HYPERMILING HELP TURN COMMUTE INTO A GAME

Hypermiling helps turn commute into a game

By PAUL HOUSHOLDER

Do you ever get bored driving to school or work? Listening to the same CD over again? Radio is never reliable. Seeing the same old scenery every commute? Complaining about gas prices?

Hypermiling is a fun, challenging, green, money-saving way to drive.

Hypermiling is word used to describe the techniques of driving to maximize a car’s miles per gallon. I saw someone do it on TV but I didn’t think much of it because the guy was pushing his car to park it. If someone wants to save gas that much it is easier to skateboard.

But one day I went on a cruse with some friends on a hilly road. While driving his Jimmy, my friend said, “Dude, check this out!” He turned on his MPG gauge in his car and he floored it at the beginning of the hill while he was going up. The gauge read 0 MPG. He started laughing hysterically and I laughed as well, but at his stupidity.

However, that moment resonated with me. I started thinking that if I hit the gas while going downhill and coasted uphill, I bet I can save some money on gas. I tried it out on my classic 1993 Buick Century to see if it helped out at all on my gas mileage. I filled up the tank, drove till it was empty and did the math. I got 9 miles to the gallon.

“What!?” I said. Either I am bad at math or I should not make any more theories. So I drove my car back home and looked at my odometer and the odometer was spinning backwards. (My car is a classic, remember.) I sighed in relief and thought well maybe I am not an idiot. When I visited my cousins this summer I told my cousin Peter about accelerating downhill and coasting uphill.

Peter was like, “Oh yeah, that sounds like hypermiling.” I didn’t know there was a word for it but I said, “Sure.”

I came home. About a week later my cousin Robert, Peter’s little brother, drove from Maryland to Indiana and used the accelerating downhill and coasting uphill technique. He kept a log book before the drive to Indiana and he would average 24 mpg. When he “hypermiled” he received 33 mpg. Now I knew it works.

I became interested in finding other techniques I could do to save even more gas after our family got a new car because it has an odometer that works. One of the techniques I found interesting was to only use cruise control on flat roads. Cruise control is not efficient on gas mileage through hilly roads.

Here are some other techniques:

• Minimize idling when stopped. If you’re going to be stopped for more than a few seconds shift to neutral and shut off your engine.

• Look for the pedestrian crossing signal to know if you can assume if the light will stay green. If the warning light is on, coast in neutral to the light so that you don’t stop quickly.

• Use brakes as little as possible.

There are more tips
ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hypermiling-driving-tips-ecodriving.php-

Try some of these techniques out and let me know what works for you and how much better your mpg is.

Make fuel economy a game and then you won’t be so bored while driving to school or work.

tagline: Paul Housholder, a 2006 East Noble graduate, is a senior at IPFW.
His e-mail address is paul_8989@hotmail.com.