Hypermiling Update

I finally got tired of the measly increases I have seen in my little Saturn. I had mentioned before that I wasn't going try too many crazy things to the car.

However, midway through the last tank, I decided to inflate my tires to the maximum allowable pressure to try and reduce rolling resistance. Let's see how it changes my next tank of gas. Except that Hopey will be taking it to school tomorrow....

Last tank: 33.56 mpg

I'm thinking I have slacked a little bit with the hypermiling. Not to mention trips to lunch with multiple people in the car (highway driving so I end up having to push the engine a little harder).

Time to try again....

A New Stone - Part Deux

So...the first test is complete. I managed 36.2 mpg in the Saturn. I filled up at 361.5 miles and had a little less than a quarter tank remaining. Less than what I was anticipating. However, I must note that we had to use the little car on the highway quite a bit over the weekend.

A trip to the Pepsi Center on Thursday.

One run to Hope's Master's Class on Saturday and one run to the car pool pickup for the same on Sunday.

Highway miles seem to kill this experiment. I refuse to drive slowly on the highway or to limit my acceleration and risk getting rearended.

Thus we have agreed to try and limit the highway miles in the Saturn to help us complete the quest to 500 miles on one tank.

A new stone

I am prevailing upon myself to turn over a new stone while driving. As many know, I have traded cars with Hope (quite willingly) so that Emi always rides in the Volvo. Somehow, having the baby riding in the plastic car doesn't leave me with incredibly safe feelings.

That said, as happy as I am in being able to give my daughter one of the safest cars in the world to travel in, the Saturn leaves me quite grumpy as I drive the little beater around town. Compound this with my predilection for speed (yup...another speeding ticket in the Volvo last weekend) and I have realized the need to change something.

So...I have decided to see just how far I can drive the little Saturn on one tank of gas. Hope has said that the furthest she ever made it was 400 miles. I'm aiming for 500.

I have not yet taken off the roof rack. I have not yet aired the tires to maximum capacity. I have not yet done a tune up on the engine or replaced the engine oil with a lower viscosity. I have not yet replaced the air filter.

I have taken to shifting between 2 and 2.5 grand. I have taken to driving right at the speed limit. I have taken to coasting down inclines in neutral...sometimes with the engine off (depends on the traffic and other road conditions).

I will not draft. I will not run red lights or stop signs. I will not run below the speed limit. I will not try some of the nerdy stuff I have read that hypermilers do.

We'll have to see what is under this new stone....