For you Hypermilers and other MPG h4xx0rz

[47_MasoN_47]

Do you guys just put up with the impatient a-holes honking and screaming at you when starting off at redlights and stopsigns? I generally find myself letting the car get up to 2500 RPM or so when starting because the person behind me looks like they are going to have an aneurysm. Do the rest of you have to put up with that crap? Maybe the drivers in my area are just a-holes. I know the vast majority of people here have no idea how to drive.

[50MPGDream]

Most of my driving is at off peak times on 4 lane roads so I don't find myself in this situation often, however when I find myself being honked/yelled at I generally just smile and wave :)

[YarisOwnersDad]

Oh, so YOU are the A-hole that I was behind at the traffic light yesterday! I thought your engine was stalling out or something!



J/K

Guess you will just have to let people "get over it."

Tom

[TheRealEnth]

Yeah, people are always gonna be assholes... then again i find myself on the other side of the table... Im behind a guy... in a 2 lane road... and both the cars are going identical f**king matching speeds... so all the cars behind them cant pass. Or in another case, they take like a 5 second reaction time to start moving on green that by the time the 4th car passes the intersection, it turns red and traps everyone behind.

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by TheRealEnth

Yeah, people are always gonna be assholes... then again i find myself on the other side of the table... Im behind a guy... in a 2 lane road... and both the cars are going identical f**king matching speeds... so all the cars behind them cant pass. Or in another case, they take like a 5 second reaction time to start moving on green that by the time the 4th car passes the intersection, it turns red and traps everyone behind.

Whoa! You just hit on two of my pet peeves.

I HATE it when someone on a two lane road gets up behind the car in front him and will neither pass the car nor leave enough space in between to allow me to pass him without also having to pass the car in front of him.

I also hate people who are so slow to get started from a traffic light. I don't expect them to floor the accelerator, but I do expect them to start moving when the light turns green and the car in front of them has already moved on.

This is especially annoying at the end of exit ramps where there is a stoplight, and you have to turn left. (It's usually a yield sign for those turning right.) Those lights are never green for the exit ramp traffic for very long, and when they turn green when I am several cars back in line, I sit there and fume as I see ten car length gaps develop between the cars that are pulling out and making the turn as I await my turn to do so.

I make sure that I stay right on the bumper of the car ahead of me as I make my turn out of consideration for the people behind me. I don't normally tailgate, but in that situation I am going slow enough that I can stop in a very short distance and should not have to worry about running into the back of the guy ahead of me.

Tom

[47_MasoN_47]

Yeah I mean I'm not the most patient with people who hesitate at green lights or slow down to 2mph to go around a turn. It is annoying when people expect me to redline every time I'm starting off though. I had a guy behind me the other day that kept honking at me wanting me to turn out in front of traffic. There was twice I could have made it but I'm sure I would have had to get up in the 3400 RPM range to avoid being smashed. I don't see the use in wasting that much gas or risking the personal safety of my fiance or myself either one.

Maybe I should get a bumper sticker that says "I'm hypermiling...you can wait."

[1stToyota]

I'm usually pulling away faster than anybody around me, go 65+ mph, run 32psi, still got 43.5 mpg last tank (real Shell), 44.6 mpg the tank before (real Conoco). Don't know what I'd get if I actually tried.

[TheJames]

Originally Posted by 47_MasoN_47

Yeah I mean I'm not the most patient with people who hesitate at green lights or slow down to 2mph to go around a turn. It is annoying when people expect me to redline every time I'm starting off though. I had a guy behind me the other day that kept honking at me wanting me to turn out in front of traffic. There was twice I could have made it but I'm sure I would have had to get up in the 3400 RPM range to avoid being smashed. I don't see the use in wasting that much gas or risking the personal safety of my fiance or myself either one.

Maybe I should get a bumper sticker that says "I'm hypermiling...you can wait."

there's no need to hold up traffic so you don't have to get over 3400 rpm. if there's someone behind you, and you can pull out without blowing your motor, do it. hypermile when it doesn't inconvenience everyone else. sitting 2 wide on a four lane=asshole.... not going when the light turns green=asshold.... not pulling out when you can clearly make it but don't want to rev over 3400 when people, who could be in a serious hurry are behind you=well... i'm not going to call you an asshole for that post but thats very inconsiderate.

[BailOut]

Originally Posted by TheJames

if there's someone behind you, and you can pull out without blowing your motor, do it.

Negative. Unless you are some form of emergency worker on their way to an emergency, in which case you would have some form of audio-visual signals to let me know such, then you have absolutely no good reason to be in that much of a hurry. It's just your ego talking, and egos aren't real.

We do not live on a race track.

[supmet]

Originally Posted by BailOut

Negative. Unless you are some form of emergency worker on their way to an emergency, in which case you would have some form of audio-visual signals to let me know such, then you have absolutely no good reason to be in that much of a hurry. It's just your ego talking, and egos aren't real.

We do not live on a race track.

Where do you draw the line then? Being the uber-est hypermiler in the world, I refuse to rev over 1200 rpm. I believe this is the best combination of highest mpg + minimal engine wear. Unfortunately, due to my strict self imposed safety regulations, I need a 2 mile opening or no cars in view to pull out safely. Should the people at the grocery store have to wait 15 minutes or longer to pull out of a parking lot, just because of my beliefs?

Besides that, its not just ego. Waiting too long to pull out can create bottlenecks behind you, leading to more accidents and a less safe driving environment for many people, not just the one behind you honking.

As others have said, on multiple lane roads, you can drive 1 mph for all I care, but if you are at the front of a one lane land train going unreasonably slow, you probably deserve the sodas and other random debris thrown at you as people pass you.

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by BailOut

Negative. Unless you are some form of emergency worker on their way to an emergency, in which case you would have some form of audio-visual signals to let me know such, then you have absolutely no good reason to be in that much of a hurry. It's just your ego talking, and egos aren't real.

We do not live on a race track.

Reality check time...probably 98%ish of the driving population doesn't give a skunk's scrotum about hypermiling driving techniques, they just want to get where they need to be, fast. They don't have time to play games.

[1stToyota]

Ouch!

Anyways, I just hope that the average hypermiler out there is getting WAAAAY better mpg than I'm getting, for all their efforts. My last tank I got 44.4 mpg [1/3 city - 2/3 highway], by going around 5 mph over the speed limit, using the a/c, not coasting in gear, running 32psi in my tires, flowing with traffic and getting up to speed quickly, etc...

[supmet]

Slower speeds = less people making it through each light = more people sitting around getting 0 mpg and polluting the air = defeating your purpose and just pissing everyone off so you can have a false sense of self satisfaction

oh. and gtfo of my way ;)

[47_MasoN_47]

Well (I'm sure to the dismay of many people here) I don't really give a rat's ballsack about the environment, I just want to save myself money on gas lol.

[talnlnky]

i've never been honked at... tho there are some techniques I don't use (like pulse N glide), and I try to keep up with the flow of traffic as much as possible. In city driving you would only notice my slightly slower acceleration, and my tendency to glide to an intersection VERY early in attempt to time the lights so I don't have to stop. There are somedays that I can drive 9.2 miles to work and only have to stop two or three times.

[Loren]

When in traffic, you have to strike a balance between all-out hypermiling and being courteous. Be "on your game" and always ready to go when the light changes, that often will make up for being a little slow accelerating. Position yourself properly within traffic: try to NOT be the first car in the line at a traffic light, and if possible, get behind something slow like a semi. The people who want to go fast will be less likely to line up behind you that way.

I'm proud of myself. I've been slacking lately because so many of my trips are short and getting good mileage on short trips is difficult at best. Today I had to drive over to the beach for a meeting. About 20 miles across the county and back. (not rural county... all pretty urban) Averaged 49 mpg on the way there and 52 on the way home for a daily average of something like 50.6. Good to know that I (and the car) can still do it!

[Yaris Hilton]

I accelerate moderately anyway. You don't give up much on that, as long as you don't stomp the pedal down to where the engine goes open loop and smoky. Where I get the A-hole behavior is from simply obeying all the posted speed limits. Most people seem to think they have a right to break the law. I used to do it all the time myself. I just ignore the rudeness.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by Loren

getting good mileage on short trips is difficult at best.

agreed, though last night I had a quick trip to the store because the dog had a mess and we needed some spot remover asap. Drive was less than a mile each way. SG stated I got over 50mpg on the way back... Had to do a lot of DFCO to get it that high.