Maximizing Safety and Efficiency: Hypermiling

[Lazy2.5]

@sm1ke

Efficient driving goes hand-in-hand with safe driving. One of the key principles I've learned over the years is to maintain a steady speed, even it feels slow or dips below the speed limit. By resisting the urge to rush and focusing on consistent speeds, I have avoided countless accidents while observing significantly better fuel economy over EPA estimates. Here's how I have put this principle into practice, further refining my technique along the way:

1. Terrain Awareness & Momentum Management:

• Downhill: Use the downhill momentum to your advantage. Gently increase throttle to gain speed, reducing the need to accelerate hard later.
• Uphill: Ease off the throttle and allow your speed to decrease slightly. Don't force the engine to maintain speed uphill. Regain speed on the next downhill section.

2. Smooth Acceleration and Shifting:

• Gradual Acceleration: Accelerate smoothly and gradually. Avoid hard starts and excessive throttle input.
• Respect Shift Points: Pay attention to your car's shift points and avoid exceeding them unnecessarily.

3. Maintain a Safe Following Distance:

• Safety First: A large following distance provides ample time to react to unexpected situations and avoid sudden braking. I aim for roughly 6-8 car lengths when travelling 80km/h per hour or faster.
• Efficiency Bonus: It also allows you to anticipate slowdowns and maintain a more consistent speed, reducing fuel-wasting acceleration and braking cycles.

4. Cruise Control with Awareness:

• Use Cruise Control Wisely: While cruise control can be helpful for maintaining a steady speed on flat terrain, avoid using it on hilly roads, as it can lead to unnecessary acceleration and fuel consumption on uphills.

5. Real-Time Fuel Economy Monitoring:

• Observe and Adjust: Pay close attention to your car's real-time fuel economy display and try to stay within a certain range. Keep that number relatively steady.

Key Takeaways:

• Patience is Key: Efficient driving requires patience. Avoid the urge to rush and focus on maintaining a steady pace.
• Anticipation and Planning: Be patient. Anticipate traffic flow and road conditions to optimize your speed. This will easily help you minimize unnecessary braking and acceleration, keep you and others safer.
• Smoothness: Smooth inputs and gradual transitions are crucial for maximizing efficiency.

While I enjoy spirited driving when the situation allows, I've realized that unnecessary acceleration often leads to getting caught behind slower traffic or hitting more red lights. It's ironic how often I end up catching up to or even passing those same impatient drivers who zoomed past me earlier..

 

[ceric]

I agree to most of your points.

However, I am not sure about the adjective, "gradual"

• Gradual Acceleration: Accelerate smoothly and gradually. Avoid hard starts and excessive throttle input

I used to own a Prius ('05) Hypermiling was popular among owners....
The consensus was to accelerate moderately (not too fast, but not too slow either) to the desired speed and hold it there. Slow acceleration actually is not efficient.
ICE works best at max torque (4-5k rpm).
Maybe I am wrong on this. Welcome to correct this.

 

[sm1ke]

I agree to most of your points.

However, I am not sure about the adjective, "gradual"

• Gradual Acceleration: Accelerate smoothly and gradually. Avoid hard starts and excessive throttle input

I used to own a Prius ('05) Hypermiling was popular among owners....
The consensus was to accelerate moderately (not too fast, but not too slow either) to the desired speed and hold it there. Slow acceleration actually is not efficient.
ICE works best at max torque (4-5k rpm).
Maybe I am wrong on this. Welcome to correct this.

I will note from personal experience that when I first installed my Sprint Booster (throttle controller), my fuel efficiency improved slightly. I was accelerating up to speed a little quicker, which led to coasting for longer distances. Try everything and stick with what works

 

[Lazy2.5]

I agree to most of your points.

However, I am not sure about the adjective, "gradual"

• Gradual Acceleration: Accelerate smoothly and gradually. Avoid hard starts and excessive throttle input

I used to own a Prius ('05) Hypermiling was popular among owners....
The consensus was to accelerate moderately (not too fast, but not too slow either) to the desired speed and hold it there. Slow acceleration actually is not efficient.
ICE works best at max torque (4-5k rpm).
Maybe I am wrong on this. Welcome to correct this.

I generally agree, that too slow is not helpful either (Unless it's helping you avoid slowing down again...) However..:

When I attempt to increase throttle position beyond the "sweet spot" which the vehicle is tuned for, the car will almost always deny this request for higher shift points. I stopped fighting this hard-set tuning. It results in pretty slow acceleration, but I got used to it.

With that being said, these shift-points are sometimes too conservative. For example. you may have noticed that the transmission is tuned to downshift only at the min. allowable RPM for that gear, often leading to some bogging down, such as when climbing a hill. I'll flap the downshift paddle a little earlier to keep power output smooth.

Regardless, I find that holding speed up certain hills, at least while following the shift points which the car is tuned for, results in too forceful of a throttle position, so I don't strictly hold speed, but rather leverage certain stretches of flat or downhill to get back up to speed. This might be a little easier to avoid with something like a prius and it's more instant electric motor torque output, I presume.

The only time I find that the transmission is fine with adjusting the shift points is in hot weather.

the shift points are as such:

1st gear: 1750rpm, with some flexibility.
2nd: 1500rpm. It HATES exceeding 1500rpm and will do anything it can to ignore you when you ask for more. Kind of annoying. Painfully slow. lol.
3rd,4th: a bit more flexible. somewhere between 1500-1750rpm.
5th-6th: 1500rpm.

This is under a low cargo load, and crucially, in colder weather. If you drive in hotter weather, you probably won't notice shift points this conservative.

Is it slow? yes. Is it at times too slow? Yes. I would happily accelerate harder. However. I usually don't, because often times some impending obstacles up ahead will cause the need to slow down again.

With all this being said, this is the car i'm driving. I am respectful and considerate of how the engineers tuned the car. When I need it to accelerate, the car hardly ever disappoints, an my fuel economy is consistently under 5.5L/100KM.

 

[GrampaSlade]

@sm1ke

Efficient driving goes hand-in-hand with safe driving. One of the key principles I've learned over the years is to maintain a steady speed, even it feels slow or dips below the speed limit. By resisting the urge to rush and focusing on consistent speeds, I have avoided countless accidents while observing significantly better fuel economy over EPA estimates. Here's how I have put this principle into practice, further refining my technique along the way:

1. Terrain Awareness & Momentum Management:

• Downhill: Use the downhill momentum to your advantage. Gently increase throttle to gain speed, reducing the need to accelerate hard later.
• Uphill: Ease off the throttle and allow your speed to decrease slightly. Don't force the engine to maintain speed uphill. Regain speed on the next downhill section.

2. Smooth Acceleration and Shifting:

• Gradual Acceleration: Accelerate smoothly and gradually. Avoid hard starts and excessive throttle input.
• Respect Shift Points: Pay attention to your car's shift points and avoid exceeding them unnecessarily.

3. Maintain a Safe Following Distance:

• Safety First: A large following distance provides ample time to react to unexpected situations and avoid sudden braking. I aim for roughly 6-8 car lengths when travelling 80km/h per hour or faster.
• Efficiency Bonus: It also allows you to anticipate slowdowns and maintain a more consistent speed, reducing fuel-wasting acceleration and braking cycles.

4. Cruise Control with Awareness:

• Use Cruise Control Wisely: While cruise control can be helpful for maintaining a steady speed on flat terrain, avoid using it on hilly roads, as it can lead to unnecessary acceleration and fuel consumption on uphills.

5. Real-Time Fuel Economy Monitoring:

• Observe and Adjust: Pay close attention to your car's real-time fuel economy display and try to stay within a certain range. Keep that number relatively steady.

Key Takeaways:

• Patience is Key: Efficient driving requires patience. Avoid the urge to rush and focus on maintaining a steady pace.
• Anticipation and Planning: Be patient. Anticipate traffic flow and road conditions to optimize your speed. This will easily help you minimize unnecessary braking and acceleration, keep you and others safer.
• Smoothness: Smooth inputs and gradual transitions are crucial for maximizing efficiency.

While I enjoy spirited driving when the situation allows, I've realized that unnecessary acceleration often leads to getting caught behind slower traffic or hitting more red lights. It's ironic how often I end up catching up to or even passing those same impatient drivers who zoomed past me earlier..

"Efficient driving requires patience". Well now, that leaves me out