LOL this thread won't die -- even though most of the more radical hypermiling actually taking place by folks on this forum has.

I bought my Fit specifically for its fuel economy, among its other virtues. At the time, gas was $4.00/gal and climbing, and some were saying it wouldn't stop until it hit $9.00/gal. I didn't believe them, in fact I bet against them and did not "lock in" my winter heating oil at $4.79/gal in the hopes that the run-up had topped out. It had. Nevertheless, neither I nor anyone else I know expected gas to drop back to almost $1/gal!

I gave up completely on the whackos over at cleanmpg.com, who have nothing but disdain for anyone who dares question their sacred cows. I don't have much patience for blind idealogues.

Nowadays I still do some so-called "hypermiling", by which I mean:

• I pop the car into neutral and let it coast in places I think it can hold its momentum
• I am mindful of the fuel saving advantages of using DFCO judiciously
• I "hyperfill" the car, getting on average another 2 gallons in after the pump kicks off the first time; this allows me to get a an additional full commuting cycle in before I need to fill up again
• I run the tires at 45lbs front and rear, which I find to provide a nice compromise among rolling resistance, handling safety and comfort
• I use "maintaining momentum" as my excuse to blast around corners when driving the Fit, muahahahaaaaa!

In addition, I added a Beatrush underpanel to smooth out airflow under the car (which worked wonders) and I'm cheerleading the guy who is talking about making a functional rear diffuser for the Fit. I also plan on putting lighter rims on the car when I wear out the stock tires. All of those are in the name of efficiency/fuel economy/call it what you will. I very much enjoy the light, nimble feel of the car.

I stand by my comments on the R&T op-ed piece; it was shoddy work on their part.

 

Welcome to the middle my friend

I think I had mentioned it before, but one of the founders of GreenPeace was thrown out on his ass and then hated on (to this day even) because he wanted to help industry become sustainable instead of just protesting it.... lol

Not directed at anybody, but Eco-freaks are typically blind to anything that isn't a total rebellion against society. The people in the middle are the ones who make the real differences in this world.

I totally refuse to donate money to anybody who supports Greenpeace or the Sierra Club. I was surprised to learn that United Way of Canada does not support them, while United Way of America does.

 

Thanks for the great threads/info on the Beatrush.
I want to do some sort of under panel for my GE8
You still gettin about +2 mpg with the Beatrush?

 

It's hard to tell in winter, with the gas formulation changes, the very cold weather, etc. and so forth. I'm running about 37mpg of late; this is my first winter with the car so I have nothing to compare that with directly, but other cars have dropped about 2mpg in winter so I expect I'll be back in the 39-40 range come springtime.

Thing is, I'd keep the underpanel even it did nothing for gas mileage, solely for the improvement in handling and daily driveability. It makes the front of the car much more stable and planted to the road.

 

Still honing my skills