Tailgaters - How to hypermile?

It's funny...I just found a three-day-old Facebook post on a friends wall that I missed until today:

"Prius's shouldnt be allowed in the left lane" and there was a lot of people who agreed with him. He was talking about people doing this in RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. I replied, I drive my Prius in the left lane, and I usually pace with traffic (going between 70 and 75 mph), not everyone is like that. Suddenly I'm wondering how I'm now going to be perceived on the road....

I think there is a time and place for hypermiling, but doing it in rush-hour traffic on the way to work when the rest of the world just wants to get to where they are going so they don't have to be in traffic anymore isn't the time or place. When you become the obstruction, its just as dangerous as the tailgaters. When I learned to drive, we learned this is the reason there are minimum speed limit signs...as slow driver can create just as much of a hazardous condition as the guy going 100.

Seriously, how can you enjoy driving when you're constantly staring at your information screens hoping to stay within the Eco zone? For me, I just like to listen to my audio book or listen to music using the awesome bluetooth system while I enjoy driving a cool car.

Sure, the Prius has made me more aware of not breaking too quickly and giving myself time to glide to a stop. I've also gotten in the habit of putting into EV when I'm parking at work and keeping steady speeds...but that's about it.

When I was reading my owners manual, even Toyota would tell you that those screens were for informational purposes only. It seems like they're becoming a distraction similar to a cell phone for some owners. Its like some owners are playing a game with their cars while the rest of the world is just trying to get where they want to go.

I'm just happy to get 55mpg to work and back when my old car would only get 22. I'd think that would be good enough for most people.

 

I have had mine for just a week, and I think it is a misconception that you are being tailgated. It just looks like everyone is right on your bumper when they are behind you. I think it is more of an illusion than fact that people are trying to steal our license plates.

At least this is what I tell myself so I don't pay attention to the rear view anymore.

 

Driving in Los Angeles is difficult enough, full time hypermileing is virtually impossible, if your going to do it you'll have to deal with the consiquences, tailgating, honking etc., the only time I do it is with a clear rear view gliding up to stoplights, and doing it full time would drive me nuts anyway.

 

Maybe install a tow kit? They'll probably leave more distance since it would cause them a lot of damage if they ran into it.

If you know how to safely make a fast turn and the route you're on has sharp turns, just make the fast turn with no prior warning. (That trick works the best if the tailgater is a SUV.)

Moving on to high tech methods, I remember reading about a directed EMP that can cause a targeted car to temporarily malfunction. I actually once did cobble together a mini EMP generator by discharging a high voltage capacitor into a coil. I was in college (living in the dorms) and an obnoxious neighbor played his radio really loud. Analog audio circuits are very sensitive to interference and it did not take much to make his radio play a repetitive thumping noise.

 

In heavy stop and go city traffic when accelerating from a complete stop at a traffic light - I've set the Prius is set to normal or power mode so I can accelerate a bit faster to 25 mph - as long as my scangaugeII GPH < 1.10 - there's not much of a hit on MPG and the quicker acceleration makes most people happy enough. In multiple lane traffic, when another driver want to go faster, they will just pass me by, and if they cut in front of me there is usually not any risk of them hitting me (because they don't want to mess up their own vehicle). On single lane traffic, when I have to share the road I drive close but not over the PSL - I have photo enforced speed camera in many places that I drive so going +9 miles over the PSL is really risky behavior for my wallet...

 

Ohhh..tough crowd,tough crowd.

 

Actually that's TWO arguments.

And "safety" is really a "safety/effectiveness" argument: if you're close enough for drafting to do much good, you're well under 1 second behind, which is really dangerous. If you're far enough behind to be safe, there's no draft. Unless you're 1-10 feet behind the truck, you can do better just traveling in the right lane at a lower speed, perhaps working the terrain if there is any. See the MythBusters episode.

Ironic that drafting comes up on a tailgating thread. Drafting is really just tailgating in reverse, and for a different reason.