Hyper-Milage

Anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of getting caught up in one of my rants about how I hate sending money over to people who want to blow us up every time I fill my tank, or the one about how I hate being under the thumb of other nations who can slide us into a depression just by turning off the faucet, or how I want to build an HHO based bubbler to increase my milage on the SUV I selfishly use to commute every day....well hold on to your hats, because here comes another one, only this time, it's getting followed up with some action.

That's right ladies and germs, this time I'm actually going to do something....amazing.  The idea is that we tend to drive on the freeway with our foot on the gas all the time, unless its on the brake.  Why?  Theres no need, the damn car will roll on its own, all it needs is a little push from time to time to keep it going.  If you are riding a bike, do you pedal down hill?  Hell no, you coast.  So that's my plan, and its very simple: treat the car like a bike and see just how far I can coast on the 34 miles of freeway between home and work every day.

I started this morning, and I never really realized this until today when it mattered, but with all the overpasses etc, a good chunk of my commute is down hill.  Coasting down those hills in neutral is just like getting free gas since it's distance that I travel without having to waste gas to do so.  I honestly think I coasted a total of 5 miles on the way in today.  

The other thing I'm doing is kind of a pulse driving technique where I use the engine just long enough to give the car a push from time to time.  Gas for 20 seconds, coast for 20-30 seconds, then gas and coast, gas and coast....it's really pretty simple, and it gives you something to do in the car.

Now, will this work on my commute home?  Nope, it's hard to coast when your car is sitting in park, but I'll try it when I can.  I just topped off the tank and reset the odometer this morning on the way in to work, and should have some preliminary numbers on Friday night, 4 days worth of commute, and will report those as I get them.  I know that I typically get around 15mpg, I think I'd like to see 20mpg with this technique to call it a success.  With about 500 miles a week under my belt, 20 mpg would save me 8 gallons a week, or about 100 bucks a month that I'm not contributing to the pockets I'd rather not contribute to.