is a basic part of hypermiling (and good driving period).

(3) Scanning instruments - hypermiling is always attention to the road and safety first, you scan instruments when you can do so safely - if people couldn't handle this how would pilots fly aircraft?

(4) Drafting: I get far better mpg in either of my cars by driving slightly slower than the semis than I did when I tried drafting. I concluded it was (a) pointless, (b) dangerous if you did it close enough to make a serious difference, and (c) exceedingly boring (staring at the back of a trailer).

In short, I suggest folks read the info at cleanmpg.com before condemning hypermilers for practices you *think* they do. And actually try some of the methods a few times before deciding that they are unsafe (if you haven't tried them, your opinion carries no weight, with me at least). Then if you feel they are too dangerous or too much work for you don't do them. Or choose to do only the ones you feel *are* safe.

The methods taken together can make a huge difference in mpg if that matters: for the Prius, roughly 58%. But nobody is forcing anyone to do any of these things.

 

Do I really have to start with this guy?

 

I challenge anyone to read the accidents and tally the ones caused by speeders, racers, drunks, distracted drivers...where are the hypermiling accidents? No doubt it will appear if it happens.

It's really sad that adults are shoving hypermiling misinformation as fact because it suits them. If there is some falllacy about the Fit such as it's not as green as a Hummer, you have no sympathy from me.

Strangely enough, was in four accidents in five years of aggressive driving, then zero in the three years I've hypermiled.

 

This has been covered. I'm done here. It's getting redundant now. I can see that the only people that were listening have left by this point, so you can all argue amongst yourselves about safety and your never ending quest to get 60mpg tank in a Fit -I'm over it. Everyone knows where i stand on the topic, and at this point i am just making the problem worse.

sorry we can't all see eye to eye on the subject -even though most of us are making the same point-. That's just the way it is sometimes.

g'luck all. Be safe.

 

i just want to chime in with something. somebody said when youre trying to avoid an accident you press the brakes and not the gas. there has been countless times where ive had to press the gas to avoid getting rear ended by some dumb ass. or from getting hit by somebody trying to switch lanes without paying attention...you never know when it can happen and you need complete control of your vehicle to avoid it. how is that possible with your car turned off? dont you lose power steering too? have you never had to swerve onto the side of the road to avoid something happening?

 

I did not mention driving with the ignition off - might want to read the thread first. .... maybe you did but you and others are fantasing the hypermiling monster - lives next to the Loc Ness Monster and Big Foot.

 

oh sorry i was under the impression that hyper miling consisted of speeding up, turning off the ignition and coasting to a lower speed, starting the car and speeding back up and repeating. guess i was confused.

 

Great, glad you got that straightened out. Just keep reading the info at cleanmpg.com and you'll figure it out.

 

This was the topic in question i believe......

 

Has anybody asked their insurance companies about these methods and what kind of liability you might be incurring by using them?

Secondly, what about Honda? What does Honda say about turning their cars off and how it may or may not impact safety.

 

So you go from one extreme to another? Motor vehicles are for commuting and public roadways are not for your personnal experimentation, end of story. If you are suddenly that concerned for the enviroment, ride a bike.

Amazingly I've been driving normally for 17 years and have zero accidents.

 

Lol he just pretty much said he really sucks at partaking in illegal activities......

 

So you say!!! What mods are on your car?

 

My truck has a stereo and step rails, my bike has an exhuast? I know, pretty radical huh?

 

As always, you can split this down the middle.

On one side you have those that have never had an accident or caused one from the driving methods that improve there Fit Eco and do that to save gas fuel, helping everone on the earth. In my case, close to 140% better than avg 2008 Fit EPA.

Now the other side, those that have never gave any of it a real try and like to argue with zero experience just there God given www ability to type bla bla bla adding zero value here. What I call bashing. Your argument is not credable with out real facts. Post a single news account of any neg issues because of any of this or some law that says what I do is any way breaking the law. I also like the ones that say I'm done and than keep coming back to the discussion.

To the latter posters, get some experience and come back with something more than your clueless arguments based on nothing but www BS. You are not as smart or clever on the subject as you think.


The most obvious observation is how none of the basher's acknowledge the end result of saving fuel and less air pollution from adopting driving skills that save gas.

 

I really only have two concerns with hypermiling. 1.) Knowing for a fact that coasting in neutral and/or with the engine off is illegal in some states. 2.) There will always be people that take things like this to the extreme trying to "one-up" one another causing unsafe scenarios..

JMO but I doubt we will ever see a accident involving hypermiling on the news because it won't bring the drama like street racing does.

This is directed at no one in particular but don't take what I say personally, just like to play devil's advocate sometimes

 

So..... speaking of credible arguments; anybody even going to address the question I posted in #90 (also once on another thread) or just keep dancing around it like it doesn't exist.

I would love to hear what Honda or your insurance company has to say about each of these methods.

 

Sure I'll address this, right after you show you are giving some and tell us what your insurance vendors has to say (a quote from an email or web based written policy is credible) and what your return email is from Honda Corp. or scanned letter says.

 

I am actually pretty neutral on the topic (yes I know, hard to believe ). There is no hard evidence to support safety concerns, my natural tendency is to err on the side of caution.

I will fire off a letter to Honda Canada here and post up what they have to say, I will see if I can get a written statement from some of the local insurance companies as well.

Honda Customer Relations
715 Milner Avenue
Toronto, ON
M1B 2K8

Really because you guys have a stake in this, I would expect you to verify the responses rather than argue them should they come back not in your favor.

For the record, statements from Honda and the insurance companies would carry more credibility than anybody on here. I would suggest that if it does come back as being unsafe and may cause people to loose their insurance coverage, the methods specifically sighted would be hereby banned from FF.

 

I think you left out one resource for this independent input. Your state police. I will in turn do the same from Fla. Send me the letter you plan to email. I will use that for mine as well. pcs0snq@comcast.net

Not sure how you plan to describe this in English to the three orgs.??
Here's a few ideas:

1. How many car lengths or time from the vehicle in front can I follow?
2. Can I shut off my engine when sitting at a long light or RR?
3. Can I coast with the engine off?
4. Can I inflate my tries to the side wall pressure?
5. Can I drive under the speed limit?
6. ???what else???

Hope this helps