[woodsyi]

With regular over $4, it is good to get the most out of every drop.  I have learned to change the way I drive to maximize mileage on my Fusion Hybrid.  I am learning to get the feel of accelerating "slowly" and then letting it coast in electrical mode.   I am getting very efficient with the momentum -- avoid breaking.  I have to leave enough room to coast down without breaking and  avoid steep uphills if I can.  It's better to go around on flat roads since the electrical motor can be best utilized in relatively flat roads.   Can you believe I am seeking out the slower lanes to "coast" in?    I don't care if cars are passing me.  I am concentrating on getting the most out of every drop.   I am getting 39+ miles per gallon and trying to get to that magical 40.  This is all on regular gas. 

[Photon46]

The last time gas went up to this price level I went a little bonkers and went to some of the measures you are experimenting with. In the end, I decided I was just too much of a traffic hazard poking along in the right lane of the interstate at 65 mph while the rest of the world blew by me at 80. A happy medium (for me) of m.p.g. and not being a traffic hazard seems to be 70mph. I just try to drive smoothly, avoid braking when possible, and avoid hard accelerations when going uphill. My Acura has a quite accurate mileage calculator and over the course of many months, it just doesn't make that much difference if you drive 65 vs. 70 mph as long as you are a smooth driver. By the way, BMW did a well known study years ago concerning the best method to accelerate and conserve fuel. They concluded rather brisk use of the accelerator coupled with shifting at low revs maximized fuel mileage to the greatest extent.

[woodsyi]

It's a little different with a hybrid though.  When you coast, you coast in electric -- no gas.  You want to coast as much as possible.  It means you have to get the feel for the most efficient way to get up to speed fast and then coast.  Of course, you have to push it sometimes to stay with the flow of the traffic but you do find yourself being a very passive driver.  I now laugh at drivers who accelerate up to a stop sign/light to beat a car only to have to slam on the breaks. 

[mfsoa]

I'd love it if hybrid owners would do at least 65 mph! I see so many at 50-55 mph, staring at their damn MPG meter, while the flow of traffic wants to be at 80 mph.  Not only is this dangerous but it creates miles-long traffic slowdowns as what used to be a three lane road is now a two lane road. All so that the Prius driver can get 48 mpg instead of 46 mpg.    If they kept up w/ traffic in the slow lane, at 65 MPH, the mpg benefit of aero drafting would outweigh the loss due to the slightly higher speed, I'm guessing.

OTOH, some hybrid drivers drive like lunatics!  I guess if you still get 30 mpg w/ the foot to the floor at 90 mph you don't feel that you are wasting gas?

Rant over 

[orientalexpress]

some of the most aggressive drivers in san francisco is hybrid driver.



lapsan

[jackman]

I had a chance to get a hybrid but chose a high HP car instead.  It was fun driving fast but I regret my decision every time I fill the tank...

[pslate]

I know it's not for everyone, but I moved to the city and got rid of my car. It was a decision I have never regretted. Initially I used car sharing a bit, now not at all. More money now for audio 

[Elizabeth]

I used to drive fast,. Really fast. my last ticket was 32 over the speed limit. I would regularly go 120mph..
As i get older i decided to slow down. And i sincerely do not care about the folks who are in a hurry. Too bad i AM in front of you. and if you tailgate, i will slow down to the MINUMUM speed allowed.
On the  freeway i am in the right lane, and drive the speed limit. If a car comes racing up to my rear bumper and parks two feet off, i SLAM on the brakes for a second, and scare the hell out of the person behind me. They can "Kiss my A**".
When i used to speed really fast, I still always gave a lot of room to the car in front. That usually meant i could find a way past better than the clowns who tailgated.
One of my fav moments was running fast along with a Corvette, well we stayed close a long way, but then traffic, That person could just never catch a break BECAUSE they tailgated. I stayed a bit back and found the holes. I beat that Corvette by NOT tailgating.
And for those who want to berate me for obeying  the law. bite my....  LOL. (sincerely, i could care less!!!)
So i drive slow now and enjoy the scenery. And never go anywhere unless I have to, with gas at the prices it is at now.
I keep my old car (Contour SVT) because to get ahead i would need twice the gas  mileage to make it worth buying a new car. And nothing is at 50 MPG that i want to own.
On the 65MPH portion of the freeway, i still go 55mph and just put it on cruise.

[Photon46]

Elizabeth, your reactions to tailgaters can get you and other people killed. I've made the mistake of reacting the same way to a tailgater and found that the person I just pissed off was a crazed, aggressive, deranged, and dangerously threatening individual. It turned into a dangerous cat and mouse game with them trying to ram my vehicle and run me off the road. It only ended safely because I timed turning off an exit road at the last second and was able to elude the psychopath behind me. Florida newspapers have regular stories about people being shot while driving for doing the things you describe. We need to remember that we can't control other drivers behaviors, just our reactions to them. The minute we get drawn into a psychological driving battle with a nitwitted driver, we compromise our own safety. It's been hard as hell for me to learn to drive with that mindset, believe me. I don't mean to sound preachy, it's just that the level of aggression among many people is rising to absurd levels. 

[putz]

65 to 70 in the right lane works for me most of the time. I looked at a hybrid 2 years ago but the price was too high when I could get a Hyundai Elantra for $15k that gets about 32 mpg with smart driving. Slow accelerating, coasting to red lights, etc.

Hopefully prices will come down on electric vehicles and people will stop buying SUVs when they don't need them. I know waste and excess is the American Way but it's time we wake up.

Oh and when someone is tailgaiting you, keep you foot on the gas and gently touch your brakes. Maintains your speed but slows down the person behind you. That's assuming you're in the right lane. Driving too slow in the left lane is dangerous and inconsiderate.

[gump305]

My Harley get pretty good mpg's 

[tesseract]

I just drive my subcompact normally. I don't mash the gas and I don't spend an undue amount of time coasting to a stop, although I don't see the point in racing to a stop sign or red light.

I think trying to eek out uber mileage from saves only pennies a day and wastes time, so I don't bother. Some people have made a game out of it, and that's ok as long as you are safe about it.

[tesseract]

Elizabeth, your reactions to tailgaters can get you and other people killed. I've made the mistake of reacting the same way to a tailgater and found that the person I just pissed off was a crazed, aggressive, deranged, and dangerously threatening individual. It turned into a dangerous cat and mouse game with them trying to ram my vehicle and run me off the road. It only ended safely because I timed turning off an exit road at the last second and was able to elude the psychopath behind me. Florida newspapers have regular stories about people being shot while driving for doing the things you describe. We need to remember that we can't control other drivers behaviors, just our reactions to them. The minute we get drawn into a psychological driving battle with a nitwitted driver, we compromise our own safety. It's been hard as hell for me to learn to drive with that mindset, believe me. I don't mean to sound preachy, it's just that the level of aggression among many people is rising to absurd levels. 

Absolutely. I had this same problem in Kansas City, my only crime was wearing my Army issued Buddy Holly glasses! A couple of drunks pulled up next to me at a light and started laughing and waving beers at me and my girlfriend. We were only 17 & 18 years old at the time.

I didn't want them to follow us home so I kept driving, which soon found us on the freeway alone with these jokers. They followed us, weaving and waving the beers. I did as you did, Photon46, and hit an exit at the last moment. They tried to follow and ended up wrecking a beautiful '77 T-Bird in the ditch. We went around to make sure no one needed an ambulance, a patrol car was already there, so we left. I have family in the police force there and found out later that a drunk driver ticket was issued to boot.  Dumazzes.   

Elizabeth, remember, Love is all there is....   

Stay safe.

[enjoythemusic]

Agree gas prices are up if you are using a currency within a failing system, yet oil 'price' is really down if you calculate the intrinsic value as compared to other items of long-held intrinsic value. The car here gets 18mpg highway, 12 city and about 5mpg at top speed.

Refined gas has almost never been cheaper actually as many pre-1963 USA coins (even in very bad physical conditions) due to their intrinsic metal content. A gallon of refined gas is about 15 cents using the intrinsic value of many pre-1963 USA coins (read: this has nothing to do with numismatic or collector value).

The problem is many Americans are still brainwashed to think of keeping their savings in a currency the central bank pretty much guarantees will loose over 21% in only ten years and lose nearly HALF its value in only 20 years' time (2% devaluation/inflation compounded annually).

Another way to think of it: A candy bar of the same size/ounces as 20 years ago, it would take about two candy bars per gallon of refined gas. How much did you pay for a candy bar 20 years ago? (answer: ~25 cents each). Thus today a gallon of gas = 50 cents per se.

Think differently

[woodsyi]

Gas price was very tangential to my OP.  I didn't ask why it was high; I only stated the fact (don't need no agreement) that it's high.  Isn't there already a thread that's going on and on about the why? 

Actually I am interested in the whys but I don't care to discuss it here and would appreciate it if others don't either.

So if I wasn't clear before on the OP, here is the question:  how are you driving your gas guzzler?   

[JohnR]

I drive "sensibly" ... When i first got my Mini Cooper Diesel (nearly two years ago now!! cripes...) I spent some time learning what the consumption meter says relative to how I drive. I learnt a few things. And now I basically drive in "economy mode" unless I want to "fang it" which happens on occasion. It's a deliberate choice to use the gas pedal. I have to say though that this (and I'm assuming many or most other modern cars) are pretty smart - it's pretty hard to go wrong within the parameters of the car that you choose - ? (I know that wasn't exactly the question... sorry...)

[JohnR]

It's a little different with a hybrid though.  When you coast, you coast in electric -- no gas.  You want to coast as much as possible.

I just wanted to add to this - I don't think this is just hybrids. Unless my car is lying to me (you never know) it completely shuts off the fuel when coasting. The fuel system is smart enough to know that it doesn't have to put anything into the motor. If you put the clutch in, then it starts feeding fuel into the motor to keep it turning.

[jackman]

I just wanted to add to this - I don't think this is just hybrids. Unless my car is lying to me (you never know) it completely shuts off the fuel when coasting. The fuel system is smart enough to know that it doesn't have to put anything into the motor. If you put the clutch in, then it starts feeding fuel into the motor to keep it turning.

Hi John, so your motor turns off when you are coasting and restarts when you engage the clutch?  It needs fuel to keep the motor running even at idle.  Does it run off the battery when the engine is off? 

I've heard of some trucks doing this but didn't know cars did it.  Interesting but it would save gas. 

[JohnR]

Hi John, so your motor turns off when you are coasting and restarts when you engage the clutch?  It needs fuel to keep the motor running even at idle.  Does it run off the battery when the engine is off? 

As long as the clutch is engaged (and the car is coasting), the wheels keep the motor turning. So it doesn't need any fuel. The motor is not really idling in that case, it's being "pushed around" by the wheels. As far as I can tell, the electronics just shut off the fuel supply as it's not needed. If you put the clutch in (disengage it), then the instantaneous fuel consumption jumps up because fuel is then needed to rotate the motor. (Just to be clear - I dont' have a hybrid, my car is petrol/diesel driven only.)

My car does turn the motor off completely if I am not moving and put the car in neutral and disengage the clutch. It restarts the motor when I put the clutch in. That's different though and completely noticeable, whereas what I am refering to above is completely unnoticeable.

[TheChairGuy]

I just wanted to add to this - I don't think this is just hybrids. Unless my car is lying to me (you never know) it completely shuts off the fuel when coasting. The fuel system is smart enough to know that it doesn't have to put anything into the motor. If you put the clutch in, then it starts feeding fuel into the motor to keep it turning.

John,

We don't have the diesel engine option in the Mini's in the US (yet, at least)...but what you describe is Start-Stop Technology.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/Mini-stop-start/

It's becoming more widespread in it's use as a real fuel saver....but, Mini was one of the first brands to offer it (borrowing the idea from Prius and the hybrids)

I don't think it's integrated into the current 2011 US offerings...but, as Ford is rolling the feature out across their lineup for 2012, no doubt Mini (and BMW and a host of others) will respond:

http://www.dailytech.com/StopStart+Technology+May+Finally+Come+to+NonHybrids+in+the+US/article17250.htm

It offers up to 7% fuel savings.  It's pretty exciting to see the fuel saving measures now used to eek out more MPG with the venerable petrol engine: enhanced aerodynamics, fuel saving tire technology, direct fuel injection, small displacement motors with energy efficient turbo's, Start-Stop, active grill closing (check that one out - it closes the grill fronts at higher speeds as the velocity of the air is sufficient - greatly enhancing aerodynamics and mileage during highway use) , regenerative brake technology, etc. 

It's quite a bounty out there there days and it's showing up on very affordable cars now.

Your car is a few years ahead of it's time with the Start-Stop feature