Hypermiling – are you up for the challenge?

Hypermiling is the newest craze to take American drivers by storm. And now we’re getting in on the act too.  Hypermiling is a method of increasing your car’s mileage by making skillful changes to the way you drive.  In turn you save fuel and the environment at the same time.  Let’s face it the money saving aspect alone makes it worth giving a try!

So what do you need to do?  Well the following is an excerpt from a great article on Hypermiling.

• Keep your foot off the accelerator except when absolutely necessary. When you come to a stop, coast a little before you stop.

• Drive at the speed limit or slightly below. I go 10 miles an hour below the posted speed limit many times, but I must warn you: this causes hypertension in many other non-hypermilers  who are likely to hyperventilate and run your hypermiling off the road.

• Use the cruise control whenever possible. This will not only save fuel, but it may also save you some pesky penalty points and the court fine!

• Coast and drive without brakes as much as possible (“dwb” in hypermiling lingo) I don’t mean rear-end someone who has their brake lights on.  But accelerating from zero to 20, then back to zero, is inefficient. Instead, maintain a steady speed. If the car in front of you is speeding up, let it get ahead of you, and when traffic starts to slow back down you’ll catch up. Besides,  it’s always fun — when you both get to the next set of lights at exactly the same time  (apparently a ’smirkjerk’ is in order at this stage – that is when you look over and smirk at the non-hypermiler hyperjerk – optional).

• Check the tyre pressure. Even slightly flat tires require much more energy and threfore fuel to move.

• Change the oil regularly. The thicker the oil, the harder it is to push through the engine.

So what are you waiting for – get hypermiling this weekend and let us know how you get on.

via: kpcnews.com

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