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I had no idea that being in neutral was illegal. It's funny that
gliding to a sedate stop at a stop sign with my foot on the brake and
my hand on the gear-shift (ready to pop it into drive) is illegal when
screaming up to the stop sign and slamming on the brakes is not.
Unless you hit someone, I guess. I guess I'll slow down sedately while
still in gear from now on. I wasn't suggesting that anyone try the
drafting technique, just describing what some maniacs do who take this
too far.<br>
<br>
The point is that if you (or anyone) watch your current mpg on one of
those mileage computers, you can save some money (far more than 10
cents) and help a small amount with our dependence on foreign oil.<br>
<br>
Just a thought.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
Donovan Arnold wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid55939.35315.qm@web38111.mail.mud.yahoo.com"
type="cite">
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">"Throw your
car into neutral and coast to stops and turns."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">DON'T DO
THIS, EVER!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Sorry, but
this is ILLEGAL and Dangerous! You should NEVER take your vehicle out
of gear while it is in motion, people die this way. A person needs to
be 100% in control of the vehicle they are driving, 100% of the time,
and especially around turns and coming to an intersection. If your
vehicle is in neutral while it is in motion you are not 100% in control
of it, you are breaking the law while putting yourself and others on
the road with you in danger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">The places
where people die most on the road are around turns and at
intersections. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">DON"T DO THIS
EITHER:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">"Drafting
18-wheelers on the freeway. Basically riding their bumpers, <br>
throwing the car into neutral, and using the pocket of wind created at <br>
the rear of the truck to move you along. "<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">This is also
illegal, and about the stupidest thing you can do, playing with an
80,000 lb, 72 foot <span style=""> </span>object moving at speeds up
to 75 MPH; you are better off sticking your head in a blender. If the
truck stops, another car comes into the lane, it runs over a piece of
wood, or something in the road, you will be lucky only to have car
damage. A small rock could crack your windshield easily, and it would
be your fault. In a worse case scenario your head would be removed from
your body by the ICC below the double doors if the truck had to stop
suddenly or blew a drive tire. If a rear tire blew out it would easily
kill you or force you off the road into a tree or even another person,
DON”T DO IT. Even an object that was stuck between the duels and later
came free could crack your windshield and skull in the same second. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">One of my
trainers told me about a guy that was doing this same thing behind his
rig, and a drunk driver came into his lane, he steered right, off onto
the shoulder to avoid the collision, the car behind him could not see
what was going on and was killed by the drunk driver. Stay far enough
back to see up the road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">In most cases
though, a professional driver will not let you stay behind him for long
because he knows the danger you are putting yourself and others in,
plus he doesn't want to deal the mess and potential damage to his load
and trailer. He doesn't make money scraping your Buick off his rear
bumper. What I did, and most drivers do is hit the break lights so much
that the guy on our tail gives up. Most new trucks now can turn
on their break lights without hitting the breaks, which freaks the crap
out the guy riding your bumper. It worked every time for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">I like the
rest of Paul's ideas, and many are in fact part of a professional
driver's training; looking ahead, predicting movements of other
drivers, slow acceleration and deceleration, and moving at a consistent
speed with plenty of following distance between you and vehicle in
front of you. But I cannot stress enough, how stupid and dangerous it
is to put the vehicle into neutral while moving or following less than
six seconds behind the vehicle in front of you, especially a big rig
you cannot see around. Please find another way to save ten cents;
innocent people are on the road! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Best,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Donovan Arnold<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Class A CDL
Professional Driver<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></o:p></div>
<div><br>
<b><i>Paul Rumelhart <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com"><godshatter@yahoo.com></a></i></b> wrote:</div>
<blockquote class="replbq"
style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px;">I've
been reading about a practice called "hypermiling" in which you try <br>
to increase your gas mileage by varying your driving habits. Has anyone
<br>
else come across this? It's interesting stuff. You can make some <br>
significant gains in gas mileage if you use some of their tricks. Of <br>
course, some of them go beyond crazy sometimes, but I'm sure a happy <br>
medium can be found. It really helps if you have a computer in your car
<br>
that shows you your current gas mileage and an averaged value. Some <br>
newer cars have this, as do some select older models (my 1990 T-Bird
had <br>
one). I understand you can buy these gauges third-party as well. I'd <br>
really like these to become standard on all cars.<br>
<br>
The idea is to drive around for a while keeping an eye on your
immediate <br>
gas mileage and seeing what actions have what kinds of effects. <br>
Obviously, tearing away from a stop sign burns a lot of gas, as does <br>
driving too fast and driving aggressively. Slower accelerations have a <br>
better effect, as well as trying to keep your speed constant as much as
<br>
you can.<br>
<br>
Some ideas I've come across:<br>
<br>
- Drive proactively: keep an eye out for what is going on ahead of you.
<br>
If you are going to turn left, for example, try to time your speed a
bit <br>
to arrive where you have to turn where there is a gap in on-coming <br>
traffic. If a light a ways ahead of you just turned red, slow down and <br>
try to get there when it turns green. Speeding up to the light, <br>
slamming on the brakes, and having to start from a complete stop just <br>
wastes gas.<br>
<br>
- Throw your car into neutral and coast to stops and turns. Some people
<br>
go so far as to turn their car off, but that isn't usually too wise <br>
because you can lose your power brakes and steering. You don't have to <br>
go so far as to have your car crawl to the stop and not have to have <br>
used the brakes at all - but even a little bit of coasting can make a <br>
big difference, especially if your car has low rolling resistance tires.<br>
<br>
- Keep your windows closed and your A/C off. Open windows really <br>
increase drag, and A/C can put quite a load on the engine. The weather <br>
may require you not to go too far with this, but try to keep in mind
how <br>
your comfort is affecting your mileage and compromise if you can.<br>
<br>
- If it's raining, drive off-center on the road (along the white line) <br>
to keep your tires out of the tire grooves in the center of the road. <br>
Water just pools there and your car wastes gas throwing it around.<br>
<br>
Some things that the professional hypermilers do that I don't recommend
<br>
(yes, there are competitions):<br>
<br>
- Drafting 18-wheelers on the freeway. Basically riding their bumpers, <br>
throwing the car into neutral, and using the pocket of wind created at <br>
the rear of the truck to move you along. Obviously, it's very <br>
dangerous, but it hurts in the long run too because the 18-wheeler has <br>
to use more gas to move down the highway and your car is probably more <br>
efficient than the truck is.<br>
<br>
- Hitting off-ramps at insane speeds in order to coast all the way to <br>
the stop sign. Some of the professionals literally have their tires <br>
squealing as they go around these spirals in order to coast farther. <br>
Not really that safe.<br>
<br>
- "Pump-and-gliding". Nothing really wrong with this - but it's hard to
<br>
do without a lot of practice. There are apparently certain RPM/gear <br>
combinations that are more efficient than others, so it's sometimes <br>
better to speed up quickly and coast as much as possible.<br>
<br>
- Driving barefoot. Professionals do this so they can make small <br>
microadjustments with the gas pedal and feel what is going on. It's <br>
probably not that safe, but I don't drive that way so I could be wrong.<br>
<br>
Anyway, just thought I'd mention this now that gas prices are going <br>
through the roof. Some of these hypermilers see 50% increases in their <br>
gas mileage or more on a regular basis without going completely nuts <br>
with it. The cool thing is that this can help even if you have an old <br>
gas-guzzling boat of a car. Every little bit helps.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
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</blockquote>
<br>
<p> </p>
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