Comments on: We Love DC Green: Getting 70 MPG on GW Parkway

By: Donna C.

Donna C. — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:00:03 +0000

Thanks, J.S.! You make a good point that some of the more extreme hypermiling techniques can be dangerous. But using some of those techniques to a lesser degree can save fuel without putting anyone in danger – like starting and stopping smoothly, and letting off the gas on downhills.

To follow the Wayne school of driving, you also have to pay more attention than normal to what’s going on around you – such as watching for cars to turn or stop – because you’re going to have to react much earlier. And that can make for safer driving.

So it’s all a matter of degree. Great thoughts – please keep ‘em coming!

By: J.S. Cole

J.S. Cole — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:19:45 +0000

I love fuel economy etc., but these folks are idiots who drive in often erratic and unsafe ways (speed way below speed limit; coasting; shutting off engine, etc.).

Obsessive is the right word indeed, and not in a good way.

By: Donna C.

Donna C. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:01:28 +0000

Tom, that’s great! I hadn’t known before how accessible better gas mileage was. I wrote down my mileage yesterday when I filled up; going to start experimenting on my own.

And Max, I hear you. I’d also like to see lots more fuel efficiency coming out of Detroit.

By: Max

Max — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:42:07 +0000

Great writeup! I hope these cars sell like crazy because 1) they’re good for the environment and 2) I bought a bunch of Ford stock a couple weeks ago.

I just wish that American car makers could make their models look and feel as cool as foreign car makers, then I’d consider buying one.

By: Tom Bridge

Tom Bridge — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:34:59 +0000

I did some amateur hypermiling this past summer, driving to Iowa and back. My 2005.5 Jetta is listed by the EPA as getting 22mpg on the road and 30mpg on the highway, but with careful and judicious use of acceleration and speed, I got that up to 47mpg on the leg between Chicago and Ann Arbor, MI. With gas prices as high as they were last summer, efficiency was a boon to the wallet on this unexpected trip. It cost me about an hour a day, but saved me $30 per tank or so.