By now, some of you should be aware of Hyper-Milers and how they get down. 100 miles per gallon is nothin to these cats... NOTHIN. Don't know about yall, but I wanna be a part of this exclusive group!

In this post, I'll record how much I spend at the pump and How I drive on a daily basis...notes, techniques I used, etc. Maybe you can 'get like me' and save $$$ at the pump too!

CAR: 2002 Honda Accord 4dr SE
TANK SIZE: 17.1 Gallons
AVG MILES PER GALLON: About 26
COST PER FILL-UP: Between $58 - $62
CURRENT COMMUTE: Atleast 85 miles/day M-F (mostly Highway), about 15 miles/day S, Su


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DAY 1: WEDNESDAY 6/25/08
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Saw $3.95 all over the place. Started to settle on Shell's $3.92 but something told me to try the Valero across the way... BAM! $3.889. Done deal.

[side note]
Wednesday is the cheapest day to buy gas. If you don't know, now u know!

Numbers at the pump:
15.4 Gal
$3.89/gal
$59.99 total cost
383 miles driven
24.9MPG

I get off work around 5:30 and make the long but relatively smooth trek back to the house.

5:38pm Smoothly pull out of the parking lot I make my way to I-30. I get caught up in listening to ProjectVIBE (yeah I listen to PV in the car. You should try it!) and forget I have to concentrate on driving. I slow down to a granny-like 55mpg and ease on over to the right.

5:42pm The lanes are dark in the middle (from motor oil) and lighter on the sides (from tires). I remember a hipermiler tactic is to drive safely outside the grooves worn in the road from years of traffic. I move a little further to the right to where the left of my car is lined up with the oily area in the middle of the road. Still driving 55

5:50pm I notice other cars stopped blowing by me and have followed my lead. Now it's like 3 or 4 cars behind me cruising at a measly 50mph. Guess they realize the house aint going nowhere and there's really no emergency.

5:58pm Esperanza sings to me. Ponte De Aria. She's soooo dope!

6:01pm I see an 18-wheeler drive by.. not too fast which is perfect. I speed up to about 60 to catch him. I drive about 3 seconds behind him (avoiding wind-drag). I guess the driver noticed so he gets over to the right lane and slows down to 55. I'm still 3 secs behind him.

6:24pm I'm still driving behind the 18-wheeler doing an average of 55. Look, he's driving on the edge too. haha.. dig it!Other cars get on the freeway tryna split us up. I'm like naaah patna... get your OWN truck to follow. This one's MINE!

6:27pm BigTruckDriver gets off the freeway, I make a point to acknowledge him in a 'preciate it' kinda way. Ol boy tips his hat and keeps it moving.

6:34pm Finally pull into the driveway.

Mileage stats
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Approx 43 miles
Needle still on F.. barely moved. Feeling good about it so far.

Tactics used:
Avg 53mph
Truck Tailgating (3-4 secs behind)
Sidelining (driving on the side of tire grooves in the road)
Slow Accelerating at stoplights

Post edited by: elliott, at: 2008/06/26 15:33

DAY 2: THURSDAY 6/26/2008... A Bad Start
==================================

Had to go downtown to handle some business this morning. Drove all over looking for a parking space. Finally found one and realize I don't have any change for the meter! No cash either.

I'm driving all over town looking for an ATM. Just moved here about a month ago so not sure where everything is. Took about 20 minutes to find a bank. Got cash at the ATM. Try to go inside to get some meter change. Problem is the bank doors don't open till 9. $@#%! Find a 7-11 after 10 more minutes of city driving.. get change. Go back downtown and find a meter. Finally head to the gig around 9:30.

9:30am Figuring my driving stats are already screwed at this point from all this city driving I punch it to about 70/75mph to make it into the office.

Hopefully the rest of the day goes better.

Mileage stats
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102.9 total miles
Needle on 3/4 full

Tactics used:
Nothing.


5:55pm
Get on the road. Yesterday I averaged about 55mph... I figured I'll take it up (down) a notch so I start out driving 50. Nice & Smooth like...

6:00pm
Well ATAB. 5 minutes into my drive and we got backed up traffic. This was bound to happen. Instead of my normal zig-zag, stick-n-move maneuvering through traffic I stay put. I'm stuck in bumper to bumper traffic creeping along for 10 minutes. Not mad though... listening to the NBA draft coverage, so I'm all good.

6:20pm
Finally move around the wreckage and get on my way. I figure I'd do even better and drive 45mph. Even the slow cars are blowing by me. Got a big 18wheeler tailing behind me. Shouldn't this be the other way around?

6:30pm
Still cruising at a low 45. Even went down to 40mph for a few minutes before going back up to 50. Then settling down to 45 again. No tailgating so far but I'm making a point to sideline most of the time. Chicago went with Derrick Rose. No surprises here.

6:45pm
Here's my exit and the city driving starts. Trying to time the driving to greenlights. Out of 4 lights I made 3 of em. Not bad.

6:58pm
Finally make it home. I think I redeemed myself from this morning. Guess we'll see.


Mileage stats
-------------
Approx 144 total miles
Needle on just over 5/8 full. Trying to make atleast 200 miles by the half-tank mark.

Tactics used:
Avg about 48mph
Sidelining (driving on the side of tire grooves in the road)
Timing city drive to green stoplights. Made 3 out of 4 traffic lights.
Smooth turns

Post edited by: elliott, at: 2008/06/26 21:46

DAY 3: FRIDAY... Getting the hang of it.

Took it easy Friday morning. Drove average of 45mph all the way to work. Noticed that folks are antsy in the morning. Way more drivers hi-beaming me, tailgating me, and all that.. Where'd all this agression come from???

Took me an entire hour to get to work. Maybe driving 45 on a major freeway was a little too slow but I maintained.

Mileage stats
-------------
Approx 193 total miles
Needle just a tick above 1/2 full. On pace for atleast 410mpg


Tactics used:
Avg about 45mph
Sidelining (driving on the side of tire grooves in the road)
Smooth turns




Friday Evening...
reading some more on hipermiler tactics before I head home... realize that although they routinely get 100mpg, some of their tactis are downright hazardous and unsafe... 50mph turns, no braking, tailgating big trucks too close... maybe I should stop shooting for 100mpg and shoot for a more realistic (and safe) 35mpg.

That means for the 15 gallons I use up getting a total of about 530 total miles.

Hey it's this thing called cruise control that for some reason I haven't used yet. I'll give it a try.

Set out for the evening commute. I set the cruise control at about 50mph. Oh damn... a traffic jam. Never fails on a friday evening. So that means I gotta waste energy (and fuel) pumping the brakes. This goes on for about a good 25 minutes. Throwing my mileage all the way off.

Had to make a couple stops before heading home. So that affected my milage even moreso.

On the way home timed my driving to make through ALL 4 lights! BAM!

Final tally:

Mileage stats
-------------
Approx 238 total miles
Needle just a shade under 1/2 full. Gonna use the cruise control more often!

Tactics used:
Avg about 53mph
Sidelining (driving on the side of tire grooves in the road)
Timing city drive to green stoplights. Made 4 out of 4 traffic lights.
Smooth turns
CRUISE CONTROL!

Ok thats whats up... I will have to do this, but Im trying not to drive much since gas out here is 400 dollas .. Good post El boogie

After weeks of experimenting... trying to get 100mpg just aint worth it.

turning corners without braking, drafting, turning the engine off while driving...

It just aint worth it.

So I guess the point of it all is that to drive safely and efficiently:

cruise at 55mph
easy on the acceleration
try to time your drive to make green lights... if you don't make em, don't sweat it.

and rest easy knowing that getting 30+mpg is damn good!