I heard about these dudes today on my local Fox channel and thought it was straight amazing what they were doing with Honda Insights pushing them to 120MPG! :eek2::eek2::eek2:

I tried to find video on this but couldn't but found this:

Wayne Gerdes knows how to wring a gas tank dry. He can squeeze 84 miles per gallon from your standard-issue Ford Ranger pick-up.:eek2: He once averaged more than 100 mpg during the course of an entire summer. And while behind the wheel of a hybrid electric Honda Insight, he coaxed the vehicle into yielding an astonishing 180.1 mpg. Gerdes can do these seemingly impossible things with a car because he is one of a rare breed of drivers known as hypermilers.

These drivers are “completely obsessed” with getting good gas mileage, says Bill Robbins, spokesperson for an annual event called Hybridfest in Madison, Wis., which celebrates hybrid cars and all things related to reducing fuel consumption.

Gerdes, of Wadsworth, Ill., admits to this obsession without hesitation.

He isn’t trying to get merely good gas mileage. Or even great mileage. He’s intent on achieving hypermileage.

He uses specialized driving techniques that can double the normal gas mileage for any car, including non-hybrids. Some techniques are simple, even self-evident. Don’t let your car idle excessively. And don’t waste gas by accelerating up to red lights and stop signs.

Other techniques get a little more technical. For instance, putting the lowest weight oil in your car helps it work more efficiently. “This allows for better kinematic viscosity,” says Gerdes, “which means that it's easier to pump oil through the engine, and the engine moves against itself easier.”

Then, there are the more advanced techniques. Techniques with names like Pulse and Glide, Warp Stealth and Ridge Riding. Gerdes doesn’t like to talk too much about these because, if performed improperly, they can actually be dangerous. If you’re intrigued by the names, not to mention the potentially stratospheric mileage that can result, he recommends seeking out an instructor to show you how advanced hypermiling is done.

As his enthusiasm might suggest, Gerdes isn’t just a hypermiler. He’s the hypermiler.

“He’s the man who coined the term ‘hypermiler’!” says Robbins, the Hybridfest spokesperson.

Gerdes came up with the neologism during that extraordinary 100-plus mpg summer. “I live and die for this stuff,” says Gerdes, who works at a nuclear power plant which, he points out, provides energy without emitting carbon dioxide. He’ll go to almost any length to emit as little CO2 as possible himself and help others to do the same.

Gerdes spreads the hypermiling gospel through instruction. At this summer’s Hybridfest, which drew extreme mileage enthusiasts from around the country, Gerdes and others that share his passion put on a clinic to help attendees practice what the hypermilers preach. In one exercise, Gerdes guided a driver through some basic techniques in a standard Honda Accord, and the driver extracted 51.2 mpg from a car that the EPA rates at 24 mpg city and 34 mpg highway.

The Hybridfest also puts hypermiling skills to use in the name of competition. In the MPG Challenge, drivers try to get the best mileage over a 20-mile course, an event that Robbins describes as “NASCAR in reverse.” Last year, it was on this 20-mile circuit that Gerdes hit the 180.1 mpg mark on his way to victory.

Even though the MPG Challenge is a competition, it’s not a particularly cutthroat one. A lot of the entrants were already friends, having met on Gerdes’ website, CleanMPG.com, where they share fuel-saving tips and tricks. Before this year’s contest, Gerdes said, "I’m looking forward to the challenge — the field is thick with great drivers, and they are all my friends, so I'll be happy with whoever wins." This year’s victor was Bill Kinney, who averaged 168 mpg. Gerdes finished second with 146 mpg.

The benefits of hypermiling are fairly apparent. “For the most part, hypermiling encourages non-aggressive driving,” says Geoff Sundstrom, director of AAA Public Affairs. “Driving the speed limit and not speeding up to stop signs are all good things — these are things that we teach new drivers.”

However, when pushed to the extreme, even elementary techniques can become dangerous. Driving too slowly below the speed limit can cause other drivers to become more aggressive and perform unsafe maneuvers, and the technique of using one’s brakes sparingly to conserve energy can lead to drivers rolling through stop signs. “When taken to an extreme, hypermiling can become a very selfish endeavor,” Sundstrom says. “The bottom line is: Saving fuel and conserving energy are important, but so is safety — and preventing crashes.”

Then there’s the questionable method of positioning one’s automobile directly behind a large vehicle (such as an 18-wheeler) to catch its draft and reduce drag, which, Sundstrom says, “is called tailgating!”

But there are ways to reap the benefits of hypermiling while still driving safely. Gerdes suggests ten things that the average driver can do to maximize fuel economy. All of them are applicable to real-world driving conditions, and none of them require the purchase of a hybrid, although surely that will help your numbers. Click on the link to the slideshow to see ten fuel-saving tips from a hypermiler.

Link
http://www.forbesautos.com/advice/toptens/hypermilers-fuel-saving-techniques.html

Video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9s3OzIgC4XM&feature=related

Is this for real? 84mpg out of a Ford Ranger?!?

Seems a little ridiculous to try to squeeze every mile you can out of the gas... but, if it works and it makes them happy... so be it. Personally, I can't see myself trying to plot a route that's LONGER than the one I have to go to POSSIBLY increase MPG. Same thing goes with cutting off the air and driving with the windows up... I live in Florida... you do that, and you'll die... lol.

I try to do something similar like that in my car...but it's just too hard to avoid stopping and going when you live in a very busy area with lots of traffic lights and heavy traffic. I wonder how much the antenna really improved on gas mileage.

Some procedures:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermileage

Pulse and Glide seems like a reasonable maneuver to incorporate into your driving, but auto-stop seems pretty crazy. It's pretty cool what people can achieve. A couple of winters ago, I coaxed 550 km out of my tank. No amazing feat, but in comparison to the 4-450 I usually eek out, I impressed myself. It was all through driving mpg-conscious. In the summer I bet I could do more. I'll give it a shot with an upcoming tank...

Same thing goes with cutting off the air and driving with the windows up... I live in Florida... you do that, and you'll die... lol.

:thumbup:

I am going to try some of these. Like really try the coasting thing more.
For me its almost impossible to plan all right turns.
90% of my commute is a straight line.

This stuff does work quite well. I've gotten 27mpg combined (50/50) out of a tank of gas by trying some of that stuff, and i have the 1UZ vvt-i

oh the joy of wide open throttle in my GS400.... :D

Is this for real? 84mpg out of a Ford Ranger?!?


that's hard to believe, dude probably drives like 38mph maximum :thumbdn:

as long as these guys dont affect my driving, i don't care

Yeah it's possible. That's how I got 60mpg in my Prius. Driven normally, it would've been 50mpg. I pulse & glide.

Of course having a good commute route helps plus if you've able to drive when the traffic is lighter, that helps too. I've been blessed with not having to deal with 9am or 5pm rush hour traffic so my mpg increases.

That's ridiculous. Imagine all the other hidden costs they are producing by what they are doing. Constantly turning the engines on and off just to gain a few mpg? Yeah...starters and other related components will cost more than that gas you saved...bah...weirdos.

I'd like to install a component in my GS that can kickstart the engine back on w/o having to use the starter, that i can use when at stoplights to cut down on idling.

Of course, it would have to have a kill switch on it, to allow normal idling when necessary (Like charging the battery, or wanting to use the AC when not moving)

Note, i never turn the engine off to save gas as of now, simply because i know how much of a PITA it is to replace a starter on a 1UZ-FE

Video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9s3OzIgC4XM&feature=related

lol, when he showed the computer (99.9mpg) was he on current mpg while going downhill? :p

Is this for real? 84mpg out of a Ford Ranger?!?

But all the people behind him he pisses off drive then twice as aggressively and more than offset his holier-than-thou driving. :rolleyes:

mean while i blaze past him in my V8 with 103 octane, foot the floor, windows open and ac on full blast.

I've tried a few of these things, like coasting downhill, and coasting up to stop lights, and I noticed my needle is moving down a little more slowly this time.... :D

I coast frequently and it helps. If I hold 70 MPH I can eek out 32 MPG, even with passengers and luggage in the car. Pretty sweet for a vehicle that was estimated to only get 27 MPG Hwy.


My dad used to never coast and his MPGs went from 22 to 26 when he began doing so. Still not the fuel economy that BMW claimed.

mean while i blaze past him in my V8 with 103 octane, foot the floor, windows open and ac on full blast.


It's nice to have endless money.

This stuff does work quite well. I've gotten 27mpg combined (50/50) out of a tank of gas by trying some of that stuff, and i have the 1UZ vvt-i

i average 42mpg (all hwy) or 30mpg even (all city)... :D

OH AND...

I can put in the cheap gas.:D:D:D:woot:

Hypermileage is a very common topic on forums dedicated to already very fuel efficient cars like the Prius, Yaris, Fit, Insight, ect.

These people are already inherently very interested in high mpg so it becomes in many cases a hobby to push it further and to document it on mpg sites like "cleanmpg.com" and "feuleconomy.org".

I may get into mileage like this (not extreme) when I get a Fit or Yaris.

It's nice to have endless money.

Or it could just be one saving his money in different ways. How much money annually do you think you save driving with these techniques vs just normally with the same car?

i average 42mpg (all hwy) or 30mpg even (all city)... :D

OH AND...

I can put in the cheap gas.:D:D:D:woot:

Yes, but you drive a 4 pot with 1/3rd the horses/tq, that weighs 2/3rds what the GS weighs.

I like doing the opposite - seeing how little mileage I can get out of a tank of gas. :D

I coast to stoplights and use my anti-gas mileage pedal (commonly called the brake pedal) as infrequently as possible. I also learned on the racetrack that overusing the brakes leads to poor lap times. I'm sure this is part of why I'm still on my original discs and on my TSIB pads with my IS350 at 50k miles and am projecting pad/disc life of around 90k when many on the 2IS forum are complaining about needing brakes in 15k - 20k miles.

I don't drive slow though. I've tried. I just can't do it.

i hate people who slam the gas to the next stoplight 300 ft away.

but hypermiling is nuts.
the opportunity cost is just not worth it. longer commutes, longer drives.
clock is ticking, and money is going down the toilet.

take the backroads and gun it! yeehaw!!

They can do whatever they want just as long as they do it in the right lane. I hate it when I come up to a slow Prius in the left lane. Seriously, nothing wrong with trying to save gas, but get the hell out of the left lane. If you are not going to keep up with traffic even if that said traffic is technically speeding, move over to the right lane and be merry and make everyone else happy.

They can do whatever they want just as long as they do it in the right lane. I hate it when I come up to a slow Prius in the left lane. Seriously, nothing wrong with trying to save gas, but get the hell out of the left lane. If you are not going to keep up with traffic even if that said traffic is technically speeding, move over to the right lane and be merry and make everyone else happy.

there's been slow pokes in the left "fast" lane loooooong before the Prius was ever around

...so don't blame it on hypermilers......

there's been slow pokes in the left "fast" lane loooooong before the Prius was ever around

...so don't blame it on hypermilers......

In a way true, but you can tell the gas and glide guys as even if you set the cruise control you keep closing in on them. I guess maybe some are better at it than others, but if you keep dropping below the speed limit and then speed up it gets very irritating. Our freeway speed limits are pretty low as is. When you start going 45 MPH on the freeway, then speed up to 50, then back coast back down its just different than catching a guy traveling at a constant 50 MPH.

In a way true, but you can tell the gas and glide guys as even if you set the cruise control you keep closing in on them. I guess maybe some are better at it than others, but if you keep dropping below the speed limit and then speed up it gets very irritating. Our freeway speed limits are pretty low as is. When you start going 45 MPH on the freeway, then speed up to 50, then back coast back down its just different than catching a guy traveling at a constant 50 MPH.
no idea who those idiots are but P&G on the highway is stupid. P&G is supposed to be on city roads and B roads. P&G on the highway does jack since the air resistance will slow you down more than if you just cruise (at 65mph, the Prius is barely turning over 1,900rpm)

Since these hypermilers obviously have no life they're welcome to waste vast amounts of time eeking out more mpg. Just stay out of my damned way.

In the past few days I did a 500 mile round trip, pretty much all interstate.

Just for fun, I did a comparison calculation for my gas hog SUV :D and my gas sipping Miata.

If I'd done it in my V8 Explorer, I would have gotten about 18mpg (I wasn't going 60 ;) ). And it uses regular gas.

I did it in my Miata instead, and I got 28mpg. It uses premium.

Explorer at 18mpg = 27.8 gallons used @$4 (regular) = $111.2
Miata at 28mpg = 17.8 gallons used @$4.30 (premium) $76.54

So the difference in round trip cost would be about: $34.66. (Big deal - it's not like I do this trip every week)

The Miata was fine doing the trip, but the Explorer is a lot more comfortable and quieter, for a long drive.

So this is the reason the prius hybrids i occasionally see on the freeway go 50 mph .... they piss so many people off...

I just filled up. I drove 250 miles, 70% highway. I've slowed down a bit and as a result 31 MPGs. No complaints here, especially since I did quite a bit of stop and go in this AWD vehicle. I guess I have Subaru to thank since my Legacy is quite light for midsize vehicle, though it lacks the side impact airbags, etc. of today.

Yes, but you drive a 4 pot with 1/3rd the horses/tq, that weighs 2/3rds what the GS weighs.

that was a joke...

and yes you are right, i have all of those things. But i have similar features for alot less...the only things i lack that comes standard on lexus are woodgrain, leather, nav and the name...

not saying the civic is nearly as good by any means, but it gets me where i need to go in an efficient manner, and even can be fun if i want it to be. it really isnt all that slow for what it is...

but believe me, i have had alot of cars, and this one has been by far the most solid feeling car i have owned.

no idea who those idiots are but P&G on the highway is stupid. P&G is supposed to be on city roads and B roads. P&G on the highway does jack since the air resistance will slow you down more than if you just cruise (at 65mph, the Prius is barely turning over 1,900rpm)

One time I was driving up the mountain tunnel that connects the two half of the Island and I see this HID lights way back coming up fast. I too was going pretty fast to it took a little while to catch up. To my surprise it was a Prius. The guy was kind of flying, Going about 70-80 on the highway which is actually pretty fast. I let him pass and take the lead. I have to admit that was the first time I've ever seen a Prius driven so aggressively:p Brought a smile too my face.

So this is the reason the prius hybrids i occasionally see on the freeway go 50 mph .... they piss so many people off...

Bingo. And don't forget that the Prius can put your instantaneous mileage up on the screen and you can be a lot more concerned about mileage than causing accidents. Bit, a couple of others, have already mentioned the anger these hypermilers can build up in other drivers. OK, so maybe some of them have more testosterone than they should, but I don't like to ignore it.

Over the holiday weekend I noticed two dangerous situations on the road and they were both related to being on a freeway and having the traffic suddenly clog up. Inevitably it was either moronsign (cell phone user) or some econo car doing 50. And what was really annoying was there are now people picking any lane, including far left, to get in to and do 55 and flip the rest of the world off. These Idiotic Economy Drivers (IEDs) can be just as dangerous as the Iraq variety IMO.

I am certainly not a big fan of trying to drag every last MPG out of my car but no one yet has mentioned one of the easier things to do, use the cruise control. It even gets to be entertaining. It's just amazing how poor throttle control most people have as they go roaring past you on a down slope and how you pass them again on an upslope because the cc is keeping a constant speed. But I won't be in a lane or set the cc for less than what my sense is appropriate for traffic. If the right lane is doing 65, that is what I do. If I want to set 70 and that means one lane over, that's fine too. But the IEDs are quickly becoming rolling roadblocks.

One time I was driving up the mountain tunnel that connects the two half of the Island and I see this HID lights way back coming up fast. I too was going pretty fast to it took a little while to catch up. To my surprise it was a Prius. The guy was kind of flying, Going about 70-80 on the highway which is actually pretty fast. I let him pass and take the lead. I have to admit that was the first time I've ever seen a Prius driven so aggressively:p Brought a smile too my face.


There appears to be a small group of Prius owners that are fascinated with how fast they can drive the Prius. Maybe they figure the cops would never write a Prius up for doing 100?

I can say with absolute certainty that I have NEVER seen a Prius speeding ever!! Usually they are just going with the flow of traffic.

I can say with absolute certainty that I have NEVER seen a Prius speeding ever!! Usually they are just going with the flow of traffic.

When I had a prius rental driving from SF to LA I was averaging 85 mph down rt1 after it veered from the coast cuz I didnt feel like spending 11 hours driving to LA haha...

I would not want to drive that thing up to 100 lol, with both of my parent in the back seat, the car felt really unstable... maybe its the horrid steering feel but I was white knuckled the whole time, dont even want to mention the coast experience, bad steering feel, no break feel, no power to climb :thumbdn:

I can say with absolute certainty that I have NEVER seen a Prius speeding ever!! Usually they are just going with the flow of traffic.

Not sure what part of Cali you are in but come spend some time in Silicon Valley. There seem to be a small percentage of Prius owners that are convinced that they are the most advanced life form in the universe if they can get 50mpg and beat you from a stop light. If you don't see a Prius in the fast lane up here (which means generally over 75), you're not looking.

I can say with absolute certainty that I have NEVER seen a Prius speeding ever!! Usually they are just going with the flow of traffic.

That's really funny. I drove my Supra today to keep the battery up and give it a little exercise. I got passed by a Prius while indicating 80.

I can say with absolute certainty that I have NEVER seen a Prius speeding ever!! Usually they are just going with the flow of traffic.

...which is speeding, lol.

When is the flow of traffic ever going only 65 (when that is the limit)?

The flow is usually 80 in a 65.

So this is the reason the prius hybrids i occasionally see on the freeway go 50 mph .... they piss so many people off...

Are you saying you only see Prius's occasionally in Cali? With 1,000,000 Prius's on the road and CA being one of the biggest markets for it, you should be seeing them more than stop signs.

Or, are you saying that only only few drive around 50? All the Prius's I see usually average 70-75.

Not sure what part of Cali you are in but come spend some time in Silicon Valley. There seem to be a small percentage of Prius owners that are convinced that they are the most advanced life form in the universe if they can get 50mpg and beat you from a stop light. If you don't see a Prius in the fast lane up here (which means generally over 75), you're not looking.

true that and the fact that they get to drive in carpool lane?

true that and the fact that they get to drive in carpool lane?

Well they have to either have the required number of people or be one of the lucky 100,000 that got the stickers letting them in with only the driver. I believe Cali has stopped that program and the stickers are not transferable, they stay with the car, so the people with them will probably keep those Prius's and other hybrids, for a long, long time.

Not sure what part of Cali you are in but come spend some time in Silicon Valley. There seem to be a small percentage of Prius owners that are convinced that they are the most advanced life form in the universe if they can get 50mpg and beat you from a stop light.

ROFL - post of the day. :thumbup: :D :D

I recently drove 250 miles of interstate (twice) and I passed a few Priuses, each going VERY SLOW on the EMPTY interstate. Guess they have nothing better to do than drive all day and be proud of their baby-sized carbon footprint.

Meanwhile, I've got stuff to do... :p

I just filled up. I drove 250 miles, 70% highway. I've slowed down a bit and as a result 31 MPGs. No complaints here, especially since I did quite a bit of stop and go in this AWD vehicle. I guess I have Subaru to thank since my Legacy is quite light for midsize vehicle, though it lacks the side impact airbags, etc. of today.

Impressive, but there's trade-offs. Subarus are pretty noisy vehicles - the lightness comes from little sound-deadening material plus an inherently noisy engine design. Don't get me wrong though, I love Subarus - wife had a Legacy wagon in the 90s. I loved doing donuts in snow-covered parking lots. :p When we moved to Atlanta though we found it too slow when merging on the 'death race' highways in and around the city. We traded up to an RX300 which really is one of the best vehicles ever made.

Impressive, but there's trade-offs. Subarus are pretty noisy vehicles - the lightness comes from little sound-deadening material plus an inherently noisy engine design. Don't get me wrong though, I love Subarus - wife had a Legacy wagon in the 90s. I loved doing donuts in snow-covered parking lots. :p When we moved to Atlanta though we found it too slow when merging on the 'death race' highways in and around the city. We traded up to an RX300 which really is one of the best vehicles ever made.

Not much of a thread starter here but you know you have hit one of the keys that is going to happen for higher mileage that I doubt most people here are aware of. Cars are going to get lighter. They are going to get smaller as well but that is just a side effect of getting lighter. You don't need a supercomputer and nanotechnology to drag more mileage out of a car when you just make the thing smaller and lighter.

My wife and I have been agonizing about replacing one of the GSs this summer but have decided to hang on for a while. But once you get to be an old fart, the quietness of the car gets important. Neither of our 2GS have ever been what you would call quiet and it only gets worse as the tires wear. Thinner glass (although I can't imagine how they could get it much thinner) and even less sound deadening isn't going to help. I was pretty shocked when I replaced the speakers in the GS that the doors have no sound deadening other than the inner interior panel. After market sound deadening helped a bit but not much. So the conclusion that we got around to is that we will pay with worse mileage for comfort and quiet. Now if the car makers will make some decently quiet large vehicles with maybe around 300hp I will be ready to buy. A Prius just isn't in my future unless the Lexus model in a couple of years makes better tradeoffs.

Impressive, but there's trade-offs. Subarus are pretty noisy vehicles - the lightness comes from little sound-deadening material plus an inherently noisy engine design. Don't get me wrong though, I love Subarus - wife had a Legacy wagon in the 90s. I loved doing donuts in snow-covered parking lots. :p When we moved to Atlanta though we found it too slow when merging on the 'death race' highways in and around the city. We traded up to an RX300 which really is one of the best vehicles ever made.

Hmm, you're the first I've heard complain about a Subaru being noisy. I drop it into 5th and its fine.

RX300 is a nice vehicle, despite being way under powered and having a poor turning radius. As we found out, the latest generation of RX fixed everything that the first gen. lacked. What I never understood about our RX300 was that it got 18 mpg in the city, good for the time period, but only 20 on the highway. Yeuck.

RX300 is a nice vehicle, despite being way under powered and having a poor turning radius.

Agreed on the turning radius, but as far as being underpowered, it was MUCH less scary merging onto I285 around Atlanta compared to the anemic Legacy wagon we had. :p I know your Legacy is a stick, and maybe the slushbox on the Legacy was what made ours such a poke.