HyperMiling (Hyper-Mile-Ling) is a series of techniques, or as some might say a philosophy of driving that squeezes the most fuel efficiency out of your car. Through various techniques, and driving habit changes any car can greatly improve their gas mileage. Lets take a quick look at a few.
Ok, first we’re going to start with one of the most obvious ways to save money on transportation.
Drive less. Walk, ride a bike, live closer to your job, take the bus, all these are on the “duh” list, but are essential to the hypermiling philosophy.
Check your tire pressure
Most people don’t really think about it, but an under inflated tire creates more drag and friction for your car to over come, this in turn leads to lower fuel economy. Check your tires at least once every couple weeks to ensure they are inflated to the proper PSI, which is listed on the side of the tire.
Track your fuel consumption
One of the first steps anyone interested in hypermiling should do is track their fuel consumption. How would you know you’re improving if you don’t know where you started. A simple formula, Miles Traveled / Gallons used, will give calculate your MPG. From here you can see rough picture of your driving habits. Some people carry little log books in their cars to log miles, and also driving habit changes. This will vastly help in getting the “Big Picture” of your habits and improvements.
Stay off of busy roads
No one likes traffic. Sitting in traffic wastes fuel and time. Sometimes it’s better to take the slightly longer, but less traveled road to work, than the slow paced stop and go traffic jammed roads. Open roads give you the flexibility to employ other fuel saving techniques, such as cruise control, that sitting in traffic surrounded by other stopped cars can’t.
Avoid
Drive thrus, waiting in line idling for food is just as wasteful as sitting stuck in traffic. You could use the exercise, go in side and order
Stops at bottom of hills, the energy you waste by stopping all of that downward momentum and then the energy needed to get going back up hill are wasted. Skip these roads.
Bad Weather, snow, rain, slush and high winds all increase resistance against your car.
Peak Traffic Times, no one likes to sit in traffic. Avoid traveling during peak
Combine errands
When combining errands for the day always aim to take care of the farthest errand first working your way back. Try to avoid short trips combining as many things to do into one trip. In cold weather, combining errands can save fuel economy, ensuring that the car is properly warmed up through out most of the trip.
Rolling or Crawling Stops
When coming to a stop sign or light, slow down early. Drifting to the stop sign. If there’s a car in front of you, then you might not have to trip the sensor at the stop light
Stale Green Lights
Pay attention to pedestrians signals to see when the light is going to turn yellow. Then coast into the stop sign.
Draft or use a “Blocker”
There’s no debate that driving closely behind large vehicle will reduce drag and there for increase fuel economy. Drafting is dangerous, very dangerous. Some prefer to use a blocker vehicle, similar in idea as drafting but not as efficient. Find a blocker vehicle that’s driving about the speed you’d like to drive and lock in behind.
Drive without Brakes
First a disclaimer. This is Dangerous. Drive like the brakes are broken. Paying attention to slow downs in traffic, and stop signs. This will cause you to do two things. Reduce the a mount of excess braking your and reduce the amount of wear and tear on your vehicle.