Over the past several years, I have become very intrigued with a gas saving technique known as Hypermiling. Many of you have no doubt heard of this radical driving method that promises great increases in the fuel economy of your vehicle and requires no gimicky add ons, only a change in driving habits. So, after reading numerous articles and websites devoted to this miraculous sounding concept I decided to give it a try in my own little car.
I currently drive a 2001 Toyota Mr2 Spyder. This car already gets pretty decent gas mileage, but every little bit counts right? So, on my last tank of gas, I followed all the tips and tricks that I could reasonably follow from this website http://www.hypermiling.com. Several of the suggestions really didn’t seem too necessary to me so I chose not to use them. I really didn’t think I needed a chilled vest since I rarely use the AC anyway, and my tire pressure is usually dead on.
For those of you who have never heard of hypermiling and were to lazy to read the website, here is a short summary of what this change of driving habits entails. Basically you drive more sensibly and with a constant mind set of increasing your mileage. I figured I would see great gains in mileage as I normally drive like wild raccoon on crack, so this part was easy. The hard part is when you get into the more “advanced” techniques such as coasting up to red lights in hope that they will change before you have to make a full stop, taking exit ramps while slowing down as little as possible, driving at or just below the speed limit, and generally pissing off everyone around you. This has proven to be most difficult here in Southern California, garnering me far more attention on the freeway than I ever wanted.
So, after a full tank of dodging red lights, avoiding road rage on the freeway, and basically driving like grandma after a trip to the dentist, the little light came on and I went and filled it back up. I pretty much knew the results based on how many miles I got out of the tank, but I wanted to do the calculation anyway to get the most accurate numbers. And the net gain for all my hard work and painful foot restraint? Three lousy freakin miles per gallon!!
I don’t who these freaks are that talk about getting 150 miles per gallon, but they must live at the top of a hill and push the car home at the end of the day. Granted, the guys getting 150 mpg are driving hybrids, but there are guys driving regular little 4 cylinders like mine claiming to get 60 mpg. They should be thrown into a fiery pit of burning oil, liars! They can have their damn hypermiling, I don’t think the lousy three mpg is worth the bullets I will have to dodge on the freeway if I keep driving like this. In fact, I think I need to put a bigger engine in my car so I can use even more gas!
So keep the pedal to the metal and don’t let granny pass you!
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