Itching for 50 mpg again...

[Loren]

Met my boss for lunch today in Clearwater, about a 23-mile round trip. Planned a good route where traffic wouldn't "push" me and I could chill getting there and back. Averaged 52 mpg on the way there, and 51.4 on the way back. Overall trip average was 51.0.

All I did today was keep a light foot on the throttle, coast as much as possible with very light pulsing to keep the speed up close to the limit, look way ahead and time the lights so that I could coast even more, and I turned the ignition off exactly twice at long lights. Oh, and, of course, I never went over 45. It was all in-city driving. If I could make myself drive that way on every trip, I'm sure I could pull off a 50 mpg tank!

Unfortunately, this tank is already blown. I've made two trips where I "drove angry". I was a little frustrated and traffic sucked, and I just didn't care... still managed to pull at least 32 mpg out of each of those trips, but my tank average is only about 38.5 now. Still... I'm only 1/4 way through it. I should be able to see over 40 on this tank.

I foresee another fuel economy run in my future. Wasting gas in the name of science! I have a set of uber-narrow 13" Tercel wheels/tires in the garage that should fit the Yaris. With those... I just wonder...

[schleppy]

I have a very long road trip coming up soon. I'm planning on trying to get as much mileage as I can out of the Yaris. On the way down I'm going to use mileage techniques (light throttle, coasting, DFCO, increased tire pressures, etc) and see what I get. On the way home I'll try driving more normally and see what it nets.

Last weekend driving from MA to MD I got 31.5 mpg out of my girlfriends 09 Scion xB (rated 28 highway) using the above techniques. That is with a full car, ac on for most of the trip, tires aired up to 40psi hot, and a very hilly route.

[Loren]

Oh yeah, I didn't have the air on today. There was a nice breeze blowing, so I had the windows down.

Schleppy, you'll find that it's very hard to get maximum economy without some feedback to tell you what you're doing right. I don't think I'd do half as well as I do if I didn't have the ScanGauge. Still, you should be able to exceed EPA ratings by at least 20% without difficulty. That's about 43 for the Yaris. Keep a light foot and maintain a speed below 60 mph and you'll blow that away easily.

[schleppy]

The xB made it easy to do. It has a nice live mpg readout (ala Scangauge).

I'll hopefully have a SG for the trip, but I like to think my foot had good "MPG training" from the xB trip. Nice and easy, nice and smooth :D

If I can eek mid-40s out of the Yaris without too much trouble I'll be very happy. As it stands now I'm getting 36-38 (only 2000 miles on it) without much trying. That includes spirited back road runs to test the new suspension bits/tires...

[rningonfumes]

Loren, I forgot you had those 13s. Would be interesting to find out the mpg results on those.

[Loren]

The tires are narrow. Really narrow. Should make some difference.

I'm driving to Sarasota this Sunday, about 2 hours South of here. Maybe I'll stick 'em on the car Saturday and run 'em... make my wife live through a hypermiling session (again).

[The Spectacle]

Loren my dear friend. You're crazy. lol

[50MPGDream]

nice work, half the battle is, as you know, planning the route. It's been too long since I have had a 50 MPG trip into the office, perhaps you have inspired me to try to push myself tomorrow :)

Originally Posted by Loren

Averaged 52 mpg on the way there, and 51.4 on the way back. Overall trip average was 51.0.

did you have a side trip in there? those segment numbers don't average 51

[Loren]

Originally Posted by 50MPGDream

did you have a side trip in there? those segment numbers don't average 51

Ya got me. Maybe I remembered the numbers backwards.

Maybe it was 51 trip and 51.4 daily average. With rounding errors, 52.0 and 51.0 could end up at 51.4.

I was just happy to be well over 50!

[Loren]

Had an "emergency" lunch meeting today in Largo... another 25 mile drive half-way across the county and back. This time I averaged 54.1 mpg overall, and my tank average is already over 40 mpg.

Go, me!

I'm starting to wonder if my readings are accurate, but the ScanGauge has been accurate within about .1 or .2 over an entire tank for at least the last 3 tanks, so it probably is.

I've been focusing on avoiding idling. Little things, like not starting the car and then buckling the seatbelt and finding a gear, but doing it the other way around... buckling the seatbelt, finding reverse, taking the brake off, checking the mirror, THEN starting the car. Just that little trick alone has my average up to 24-25 mpg before I'm out of my neighborhood, where it is typically only 19 or 20.

On today's trip, I also turned the car off several more times. The route I had to take put me at a lot of long lights. I opted to leave the car running for one of them (expected it to change a lot quicker than it did)... sat there and watched the mpg readout tick down from 53.8 to 53.3 at that one light! I really don't like putting that wear on the starter, though. But, then again... if I drove the car normally, I'd probably have to replace the starter... well, NEVER. This extra use might have me replacing it in 5 years if I have the car that long. Snag one from salvage for $50 and I'm good for a few years. So, $50 in 5 years... considering that I'm doing this hypermiling stuff more for entertainment value than anything else... I've blown a lot more than $50 (or even the $200 cost of a NEW starter) in much shorter periods of time to entertain myself.

[toyo]

define coast driving please :P

[justjesus]

Originally Posted by Loren

I've been focusing on avoiding idling. Little things, like not starting the car and then buckling the seatbelt and finding a gear, but doing it the other way around... buckling the seatbelt, finding reverse, taking the brake off, checking the mirror, THEN starting the car. Just that little trick alone has my average up to 24-25 mpg before I'm out of my neighborhood, where it is typically only 19 or 20.

... considering that I'm doing this hypermiling stuff more for entertainment value than anything else... I've blown a lot more than $50 (or even the $200 cost of a NEW starter) in much shorter periods of time to entertain myself.

GOOO LOREN!

My Apex tach likes to swing around when I turn the ignition to the acc part, and since I don't like to interrupt it's little dance, I take that time to put on my seatbelt, THEN start the car. Good to know there's a benefit to me waiting.

LOL - for entertainment? That's too funny!

[BailOut]

Well done, Loren! No fuss, no muss, no spazzing... just good driving and good mileage.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by Loren

The tires are narrow. Really narrow. Should make some difference.

I'm driving to Sarasota this Sunday, about 2 hours South of here. Maybe I'll stick 'em on the car Saturday and run 'em... make my wife live through a hypermiling session (again).

Question... is the circumference of the 13" tire much different than the stock 14 or 15's?

If so, it seems there would be a point at which the weight and surface area advantages would be overcame/nuetralized by running higher engine rpms.... wonder at what speed that would be an issue?


Last summer I was consistently seeing 43, and as high as 44.75 without a scanguage.... right now i'm looking at 40-41 with a scanguage.... can't wait for warmer temps to see how the scanguage and 45psi will help.

the biggest thing I learned from the scanguage is coast as much as possible... and DFCO is cool, but only for stopping and VERY VERY steep hills... or hills at low speeds. I used to do more DFCO.

[Loren]

I beg to differ, DFCO is good for ANY time you can get away with lifting your foot for 3 seconds. Every little bit helps.

Not sure what size the 13" Tercel tires are, I want to say 145/80. I'm sure I looked it up at some point and made some comparisons, but I've slept since then. If they are shorter, I would expect that the sharp drop-off in speed/mpg that I presently see right around 60 mpg would probably occur at a lower speed.

Food for thought, meant to mention this before:
My recent playing that netted 52-54 mpg on city trips was done on wide, sticky performance tires (195/55-15 Dunlop Star Specs) inflated to about 38 psi cold. Airing your tires up to really high pressures might net you an extra couple tenths, but the bulk of your improvement in MPG is always (ALWAYS) going to come from the driver.

This hypermiling thing is so much like autocross, it's scary. "Drive smoothly", "look ahead", "driver skill is more important than anything you can do to the car"... all are things that are regularly said at autocrosses.

[Loren]

Tried to fit the 13's today. Was stupid and forgot to start in the front. They fit fine on the back. They don't clear the front brake calipers. It's close. I'm sure steel 13's and probably some other alloy 13's would fit... but not the ones I have.

So, I had to go and take the ones back off the back. Ugh. Now I'm sportin' a set of 14's while I get my tires mounted on my 15's.