Are we saving fuel, or just saving OUR fuel?

I don't hyper-mile in circumstances where it will interfere with other drivers.

 

I do at least some hypermiling all the time, but select the methods and degree to fit the traffic and other conditions.

Hypermiling is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. It has a large menu of choices, many with variable degrees.

 

Is it seriously that bad?

 

It's only serious if you die.
Otherwise it's just a tad scary.

In 1997, someone making an illegal left from the southbound lane turn plowed a Lincoln into my northbound Accord sending it and me inside it spinning like a top until the Accord hit the right curb and jumped over the curb - luckily I was unhurt. About five years later the father of an old friend of mine had the same thing happen to him but he was not so lucky, his Sentra was smashed into smithereens by a Jaguar making an illegal left turn which left him paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life. This year he died from complications of that accident and I went to his funeral.

Two years ago, another friend of mine decided that it wasn't worth keeping her old Mazda Protege and decided to replace it with a reliable but more fuel efficient vehicle - of course I suggested a Prius but she thought hybrids were too complicated and decided on a Toyota Yaris. In the first eight months of ownership, her Yaris was totalled by Sentra that was coming from the lane going in opposite direction in which the driver had loss control and jumped over concrete medium smashing up her new Yaris. Given that near death experience, she decide to get a bigger and safer vehicle at the expense of fuel efficiency - a red Toyota Rav4. Again in the first eight months of ownership, her Rav4 was totalled by a Honda Odessey whose driver being distracted ( talking on his cellphone) had failed to realize that there was a traffic jam ahead (which include my friend in her Rav4) and plowed his minivan into the rear of my friends Rav4 - totalling the Rav4. After losing two new vehicles within two years time, my friend could not afford to new vehicle but now she was spooked and she decided that she need something even bigger and safer. No way was she going to get the Prius - it was way too small - she felt needed something very tall, much bigger, more menacing-looking - something that said "Don't mess with me." However, when gas prices spiked recently - it got her spooked enough that she decided a hybrid SUV might be better than just a regular SUV. She is now driving a Ford Escape Hybrid.

There are days when it seems to me that some DC Metro Area drivers learned to drive by watching old "Mad Max" movies...

 

Markabele – Walter is telling it like it is regarding the collective driving behaviors in the Washington DC/NoVA/BMO MD Metro Area. It is “seriously that bad.”

In my experience, the only urban-suburban roadways on the East Coast with possibly “worser” driving cultures are those in and around Boston, Chicagoland, Hot ‘Lanta, Orlando FL Metro or the I-95/FL Turnpike Corridor from West Palm Beach Thru Miami. If you exhibit “Common Courtesy” on these roadways it will be viewed as a weakness and you as driving target of opportunity of which aggressive and distracted drivers will take advantage.

 

I've been from Atlanta to Orlando a ton and know what you are talking about. Drivers along that stretch are horrid. Remember a half a year ago or so when there was a bunch of smoke that caused zero visibility along this route? It turned into a deadly pileup because people drive way too close way too fast. Not a good combo. If this would have happened in some other parts of the country I believe the situation would have been far better.

 

I get out of the way of other drivers when ever and where ever I can, but I'm not doing it to be courtesy but because I'd rather not get hit by several tons of rolling steel.. As a hypermiler - I am travelling at a slower speed, so it is easy for me to make room for cyclists, pedestrians and furry creatures that cross my path. However, many drivers in the DC Metro Area see time as money - and those types get upset for being on the road one minute longer- the time hypermiling takes is not worth it for these go-getters. For many DC Area drivers, a motor vehicle is a time displacement device that allows them to squeeze in work-childcare-nightschool-dinner-sleep-andsoforth. Often schedules are tight and people are rushing to be on time. We have drivers honking their horns at only the slightest delay, jack rabbit starting, weaving in and out of traffic just to get a few feet forward, making illegal turns, talking their cell phone while driving -and a host of other stuff that makes me think -- better give that driver some space. I understand that the daily pressures of modern life can be overwhelming - but I don't see any reason why I should get hurt or die from it.

 

I came to the conclusion, long ago, that only I could control how I drive. I can influence my kids and my spouse's driving (although my kids are not old enough to drive yet). Everyone else is on their own. I park my butt in the far right lane, keep my speeds below 60 mph and try to leave a big gap in front of me (to help me see what traffic is doing ahead of me), so I can try to drive with as little braking as possible.

If someone is coming up on my tail, quickly, I don't adjust my driving unless I fearful of an accident. I really dislike it when they tailgate me/flash lights etc. I understand they want me to go faster (and that they cannot fathom why I would voluntarily drive below the speed limit and not follow 50 feet behind the car in front of me.....like everyone else does), but there are two or three lanes to the left where they should be able to pass. The problem is with the road boulders in the passing lane that aren't passing anyone. The driver's behind me are misguided in the focus of their anger. They are focused on the slow driver in the right lane (i.e. the one in front of them...i.e. me) rather than the slow drivers in the passing lane.

Morons.

 

The first sensible post I've read on this thread, no offense intended.

 

I was hinting at that broader range of behaviours. Just tonight, as I slowed at some traffic lights, I moved over to let the car behind move into the turning lane. And as karma would have it, later someone crept forward to let me sneak into a turning lane. I like to think that we were considerate toward other road users.
Ultimately, the more that drivers can relax and drive smoothly, the more fuel is saved. So if your driving - whether hypermiling or hyperspacing - is annoying others, then maybe you are not saving fuel.

 

Our Prius is approaching 74,000 miles. I would imagine we saved more
than a few C notes compared to my wifes 2000 V6 Malibu.

The last 2,000 miles or so we have been averaging over
53 mpg (calculated of course) which is way more than
30 mpg over what the old Malibu was getting.

My wife and I are really sold on our Prius.......

 

DC area drivers are something else... Everyone seems to be more important than ANYTHING in life they do....

Not sure if I am a hypermiler... I just drive sensibly regardless of of the roads I am on - and I get great mpg's as a result. I do try when possible to avoid being a target of road rage. And I try to be kind to other drivers - an example is on my commuting route that takes me through neighborhoods that were never meant to be a commuter route. When I see them trying to enter the main road from their side street, I will slow down to let them in...

In the end I know my local commuting roads. I know where the cops like to stake out. If anything my sensible driving have given a few of those aggressive drivers a well deserved ticket. And at the same time saved an equal number of those same drivers from a ticket.

There is a Zen that I get in driving the Prius now... No longer do I race light to light. I know how the traffic light timing is, so no need to race to the posted only to wear down my brake pads. I am more relaxed, and I am saving ME money....

To the OP's question... It is up to the others to save their own money in the end. I will help out where and when I can.



iPad ? HD

 

I don't know how you guys are doing these 50+ mpg runs. I just give up and drive normal. You can't get 50mpg driving 70mph on the highway steady

 

If you have to drive 70 mph, then you are pretty much locked out of 50 mpg without heroic efforts.

Most of my traveling is on roads with lower speed limits, and lacking strong peer pressures to violate the speed limits.

 

But what is your average speed showing to be for a tank? I'd doubt 70 mph and I'd guess more like 30 mph and your driving would match, meaning your average is mix. I have 50% interstate, 48 mile one way and I'm getting 55 mpg with the warmer weather.

 

"drive normal" - you mean "speed"? We're in CT, and the max speed limit is 65mph (minimum is 40mph). Not to mention our many interstate sections that are limited to 55, 50, and even 40mph.

"Forced to go faster"?: I've had no problem driving 50mph in the right lane all over CT for the past 6 years, slowing where lower limits are posted.

I bought the Prius for mpg. I wouldn't have spent so much money for a funny-looking (if comfortable) car that gave me 35 or even 40mpg. It's built as an mpg machine, so why not drive it that way and enjoy the capabilities I paid extra for? [Just as I used to enjoy taking my parents' Land Cruiser on rough dirt roads where you had to use compound low range - same idea]

Everybody has their personal limits of course. I wouldn't feel comfortable going 40mph in a 65mph zone (except on a long uphill with semis doing likewise).

It's a personal choice. If you feel you must drive 70mph (because "everybody else is speeding" or to get there faster or whatever), you probably won't get 50mpg. You'll spend more on gas, but at least you will get better mpg than most other cars on the road.

As proximalsuns pointed out, on anything but a long highway trip you won't average 70mph steady because portions of the trip at both ends and sometimes in the middle are much slower. Clots of traffic can slow you down too and drop your average speed (plus getting back up to speed each time costs you a shot of gas).

But all of this is OT really, this thread is about how our efforts to save gas may affect others' gas usage.

 

I might as well jump in and offer my two cents to the discussion.

I like to think I am saving fuel not only for myself but for others but I won't do it at the expense of other people's patience or sanity. When I get on the local freeway I build up speed gradually and try to merge when the opportunity presents itself. I certainly don't floorboard the car to enter the flow of traffic but when I think I can enter the travel lane safely I do it. Obviously you can't pulse and glide on a freeway without having somebody climbing up your butt. I save all the little tricks I've learned from this forum for areas where my high mileage behavior won't be as noticeable. Unfortunately many of the "tricks" to increase our Prius mileage is applicable to other cars as well, that's the part other people don't seem to grasp.

In the short time that I have owned the car I find that I am a much more relaxed driver and as a plus, probably a safer one too. As we all know you can completely ignore the HSI and still achieve higher mileage than most cars on the road today. As silly as it sounds I actually look forward to driving the Prius as much as I did my Porsche Boxster of course for entirely different reasons. The Porsche was fast and powerful had wonderful handling qualities and power to spare with a six speed manual gearbox it was able to return 26.4 mpg. Do I miss driving it? Yes of course I do, but I don't miss the high cost of maintenance, the high insurance, and the low but respectable gas mileage. Or the staggered tire sizes which prevented me from rotating the tires every 5000 miles.

In a days time of driving I might possibly pass 50 other Priuses (Prii??), whereas driving the Boxster you could spend all weekend driving and possibly never see another one. I don't mind having something as pedestrian as a Prius, in many ways not being an attention getter is probably a good thing!

I fueled up the car today not because I really needed it but the gas price was so low I couldn't resist filling the tank. Doing the computation to figure out the miles per gallon I was happy to see that it was 55.2 as opposed to 50.1 on my last tank. Not earthshaking by any standards especially in here lol but for me it's a big deal. And it shows that with just a little care it's possible to really increase your mileage. I should also mention that the onboard computer was indicating I was getting 57.2 mpg so there is a slight discrepancy.

All in all I'm very happy with my purchase, and it goes without saying of course I'm thrilled to find this forum which is a wonderful source of information!

It would be wonderful if there was some sort of monthly magazine that I could subscribe to that pertained to Priuses or hybrid cars in general. The Porsche community is a very tightknit group and they have excellent publications that you can subscribe to. If there is such a thing for the Prius could someone kindly point me to it?

Cheers

 

Some of you guys are just weird....

 

I did a 520 miles trip, the dash was showing 46mpg @ 43mph. That was 90% highway and 10% city.