Newbie needing help with Pulse and Glide

no, the area's shown on ken's hsi are less than full throttle and more 'pedal' than no throttle. you have to practice getting the indicator bar up quickly to the segment he shows without going beyond it, then when you reach the speed you want, let off completely and instantaneously re press to just at or above the 'no bar shown' line.

 

So throttle up to the edge of the ECO and then lift.

 

yes, the right edge of eco where f8l shows it in post #2. then lift just enough to keep it there. that is the complete 'pulse' cycle.

 

Just so I got it right, modulate the throttle to keep it on the edge and then left when you reach the speed you want?

 

I think you have it correct. Press the "Go" pedal such that on the HSI screen, it moves to the second fat bar (and roughly 50% to 75% of the fat bar is filled. Get your car up to the speed you want to get to and then reduce the throttle such that the first bar is barely filled or not filled at all. Glide down to your target speed. Pulse again as before.

You can practice pulsing and gliding when you are in slow and go traffic. This is an ideal time to practice as the traffic patterns lend themselves to P&G. The trick is that you can't tailgate and do it properly. The gap you leave in front of you will encourage other drivers to "jump" into your gap. Don't worry, it doesn't actually happen that often. Pulse up to speed (watching for brake lights and traffic speed in front of you) and then glide when you see traffic is about to slow down.

If you execute it properly, you'll seldom, if ever, use your brakes.

 

Thanks, I figured it out on the way home and got 62 mpg. I was always in the mid 50's westbound.

 

Great early results with more practice and kind traffic it will improve consistently

 

And learning how to drive on a particular route is a very underrated variable. Put me in a town where I don't know every little nuance of traffic and light patterns and I won't even come close to what I can do at home.

 

This is a fantastic point and Markabele is correct with it. My MPG's are not as good when I'm driving in unfamiliar neighborhoods (don't know the stop sign locations, the traffic light patterns/lengths/durations) etc.