Confessions of a pseudo hypermiler

I don't know if I was born this way, but I've always been fascinated with fuel efficiency (I suppose the power of TV back in the 70's when cars started touting their mpg's had a profound influence on me). I calculated mpg on my parents cars and my high school car. My first car purchase was a 1988 CRX-HF, best fuel efficient 4 cyl car on the road at the time. No one asked about the HF payback, as it was cheaper than a stock CRX by about $500 - $1000.

Over the years, I've developed "habits" that would later become typical of hypermilers. My issue is that stories I read basically trash on hypermilers and only address the most outrageous of their behaviors, yet don't address all of them.

1) I drive 55 mph (and have done so for 3 years) in 65 mph speed zones and I drive in the right lane. This, by the way, is the speed limit for trucks and cars towing trailers. It cannot be illegal, as it is supposed to be the Maximum speed limit for a certain percentage of the cars on the freeways.

2) I coast in neutral or press the clutch pedal (I drive a stick shift) when I'm coming up to a stop sign/light (red). I notice that I have to keep gassing the car to reach the stop sign due to engine braking if I leave it in gear. If I put it in neutral, I can coast a much longer distance (At or Below the speed limit) as I approach the stop sign.

3) I time the lights as best I can, so as to catch them turning green while I'm still rolling.

4) I will turn off my engine, if I know I will be sitting at a red light for more than 30 seconds.

5) I will (occasionally) put my car in neutral on the highway when going down a long grade. I will put my car back in gear or brake (or both) if I'm following too close (e.g. 2 seconds or closer). Typically, though, I have a good idea when I can do it and it is safe (looking for brake lights ahead).

6) Recently, I've started inflating my tires to their maximum pressure.

It seems that law enforcement and journalists will trash most of these things, but I don't understand precisely why. What are the downsides, risks, real consequences (not perceived, opinions, etc....give me facts) of these behaviors.

1) No one has run me over for driving 55 mph. I get "looks", the "bird", "cut off" and tailgated, but *knocks on wood* no accidents involving me or happening just behind or in front of me.

2) I've not been in a situation where coasting in neutral has compromised my ability to handle my car. Typically (99% of the time) in an emergency situation, I'm braking, steering, and, pressing on the clutch (to not kill the engine), thus effectively putting my car in neutral. I'm not a high performance driver, typically my best effort is to reduce speed and trying not to lock up the tires so what ever direction I'm turning the wheel, I might have a chance in driving that way. I'm not an expert driver, nor have I taken advanced course in accident avoidance. Most arguements that I hear about keeping a car in gear is to avoid accidents, but if you don't have the proper training (and most of us don't) it won't help. Most of us don't think to accelerate to avoid, we think to brake.

3) I do not roll through stop signs or lights. Ever. Not even on my bicycle.

4) My car is well maintained, it will start if I turn it off.

5) See #2. I don't tailgate. Heck, when I'm coasting down a steep hill, I finally am keeping up with traffic. At the bottom of the hill, I'm slowly bleeding off speed and it allows those behind me to merge left and pass. I suppose it does confuse them as to why I drive 55 mph up, coast to 75 mph down the hill and slowly return to 55 mph.

6) My tires haven't blown up by increasing the air pressure. The ride isn't noticeably different. On freeways, I'm typically driving slower than the traffic flow and I follow no closer than 2 seconds (typically 3 seconds) from the car in front of me, thus I usually have plenty of time to react to address any additional "braking distance" my inflated tires cause me.

7) "Drafting" 100 feet (or less) behing big rigs (or tailgating in general), turning off your engine while coasting, rolling or running through stop signs/lights are very risky and dumb things to do. I don't do them, and it seems obvious to me why they are poor behaviors.

If you can come up with real consequences for my habits, please do explain, but try to back it up with facts when possible. Mostly, I'd like to hear from someone who could explain the whole "coasting in neutral" is bad.

 

The only thing argument I've heard is that you "have less control" over your car, as an explanation for the illegality of coasting in neutral. Does less control just entail that you can't accelerate? Or are there real time handling consequences? I'd argue that the point is irrelevant because, if I assume that I react as most people in an emergency situation, I'm braking, not accelerating. I think only the most highly trained drivers would be able to correctly assess when to accelerate out of a problem and my guess is that a vast majority of the time, braking is the best way to avoid the problem (or minimize the damage if the problem is unavoidable).

 

Background: I drove my CRX from 1988 - 1999 and put over 190,000 miles on it. I've been driving this Integra from 1999 - present and have put about 120,000 miles on it (or so). A couple of years ago (after seeing my first Prius on our work campus during an Earth Day like event) I became enamored with the car, because it could seat 4 adults comfortably AND it got better EPA estimated gas mileage than my CRX.

What was depressing was the subsequent searches that found that cars were getting worse fuel mileage than they were 20 years ago. After looking around a bit and reading, I was enlightened on how cars had become bigger, engines were more powerful, and all the wonderful safety features. But, it seems, that automakers listened to their buyers and buyers weren't overly interested in fuel efficiency. A bit of a pity, because I wonder what they could do with a conventional car if they focused on that (even with all the modern day safety features).

I agree, technology can help out a great deal (heck, my brother once owned a Corvette and could get nearly 30 mpg highway if he kept the speeds down). But, there are 2 things one can do to improve MPG's. 1) Throw money at it. 2) Modify one's driving behavior.

Throwing money at the problem is the psychologically easier solution. Getting a more fuel efficient car is an "easy" solution....assuming you have the cash to do so (and it could just be trading in a larger car for a smaller one). But to me, it only solves part of the problem.

Modifying one's driving habits is the harder, psychological solution. It is withering to one's testosterone drive psyche to continually watch people blow by you on the freeway. But it requires no additional cash, no change in vehicles and can be initiated immediately.

The best is to do both, get a more fuel efficient vehicle and drive it safely and for fuel efficiency. I will say, it does bother me at a core level to see Prius drivers blowing past me, doing 70-75 mph on the freeway. On the one hand, at least they are getting about 40 mpg while doing it, but I can't help but feel that if they slowed down to 60 mph, they'd be getting mpg's in the mid to high 50's.

I guess to me it seems like by buying the car they feel that they've done their part. And to me, it is only half the job, and they've taken the "easy" way out. I'm definitely envious, I want my Prius, but I have to wait (and especially so with the current supply/demand issues). But once I have it, my driving behaviors won't change, because I've trained and disciplined myself.

BTW for the record, my last 12 months driving my Integra, I averaged 38 mpg. Summertime was 40 mpg, winter was 36 mpg (Darn that cold weather and winterblend gas). Worst tanks (average of 3 consecutive fill ups) was 35.7 mpg (January 2nd - 15th), best tanks (average of 5 fillups) is 42.5 mpg (June 17th - July 11th). EPA estimates for the car was 25 mpg city, 29 mpg highway.

 

Which cars would have that feature, how would one know if ones car did this or not?

Would a 1989 Integra have such feature? I've never heard of this before.