[Essay]

Hypermiling

Has anyone else heard of this?
I've been doing this for a year now, but didn't know it was a "thing."

Hypermiling :: No more need to compare gas prices

What is hypermiling? According to a fantastic August 2006 story in the Washington Post, it is a method of increasing your car's gas mileage by making skillful changes in the way you drive, allowing you to save gas and thereby have an easier time withstanding the rising oil and gas prices.

Hybrid owners have been taking this up (because they can watch their efficiency readings in real-time),
but there's a lot of regular ICE owners who get into maximizing their mileage too.
...small wonder, these days, eh?

Among many tips, I use these: (basically, drive like a little old lady from Pasadena).

Accelerate slowly
Minimize stoplights and stop signs on your route
Baby the brakes while being "surroundings aware"
"Pulse and Glide"
Avoid Rush Hour

I've got an '89 Honda Civic and have been recording my gas and miles for over a year now.
I'm now getting between 38-40 mpg (using the above tips).
One day of rushing around drops me by about 2 mpg!

I'm gonna try a new tip from the website:
Over-inflate tires (by 5-10 lbs over the recommended is still way below the max. pressure).

...shooting for 42!

Hypermiling: Quest for Ultimate Fuel Economy

You probably assumed that the painfully slow car in front of you, inching toward the glowing red stoplight a half-mile away, was another distracted driver talking on his cell phone. Impatiently waiting while he coasted along, you had no idea that you were stuck behind a "hypermiler."

Yep, that was me. I felt guilty, but I tried not to let it bother me.
I feel that I should get a bumper sticker for that steroid-enhanced, badonkadonk truck following me:

I get 40 mpg driving like this:
Please don't crush me.

[CraigD]

I was into it in the 1980s, getting 48 MPG highway in a Mitsubishi-made Plymouth, largely, I think, via the trick of over-inflating my tires. See around this post, this thread, plus some threads I can’t find at the moment, for more on the subject.

I’ve long had a dream of a super-high tech, variable contact-patch, active aerodynamic, regenerative braking, ultra-high efficiency car, but am nowhere near the mechanic/engineer to realize it.

[Zythryn]

In my Prius I actually get better mileage in rush hour. Most of the rest of those tactics I follow.
One more I use is to follow semi trucks or even large trucks. Not so close to be dangerous, just such that they help lower the wind resistance I have to bust through