They also did the myth about 2 fat cops protecting a guy in the middle from a car wreck. I knew right away getting pancaked between two three hundred pound dudes wouldn’t end well.
Hypermiling - it seemed like nearly all these techniques are a extreme road hazard.
Whats the point of saving a few gallons of gas if you wreck your car? Or wear out a starter ($300 repair at least) turning off the engine at red lights? One ticket running stop signs would cost at least $200. Wiping out any gas savings.
I don’t get hypermiling at all. Also the Mythbusters busted the myth you could double gas mileage.
driving 45 mph. They had people honking and flipping off the Mythbusters.
Not braking - Kerri was sailing through some of those curves. A bit scary.
Turning off the motor at Red lights - thats a great way to get rear ended.
Coasting through stop signs - illegal (Mythbusters didn’t test this one)
Removing the outside mirror - also possibly illegal in some states? MB’s took off the passenger side mirror.
No AC and windows up - just plain sadistic. Who wants to get drenched in sweat driving to work?
Click and Clack said, re open windows vs air conditioning if you’re driving under 45 mph, roll the windows down. If you’re going faster, turn on the AC and crank the windows up.
People aren’t watching Mythbusters anymore? I was hoping the move back to Wed would bring everyone back. I hated the change to Sunday and stopped watching that season.
I was hoping the hypermiling episode would save me some gas and money. But I’m not endangering my life by driving 45mph in a 65mph zone. Nor am I foolishly turning off my engine at a stop light. Rear end collisions are devastating and can easily result in whiplash injuries.
I often drive 58mph in a 65 to save fuel. Avoid rapid accelerations, hard braking. That help my mileage.
I thought it was interesting that they established that some of these techniques will really improve your mileage, but no, they didn’t seem remotely worth the trouble, discomfort, and the time they would add to your trips.
That critical 15 second delay in restarting your engine can get you rear ended. People are watching the light. Not your car. The expectation is to go when the light turns. Then the other drivers have a half second to realize the guy in front isn’t moving and they have to hit their brakes. One mistake in a long line of cars creates a pile up.
Yes the guy that rear ended you is in the wrong. But a neck brace isn’t something I want to wear.
Everybody else is stepping on the accelerator and you have to take longer because you’re starting your car and then trying to accelerate. That might increase your chances of getting rear-ended.
I don’t have air conditioning, so don’t have a choice. I do notice that front windows open/rear windows closed is noisier and more turbulent, while opening all four windows in a four-door is quieter and less turbulent, so intuitively I assume it saves gas over the front windows only open configuration, but I’ve never tested it to be sure.
Rear windows only open makes a real obnoxious noise that distracts you from the heat.
Right, I thought of that. But fifteen seconds? What kind of jalopy takes that long to start? And I don’t know about anyone else, but when a red light turns green I don’t just stomp on the gas. I wait until the car in front of me starts to go, then I go.
As an aside, on my four door Hyundai (and on other four door cars I’ve owned) if you open only the rear windows (or is it just the front ones? Can’t remember right now) you get that god-awful “thrumming” sensation/noise going on. Is there a name for that and what causes it? In some cars it can be almost painful.
I don’t stomp on the gas either. But I do take my foot off the brake when the light changes and get ready to accelerate. If the car ahead is stalled then I have to brake again.
<shrug> We covered defensive driving in school. Trying to flow seamlessly through traffic. Not too fast because that results in lane changes and passing. Or too slow because it frustrates drivers and they may do something stupid like an abrupt lane change and then swerve in front of you.
I find driving 58mph in a 65 is just about right. I rarely accelerate to pass anyone and I’m still driving fast enough not to get flipped off. It does help my mileage and only adds a few minutes to the commute,
One would think they were already in Park as part of turning the car off. 15 seconds is a very, very long time.
I was surprised by just how much gas they saved in the episode, but I’m not willing to do all that on a daily basis. I did notice that I was driving less aggressively overall this morning after watching the episode last night. Maybe I’ll see a 10% improvement?
I think you’ve misunderstood the point of hypermiling. It is not “techniques for normal people to use to get better gas mileage.” Rather, it’s “a hobby for people who have nothing better to do.”
Spend some time on the Ecomodder forums and you’ll see how nutty these people are.
For example, this couple set a record awhile back by circumnavigating Australia at 30 mph. Normal people don’t do stuff like that.
If everyone watched the light there would be a lot more rear endings than there already are. Ironically, the most danger you’d be in would be from another coasting hypermiler who doesn’t want to apply the brakes unnecessarily and is assuming that you will accelerate quicker.
I think that’s pretty clear from the episode. If you put yourself through this kind of trouble just to conserve gas, you’re definitely doing it for its own sake, not for any kind of convenience.
It does help my mileage and only adds a few minutes to the commute,