I think that a Part 7.5 (or VII.5) is in order because I really only scratched the surface of “hypermiling” and what it’s all about in Part VII.
Hypermiling is made up of two words, “hyper” refers to a large quantity, and “miling” refers to the mileage, or the quantity we’re trying increase. So hypermiling is the act of trying to maximize your car’s fuel economy.
So here is how I achieved the fuel economy results that I did (9L/100km) with my 350Z, in 5 easy steps. Don’t worry, it’s much easier than other 5-step programs. 1. Accelerate slowly. Around town, it’s not a race. I used every ounce of self-control in my body to keep the acceleration in check. Not easy with the VQ35, but necessary for hypermiling.
2. Keep the revs low. I tried to keep the revs between 1800 and 2500 at all times. This is something of a sweet spot for fuel economy.
3. Coast whenever possible. Try to keep the car moving without using gas. Going down hills is the obvious time, but also coast towards a stop, don’t use engine braking and use the brakes themselves minimally. Slowing the car down just means that you’ll have to use gas to speed it back up later.
4. Be attentive of the yellow and red lights. If you see the pedestrian flashing stop hand signal thingy at an intersection up ahead, you know that a yellow light is coming. If you don’t think you’ll make the intersection, start coasting immediately. If you think it’ll be close, you might even want to speed up a bit, just to increase your chance of making it. Idling at a red light doesn’t doesn’t really help fuel economy. In fact, you’ll be getting about infinite L/100km when stopped. Speeding up is a risky move though, because if you guessed wrong and you don’t make the light, you just used a bit more gas.
5. Don’t use the vehicle’s accessory power features. This refers to A/C, heating, radio, and heated seats. If you don’t use these as much, your fuel economy will improve. Although to drive around without a radio on just to save 0.00001L/100km you’d have to be a complete eco-mentalist. Not even Prius drivers do that. Really, A/C is the worst culprit, so try to avoid using it when hypermiling.
Those are the basics to hypermiling. It’s nothing fancy, nothing original, and nothing complicated. What’s the best fuel economy you can get with your car?
you forgot 6) take the highway everywhere
in my Saab 900 Turbo, with the A/C off and the cruise set at 70, I can get 32mpg entirely highway driving. Around town, more like 22-24. But I’m in boost all the time.
Very true, James. On the highway, I have managed to get into the 7-8L/100km range. Or about 29-32 mpg on your system. So our cars are right in the same ballpark.
I had an ’82 Saab 900 Turbo, and the AC was a serious mileage killer. It upped the idle revs by almost 1000 rpm when I switched it on. Great car though