Hypermiling: Techniques to Save Gas, Increase Mileage

My son was crowing about getting 45 mpg in his Honda Accent by using hypermiling. Naturally, I wanted to know what hypermiling was and how it increased gas mileage. It turns out that hypermiling is a lot of little things that make a big difference in the miles per gallon you get from your car. Here are seven things you can do to improve your gas mileage.

1. A good place to begin is by some simple car maintenance. Obama had his numbers a bit wrong, but he was right about the fact that proper inflation of tires and clean air filters can help save gas. Using the right motor oil is also a help, the lighter the better. If you are carrying a heavy load in your trunk and don't need to, then get rid of the extra weight.

2. Some other simple things you can do that will not cost extra money nor get you in trouble with the law are simply modifying your driving habits some. Don't go over the speed limit. If you can go a bit under the limit without annoying others, even better.

3. Pretend your brakes are not working right. If your brakes are wonky you slow down and put more distance between you and the car in front of you. You also slow down by taking your foot off the accelerator sooner when you see a stop sign or light ahead. If you have a manual transmission you downshift to slow your car.

4. Accelerate slowly. Instead of getting up to speed as fast as you can see if you can get there without going too much past 2000 RPM's. Of course, if you don't have a gauge that gives you this information then it's a bit harder to do, but just keep a gentle, steady pressure on your gas pedal and that will help a great deal.

5. Idling uses gas too, but if you are sitting somewhere less than a minute then cutting your engine off is counter productive since you'll use more fuel starting again than you would have to just let the car idle.

6. If you love your gadgets there are devices you can buy and install that will show you how aggressively you are driving. If you get too aggressive they buzz. Some of the devices even have colored bars to monitor your habits going from green to yellow to red to tell you if you are being too pushy.

7. Do not break the law. This means stop completely for that stop sign. However, you don't have to park there. Move when it is safe to do so. If there is no traffic to consider a full stop of three seconds should be sufficient to keep you from getting a ticket.

An important thing to always keep in mind when practicing hypermiling is, do not upset other drivers. Getting beat up, shot or causing someone to have an accident is not worth saving a few cents. Use the techniques carefully when you are in traffic.