Hypermiling, any tips?
Discussion
t yourself at junctions.
Gad-Westy said:
Hmmm, I wonder how close one has to be to your average truck to gain any benefit. Would be interesting to know.
They did this on Mythbusters a while back - I beleive it was in the region of 10cm (correct me if I'm wrong 
)I'm sure someone who has too much time ont heir hands will post a youtube link of said Mythbusters episode
Gad-Westy said:
Hmmm, I wonder how close one has to be to your average truck to gain any benefit. Would be interesting to know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lttgT1XZVvESlipstreaming is pretty useful, but you have to be very quick on the brakes just in case. The logic is sound - big truck disperses air - less particles in air behind truck, therefore less air resistance, therefore your engine doesn't work as hard.
Other tips: Never brake (unless slipstreaming) - leave enough of a gap with the car in front and keep your engine revs to where the car is producing a lot of torque at the lowest possible revs (if that makes sense). Also, remove any junk from your car and tape up any blatent panel gaps/ridges. Oh yeah, high tyre pressure also helps.
Gad-Westy said:
Bacon Is Proof said:
Because it always used to be touted as the most efficient speed to drive at.
Totally dependent on the car you happen to be in. I think this myth exists because it is the speed that official figures are/were recorded at. It's certainly not a blanket optimum. ...you do realise that I don't actually negotiate all junctions at 56mph?
I tend not to slow down for roundabouts or corners (or anything I can avoid slowing down for) as acceleration uses most fuel. I tend to pendulum past cars on roundabouts then they come back past me on the straight and the same again at the next roundabout. It most probably annoys them, but why unnecessarily slow down to speed up again? I roughly average 50mpg from a car that does 46 on paper.
Swordman said:
Slipstreaming is pretty useful, but you have to be very quick on the brakes just in case. The logic is sound - big truck disperses air - less particles in air behind truck, therefore less air resistance, therefore your engine doesn't work as hard.
But surely slip streaming also means less air flowing into your engine so more petrol is burnt to genrate enough power. Oh I don't know I'm just going to drive everywhere like my trousers are on fire.StottyZr said:
I tend not to slow down for roundabouts or corners (or anything I can avoid slowing down for) as acceleration uses most fuel. I tend to pendulum past cars on roundabouts then they come back past me on the straight and the same again at the next roundabout. It most probably annoys them, but why unnecessarily slow down to speed up again? I roughly average 50mpg from a car that does 46 on paper.
I also use this excuse to tear around corners/roundabouts.Mikeyplum said:
Gad-Westy said:
Hmmm, I wonder how close one has to be to your average truck to gain any benefit. Would be interesting to know.
They did this on Mythbusters a while back - I beleive it was in the region of 10cm (correct me if I'm wrong )I'm sure someone who has too much time ont heir hands will post a youtube link of said Mythbusters episode
55mph control: 32mpg
100ft: 35.5mpg, 11% improvement
50ft: 38.5mpg, 20%
20ft: 40.5mpg, 27%
10ft: 44.5mpg, 39%
2ft: 41mpg, 29%
The theory was that it got worse at 2ft because he has nervous on the throttle...
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