Hyper Miler

Yes, I've heard of them. Reader's Digest recently did an article about them. They even have a competition to see who can get the best mpg.

One myth to start with is that if you park on an incline, it will save gas by rolling down it to get the car going. How much gas does it take to get on the incline? No true savings here.

Oh yes, there is.

If you go up an incline and go back down with the engine running, you'll save if you switch off the engine when going down. Of course, this is actually illegal (not to mention unsafe).

I save gas by not using the air conditioning as much as possible. In the mornings, when going to work, the sun's not yet high enough to heat the car and in the afternoons after work, the sun's too low to heat the car too. I do that from Monday to Friday. Saturdays and Sundays, if we leave the house between 7am and 5pm, we can leave the AC off and just open the windows.

Then again, the air in our place is cleaner than most other cities so keeping the windows open is okay for my case.

I received this letter and think it might pertain to this discussion:

----- I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon.

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON

Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.

You can easily increase mileage by installing a manifold vacuum gauge and making an effort to keep the vacuum as high as possible under all driving conditions. That allows you to accelerate as necessary at the lowest fuel consumption rate by keeping the lightest pressure necessary on the pedal. On a pick-up with a cab-over camper, I was able to increase mileage from 9 to 11 without much of a decrease in travel time. It does get tedious though. It's the old "drive like you have an egg between your foot and the pedal" idea.

Also, driving out of a turn, the way race drivers do, reduces tire scrub (friction) and conserves momentum that fuel has already been used for building up.

Looking far ahead for stopping conditions allows you to coast for a good distance before having to do final braking.

No rocket science or magic in a bottle here, just common sense.

This vacuum gauge idea only works for petrol engines that do not have a Turbo.

It will not work for diesel engines of any type!!

Yeah, there was a guy on our block that got 10-12 mpg better than anyone else depending on how much the neighbors added to his tank the night before.

About impact with truck: How much difference do you think it would make, if hit by a truck with a GCW of 80,000 lb, whether you're in a 2000 lb car or a 6000 lb SUV? Not much to the driver/passengers of the smaller vehicle.

Those of you who have been hit by a truck, please weigh in (pun intended).

I was driving in a tanker truck with a half load. Some woman decided to make a left in front of us. She didn't notice the pedestrian crossing the road until she made the turn. SHE STOPPED RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. She was in a mid sized pick-up truck with a cab cover. We didn't have time to react, maybe about 15 feet. When we hit her doing 60km/hr the weight of the load shifted to the front and pushed us right through her. Her truck lifted and spun in the air. Her back tire was bent at a 30% angle from the ground, the cab cover was destroyed and she broke her neck. Just think what would of happen to her if she was in a Smart Car.

Raises hand

Back when I was five or six, my whole family was packed into my father's pickup when we were hit by a speeding tanker truck. No one died, thank God, but I'm sure the truck driver was not concerned about conserving fuel when he hit us.

I disagree, every little helps......also, the chance is that the truck driver will see the bigger heavier vehicle first.....

There is no difference in death between SUV and large car drivers during a collision but the SUV drivers are twice as likely to kill the other driver than if they were driving a large car. The reason is that the high SUV jumps on top of the other car and crushes the abitacle while a large car stays on the road.

So, SUV drivers, you are not safer than if you were driving a large car but you are twice as dangerous to the others. Don't you feel liable for other driver's security? And most SUV uses more gas than a large car.

Sounds like a retirement plan for ones "heirs & assigns".

Andy,

The truck driver may see but reaction of the vehicle may not allow sufficient time for seven or more points of articulation to respond to avoid a collision.

First priority is to instill in the automobile drivers mind that they are in mortal danger if they put themselves in harms way.

They, the automobile drivers are most responsible for the orientation of their vehicles in relation to other vehicles with special attention to avoid the close proximity of truck traffic.

Folks get accustomed to maintaining distances related to automobiles and often apply those standards to trucks with sad result often.

Yupp!

Good answer(s), Guest, and so voted, although until you register as a member, it goes uncredited. I'd like to add these points:

1. Not only will this save the horsepower lost to running the compressor, the weight savings will also help increase the mileage. A/C compressors are relatively heavy, and even when not running, the belt drag doesn't help, so complete removal is better than breaking off the "on" switch.

2. Another good tip, and if you happen to be one of us who does get hit by a truck, game over, so you can stop worrying about poor mileage then.

3. Slowing down can help, but as I discovered back in the late '70's, some cars seem to have the equivalent of a boat or ship's "hull speed" - a speed at which the hull or body shape cleaves through water/air most efficiently. With my '72 Chevelle 350, this was 3-4 mpg better between 60-65 mph than at 55-60 mph, confirmed by the empirical method many times. Never could figure any other reason.

With regard to your point 3., I believe that if you could find a graph of the BHP and torque against RPM for that engine, you would find that the higher speed lay in the middle between max torque and max BHP. Slightly nearer maximum torque than max BHP.....

This is usually the area where any particular engine is most efficient....

Then plot the cars speed at that RPM in top gear......and I bet you would be in the ballpark of 60-65 MPH!!

So the extra wind resistance of the slightly higher speed was not enough to cause a heavier fuel consumption when the engine was working at its most economical revs......

Actually, modern car consumption per mile is not really dependant on the speed between 30 and 70 miles per hour. You will spend more gas traveling a 100 miles stretch at 20MPH than at 65MPH. Higher speed produce more drag but the fix load of keeping the engine alive and others are used for less long.

If you really want to save on gas, learn to anticipate slowing down and minimize the use of the breaks or compression. Drive outside rush hour if possible. Each time you use the breaks, you dissipate the expensive energy that you stored in the car momentum. This is where hybrids get most of their advantage.

Cities can help reduce gas consumption by synchronizing the streets lights for the major traffic direction or keep them synchro in blocks of 5 lights to minimize the starts and stops.

Finally, keep the tire air pressure high and stay away from "performance" tires using soft rubber that stick to the road.

1. Don't drive over 55 mph. Save up to 20% over driving 70 mph.

2. Coast as much as possible.

3. Try to do legal rolling stops. Try not to ever fully stop.

4. Check your mileage at every fill up to see how you are doing.

5. Don't carry around all your gear. Take out seats you don't use.

6. Always drive down hill, and with the wind behind you. Suffer through hot weather, without the air conditioner. Just kidding.

Several seem to think that turning off the AC and rolling the windows down is more fuel efficient. I used to do this myself. This used to be the typical belief, but is actually a myth. Two studies were done back in the early 90's that proved that the turbulence caused by rolling a window down far surpassed any loss of efficiency caused by running the AC. I gave it a test and found that I had to fill (gas up) less often over the course of a couple weeks when I kept the windows up and ran the AC as needed. ACs have become more efficient since then with better lubrication and lighter parts. Removing the AC altogether will definitely improve efficiency by removing weight and load on the engine (make sure that you install a new correctly sized belt that does not rub on anything if your AC is not the only thing run by that belt.). However, if you actually want to enjoy those savings, you've got to keep the windows rolled up. It's over 110 degrees here in the desert today. I'm keeping my windows up and AC on.

The best things you can do to increase mileage outside of buying a smaller car with a smaller engine is to:

1. keep the correct pressure in your tires and rotate them on schedule

2. drive the speed limit

3. keep the car well maintained - oil changes, air filter (got to keep them clean), belts, tune ups etc.

These things alone can improve your mileage as much as 15%.

4. buy higher end spark plugs to ensure complete burning of the fuel in the cylinder - some of the new ones are specially designed - check with your cars manufacturer to make sure these are OK to use in your particular engine

There are additives you can buy to put in your fuel tank to clean deposits and gunk from fuel injector lines and nozzles, restoring power and increasing mileage. Additives for oil can help remove sludge and build-up from engine components (you generally put them in, run the engine until it is warm, then drain do an oil change - a quart of transmission fluid works well for this). This improves engine lubrication, lengthens engine life and reduces the mass of crankshafts and piston shafts by removing build-up.

Beyond these simple easy to do things, the next step would be removing weight and making the vehicle more aerodynamic. There are some companies that make fairings for large trucks to significantly increase their mileage. Some of these companies are also willing to custom make components for cars. A big part of this is to reduce the turbulence and drag off the back of the car. These fairings may possibly make it more difficult to get into the trunk or boot and can be quite expensive. As far as weight goes, I have a friend who owns a van. He removes all of the pasenger seats, only using them when needed. This weight reduction actually does save him fuel. Although I don't recommend this, I do know a person who has almost completely stripped the inside of his car - no back seat, no front passenger seat, no door panels, no carpet. I don't recall how much weight he said this removed, but he claims better mileage although I doubt it made that much improvement. Whatever you do, DO NOT remove, tamper with, or compromise any safety features of your car. It just is not worth it.

Good luck.

Although most of your points are good, there are a few that need correction I feel for safety for people who maybe do not understand as much about cars as you do:-

1).......in your tires and rotate them on schedule. This might not be a good idea on some vehicles, some tyres cannot be easily or correctly rotated. Some can only be changed front to back to front, but not on the other side without being turned around on the wheel first....which costs!! This is sort of possibly "wheel/tyre/car" dependent.

2) Additives for oil can help remove sludge and build-up from engine components. If you use a modern, high quality oil, especially Synthetic oils from good sources, this is simply not needed anymore. It is just a waste of time and money. But if you are one of the many US Citizens who use old fashioned oil that went out with the Dinosaurs (from a European point of view!), then you may still need that!

3) I am also not convinced that gearboxes need additives either today personally.....many additives contradict the manufacturers warranty, one must be careful.....

Also, be careful when changing to synthetic engine oil on a high mileage engined car that used only old fashioned mineral oil before, it should be done carefully as all the sludge buildup and lacquering will be cleaned off the inside of the engine and deposited in the filter or stay in the oil!! First fill with Synthol should be changed out much earlier for this reason alone!!! If the car is relatively new (under say 30,000 Kms), then forget this point.

I have personally used full Synthetics (with of course much longer times between changes) for over 20 years now, with astounding positive effects on engine life, some of these cars have been sold on at only 120,000 to 150,000 Kms, but several cars have made between 360,000 and 400,000 KMs and were ALL sold in perfect running order, ins spite of the distances involved!!!

We have had no damaged engines in spite of a petrol engine being given "Agri" fuel in Italy, and a Cylinder head replacement on a diesel engined car that my wife filled up with petrol, took it for a fast run on a motorway and blew all the cooling water out!! The rest of the engine did another 200,000 KMs with us and was running perfectly when sold....with the replacement cylinder head of course! it still got her home that day, but the head was cracked and lost cooling water slightly....

Several seem to think that turning off the AC and rolling the windows down is more fuel efficient...is actually a myth.

Well, I guess that means that the extra 30 to 50 kilometers I get from running with the AC off is a figment of my imagination.

As I said, I only run with the AC off in the early morning and early evening. The air's cool so I can drive with the windows down.

I usually drive at 60kph and engage 5th gear as early as possible. I accelerate slowly and decelerate slowly (depends on the situation, of course).

For safety, I stay four to five seconds behind the vehicle in front. If there's a knot of vehicles in front, I extend the distance some more. I get wary of other drivers bunching themselves up. It's a ticket to a multi-vehicle accident.

Some cars (yours for instance) do not lose their good value of wind resistance when the windows are partially or fully lowered, but many do......

It would be interesting for us all I feel to see a picture of your car for comparison with others that get less MPG with the windows open. A good tip for anyone in the market for something new too.....

Thanks in advance.

...to see a picture of your car for comparison...

That'll have to wait until tomorrow since it's already 7:57PM here and it's too dark to take a picture.

If you can't wait, my car's a 1995 Nissan LEC that uses a carburator, with a 1.3 liter 16 valve engine. Nissans used to have a reputation here for having powerful air conditioners.

When I use the AC everyday, no matter the time of day, I typically get 10 kilometers per liter (23.5 miles per US gallon). If I don't use the AC, I get as much as 12.5 kpl (29.4mpg)

My place of work is about 9 kilometers away, very little traffic (outskirts of the city) and I only use it for going to and from work. So, Mondays to Fridays, the AC hardly ever gets used.

On Saturdays and Sundays, we go to church and then the mall and back home. These days I use the AC since we're on while the sun is high enough to heat the car's interior.

So much of the aero-drag/ compressor power + weight (actually mass) balance is affected by the driving cycle.

Around town, stop, start, wait some more = windows open wins.

Cruising the motorway, Windows shut help aero much more.

To note: the consumption of the referigerator is nearly constant, whether you're not moving at all, or are motoring along at 220 KpH; so the percentages change with every set of variables.

So far, I like the suggestions I've heard; but none of these equate to the "hyper miler" clams. I think that the whole "hyper miler" concept is just a myth in and of itself. As the engineer once said, "Why can't you build that, I was able to draw it!" Even though it was an optical illusion.

Everything we have talked about here seams like it may gain an extra 10 - 12 miles of travel over a 20 gallon consumption, but not turn a 15-18 MPG car into a 29-31 MPG one.

I will say, though, I think my next new car will have exactly 1 horsepower. Know what I mean?!

And run on oats and corn straight from the field?

Doesn't your 'new model' have to remain in the on position 24/7?

That might eat into your savings.

And don't forget the methane output although the additional "residuals" could be used to fertilize the yard/garden. Just don't move next to me!

Simply put, hypermiling works under the proper conditions. I have a 1999 civic si, (dohc vtec). it normally got 30-32 mpg to and from work which has an even mix of 35-45 mph 2 lane roads and 4 lane open highway. I keep track of speed, hit the brakes as little as possible (it is just taking away energy you already put into the system), time accelerations so that I get the most out of it, like getting to the top of a hill that will give me enough energy to get you far down the street. I have not removed anything from my car, I do not shut my engine off while driving and I increased my mpg's to 41.5 mpg. the easiest way to describe the driving method is to act like you have no gas in your tank adn there isn't a fill-up station anyhwere nearby.

I want to take it to the next step adn start shutting off the engine at certain points. Are there actually laws that say you can't coast down the road with the engine off, if anyone knows where those state laws are, please post.

I presume most if not all states have something comparable:

Florida Statutes, Title XXIII (Motor Vehicles), Chapter 316 (State Uniform Traffic Control), .2024 (Coasting Prohibited) should cover your question. Go to:

http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0316/SEC2024.HTM&Title=->2007->Ch0316->Section%202024#0316.2024

And keep in mind, without the engine, power steering, assisted braking, and automatic transmissions do not function so well. Nor any electrical equipment...

Manufacturers are required to provide city and highway mileage relative to a standard driving loop. That's OK, but because of variations in transmission and differential gearing, I'd like to also see fuel consumption as a graph showing variations in consumption relative to the various gears that the car will in be as the car's speed is increased incrementally. That way, I might find that car X attains it's highest fuel mileage at 47 mph while in fourth gear of it's six speed automatic transmission. Of course it would be under idealized laboratory conditions of no terrain or aerodynamic load, but it would give us information to work with, not just numbers that for the most part are used as a selling point.

There might even be a way to do it under aerodynamic load on the dyno.

I have a 94 accord 5spd.

Most times I kick it out of gear and drift and try and time the redlights on my local 4lane. I also turn the engine off on long inclines. Draft big trucks on the interstate @30 ft or less. Turning without stopping when I can. I try not to rev above 3k in any gear. All this has netted me 3-4 mpg. I now get 34/5 instead of 31.

I need to try and step up to 89oct and see if that increases things or not. My car seems to like BP and Citgo stuff better than Exxon I can say that. I'm on my first tank of citgo now and it mayb be picking up 1 or 2 mpg's.

I normally do 70 in the 65's and 60 in the 55's on my way to work. I'm not willing to slow down since I have a job to get to.

It gives me the warm fuzzy feeling when I make al gore happy, but bottom line I haven't seen the crazy increases people speak of.

Do be careful - restarting the engine or getting it back in gear may be a necessary step when what you should be doing instead is braking and steering! If 'twere me, it'd take a LOT of increased mpg's to make me risk my skin...

In my humble opinion only, you also need a car with a fairly low wind resistance, a diesel engine (not everyone's cup of tea!), not too heavy - not a Jeep for example......what do you drive?

My car is not the most economical around as I need something able to pull a 1.5 metric ton trailer, with a fairly high wind resistance I should imagine. The car is a Mitsubishi Grandis 2 Liter Turbo Diesel, weighs around 1750 Kg empty......

I get about 26 M.P. US Gallon (31 M.P. UK Gallon) when pulling the trailer, normal driving without a trailer I get about 39 M.P. US Gallon (47 M.P. UK Gallon).

If I try hard and drive carefully, I can scrape a few more miles per gallon than that.....I can not normally be bothered to better it.....the above consumption figures is completely normal driving doing nothing special by the way.....that is just the car driven in no specially fuel saving way.....I suspect that in the near future, I will have to change my attitude.........

I made the effort to drive more carefully and save Diesel, not switching the motor off as it is needed for brakes and steering.

I did the following:-

1) Drop out of gear and coasted to the next point where I have to stop.

2) get into top gear as quickly as possible

3) Stayed below 60 MPH, except on the autobahn, where I never went over about 75MPH, but I did not drive much Autobahn during the test, probably less than 15%.

4) Not to accelerate too hard.

I achieved (can't even believe it myself!!) a further 17% saving.........

I am NOT a Hyper Miler, never have been, never will be, but I can now easily believe that someone who really knows how, can achieve startling savings.

I di nothing illegal I feel, engine was never switched off and I even had the AC still on, so some further savings are possible in the fall I can see!!

I thought there was something fuzzy too!

Drafting trucks - tisk tisk, stop that. You can not maintain the necessary degree of attention to avoid a life threatening accident. Some big rigs can decelerate in a hurry if needed and that trailers rear DOT bumper is designed to collapse so you can slip right under.

Is dangerous or just an opinion?

In the fuel delivery business and all the gas comes out of the same pipe, is put in trucks that go to all the gas stations. It's all the same, some companies claim to have special additives but actually all gasoline has those additives anyway.

Why would you be in a hurry to get to work?? Think about it...

Would it be possible to invent software connecting a convoy of trucks so that they could save fuel by drafting one another safely? How about small vehicles. How much would it save? What would be the risk.

If even something like a deer jumped out in front of the convoy, cleaning up the chain reaction accident would require a huge amount of fuel. Wreckers just by themselves don't get anything near good mileage, let alone when they are towing a semi. Ambulances aren't much better.

In order to enforce a convoy system, building all roads as divided one lane roads would do it. No passing and a lot of tailgating. You would just have to plan on at least an extra hour to get where you are going, baring any accidents or shootings.

Mercedes has actually had the Truck software for many years, though it has not actually been released fully implemented. Just a few little offshoots.....

It was designed to allow any number of trucks (all with the radar & software) to be able to bunch up on the motorway to save space!!! It was like they were all linked physically to each other!!!!

I saw a convincing off road demo on the TV, it must have been 15 years ago at least.....

There already is an invention that allows a series of convoys to travel simultaneously, it's called a train.

We have allowed it to be dictated that owning and driving a car whenever and wherever you want is an entitlement & prerogative in life. So we destroy the railroad and trolley systems and build an unsustainable existence, go figure.

....but if the infrastructure has been removed, or was never there in the first place, putting it in today will probably be far too expensive.....but I certainly agree that trains should be used more than they are at the present time.

In Germany we have the stupid problem that moving by rail is far less flexible, slower and more expensive than using trucks......so what gets used most of course are trucks!! Blocking the roads......

In Germany we have the stupid problem that moving by rail is far less flexible, slower and more expensive than using trucks

In the US that is also the case by choice and our economy has benefited from it immensely.

If one were to ship a box car of fresh lettuce by train from Los Angeles to Denver the time frame for delivery is about two weeks.

The same ammount of cargo can move by truck overnight.

Could it be possible that the cost advantage lorrys enjoy is that they get the use of public roads, while the railway is a private concern (in the US, at least) maintaining their own roadway.

Heavy lorrys have done significant damage to motorways in my region.

Repairs are funded through taxes applied to purchase of motorfuels. I believe that ~15% is the tariff. I'm sure that car drivers are subsidising heavy transport.

Here in Germany, for some years now the trucks have to pay "Per Mile" for using the Autobahn, the Tolls are collected electronically.

Here the total weight is allowed to ~40 000 Kg, & the foundations aren't up to it.

Do your fees represent actual costs? Or are they arbitrary, as they are here.

I haven't a clue exactly, but if the complaints are true, the government is making a profit!!

Remember, Germany is the "Transit" country for Europe, several other countries charge (for many years now) for Autobahn usage already, France, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Austria and Italy to name but a few.....

Theb truckers would not fill up here as it was always expensive for fuel, so they avoided the taxes on fuels, but used the Autobahns as they are good, fast & direct......this was a way to get the money back for the damage they cause.....

damage they cause.....

Breaking up 14" of concrete are they?

Then you have never read any reports on the amount of damage a single truck does in comparison to a single car.

The numbers I remember (hopefully someone has up to date info readily available) are that a single fully loaded truck in the UK does something like 50,000 times more damage to the road than a single car.......my figures are maybe not exact, but the differences were incredible.....I know that I was blown away at the time!!

In The USA we build roads to support truck traffic. The truck industry is fee based, road use tax is applied via a permit required to operate with each state, origin state registration fee, fuel tax, surcharge fees, per use tonnage fee, overweight/over dimension fee; plus toll fee.

On our highways cars make up 70% of traffic but trucks pay 75% of the road use fee.

Cars don't count except on non-truck routes, trucking pays 75% of the fee.

Cannot use concrete in this part of the US; ice treatments destroy it.

Truck lanes often have furrows aligned with tire paths.

sidevalveguru,

Better and road surface friendly ice treatments are available now a days though ice is a fair surface too!

You're outside CONUS then.

That warm, fuzzy feeling may suddenly turn cold as you lie in a pool of your own blood after you decorate the back of that truck.

After switching off your engine, you may find that you'll need to power yourself out of trouble. It'll take more than a second to restart and press down on the gas and by then it may be too late.

Saving gas may have become an obsession for you. Obsessions are not good things to have.

With the methods I use, I get 29 mpg from 23mpg which is about the same increase that you're getting...and I don't switch off the engine or tailgate a bloody big truck.

When I draft big trucks in the Interstate I don't shut the engine down. Normally I follow between 20-50 ft depending on if the truck is slowing down or into the turbo. I don't take my eye of his taillights until I'm ready to switch lanes. With 80k# I don't worry too much about them out breaking my accord. It hasn't happened in the past 21 years, it's a matter of getting to know how OTR drivers drive and knowing the road. Pay attention and it's a snap. I'll normally sit behind the truck and slip to where i can see the drivers mirror every mile or so just to let him know I'm still there. Unlike 4wheelers they don't get excited when someone "tailgates" them.

You need to follow closer to avoid interfering with the envelope. This why the trucker grunt and grumble about you following as stated by 'Enviroman'. You're minor directional correcting are communicated via turbulent inconsistencies to the truck. The effect may cause the driver fatigue and reducing the trucks fuel economy if many of you inconsiderate freeloaders participate in this activity along his route.

So try to be a good chum and get close enough to release half throttle so you may receive a tangible benefit and not interfere with the driving conditions within a drivers sphere of influence.

OR Back-off!

if your car goes hypermiler by doing normal things..is it a hypermiler?

I mean. A 3 main boxer four in a beetle is not a hypermiler, it is just so simply correct for the acheivement nonchalant. no one calls that a hypermiler...

and yes indeed 18mpg to 60 all on the same BOXER (nothing else can, don't bother) is acheivable. world record 1/ 4mile to 60mpg 60mph. It starts with the engine. I am still chuckiling at what people are torturing themselves with for engines that can't get the job done easily..without consumption, because they are that stupid by design. All INLINES for example. Myth on babbling weirdos, myth on..Like a cat chasing its own tail..with a counterbalance good for 1 rpm.

??

mas Tequila

Have to ask Del, I guess...

Whilst 'DtC' has proven himself insightful on a variety of topics, i doubt that even he can decipher this.

I must admit that i, too am a fan of "quadrizontal" layout (VW, Fuji, Continental Aero, Lycoming Aero, ELTO Marine, &al. Works well as twin, too (BMW cycle, Aronca aero, &c)

HOWEVER, the advantage that VW had was that it was so tiny that it was @ WOT nearly all the time! In this mode pumping loses were very low.

Never let packaging dictate top-end layout!!

Heavens! Don't forget Subaru.

Done! Look under "Fuji (Heavy Industries)"