[WebHubbleTelescope]

Wayne Gerdes interviewed by Rachel Maddow of Air America Radio, with background video courtesy of the The Decider.
[video width=400 height=350]http://www.youtube.com/v/R2IxU5fpGrA[/video]

More info here: link

[strider3700]

It's an interview with this the owner of this web page

http://www.cleanmpg.com/

basically he uses different drving techniques to get way better mileage out of stock or close to stock cars.

[AirlinePilot]

A friend sent me some links concerning peole who squeeze every mpg they can out of their vehicles. Interesting stuff really. Some of it seems a bit extreme, and some of it is very easily adopted. article

[Novus]

It will be a lot easier when there are less cars on the road. There would be no gas crisis this summer or the next if we the speed limit was lowered to 55mph.

[lawnchair]

Good times. First car I drove was the already efficient Opel Kadett my dad drove through the 70s crunches. I wasn't too fuel conscious when I drove it (gas was 85c per gallon), but I heard his 70s stories (including drafting semis). The neatest trick was a little cable-pull installed under the dash. It cut fuel to one of the twin carbs. Once you were up to highway speed, hey, 25hp is enough, right? I've seen the same mod on a similar-era Beetle. Funny enough, GM is doing the same thing today in trucks, shutting off unneeded cylinders when cruising.

[emersonbiggins]

A LOT of what he is doing is illegal, or at least unsafe:
*tailgating 18 wheelers
*turning corners at unsafe speeds (52 MPH!?)
*driving 50 MPH (right lane at least) on a divided, limited-access highway
*rolling through stop signs
I find it funny that he still lives in suburban Chicago (actually, halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee) and commutes 2 hours to work. While apparently proferring the Bin Laden-Saudi-oil wealth link as a reason for his miserly behavior, he seems to think that the American way of life is still non-negotiable, if only we'd adopt his behavior.
I can imagine the accidents we would begin to see if even an insignificant percentage of drivers begin to adopt his ways.
Turning the A/C off and coasting down hills, though, seem like reasonable enough suggestions.
Best paragraph in the whole article:

i stay at wayne's home, part of a modern suburban development between Chicago and Milwaukee on Lake Michigan's western shore. It's not the kind of place where people drive compact cars, much less hybrids. "There's a Hummer over there," Wayne says after we step inside, pointing to a neighbor's house beyond his microwave. "And there's a Hummer over there," he says, pointing past his TV, the largest flat-screen I've ever seen outside of a sports bar. In the kitchen with us is Hobbit—he prefers that to his real name—another visitor who is staying at Wayne's house while attending Hybridfest. Hobbit has a patchy beard and a braided ponytail and travels in bare feet. He looks and thinks like the ecoradical you might expect a hypermiler to be and confesses he's surprised by Wayne's home and lifestyle. "I thought you'd be living like a college student," he says.

Here's a close second:

"Buckle up tight, because this is the death turn," says Wayne. Death turn? We're moving at 50 mph. Wayne turns off the engine. He's bearing down on the exit, and as he turns the wheel sharply to the right, the tires squeal—which is what happens when you take a 25 mph turn going 50. Cathy, Terry's wife, who is sitting next to me in the backseat, grabs my leg. I grab the door handle. As we come out of the 270-degree turn, Cathy says, "I hope you have upholstery cleaner."

[joewp]

Interesting article, but I wonder what he'd do if he was informed of Jevons' Paradox and he realized that his saving fuel makes it cheaper and just results in more people "throwing it away"?

[strider3700]

perhaps the savings that he's achieved is what allows him to live the suburb life style with the giant plasma tv? We probably would be better off if everyone just gave up on trying to save the world and did whats best for themselves instead.

[emersonbiggins]

Here is this guy's daily commute, notice the 90 miles & the 2 Hours part:


So, 180 miles a day, at 60 MPG, let's see:
3 gallons day
x
5 days/week
__________

15 gallons/week

Not bad, but imagine if this guy chose to live somewhere a little more sensible.

Catch-22, though, because this guy's 60 MPG average is largely based on the fact that about half of his commute is on rural interstates (from the looks of it) or reverse-commuting on suburban interstates.

So, this article (and this hypermiler) sells the notion that we "could all do this," when, in fact, his commuting pattern lies far outside the norm of Joe Q. Sixpack, who commutes from suburb-to-suburb or suburb-to-core.

[TheDude]

Agree that this is is the fuel efficiency equivalent of Extreme Sports. Mods to vehicles will be a monster cottage industry soon, for the rest of us - big bucks to be had.

Not bad, but imagine if this guy chose to live somewhere a little more sensible.

What a statement!

[yesplease]

Wayne's just a bit of a nut *holds hands really far apart*. Probably takes that turn so fast because he gets so damn bored commuting at 55mph or whatevs.
But, there are plenty of safe and quasi-legal ways to drive efficiently (hypermiling seems like such a silly name). Driving slow will not result in any undue danger as long as it's the lower limit for that road in the right lane, or even ~10-15mph below depending on situation, but it will significantly reduce gasoline use in top gear. Of course, the trade off is spending more time on the commute, but then it comes down to the old adage.

Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?

The irony is the ones who can save the most money, those who can go from 5mpg to 8mpg, or 10mpg to 15mpg, probably won't because it doesn't feel like a big jump in mileage, even though it's a huge drop in gasoline used and money spent.

[canis_lupus]

This is where I live

...and all of these highways are seriously unfun from 6.30 to 9am and from 3.30pm to 7 pm.

25 minutes from my house to Northbrook on Monday took me and hour ten to get home because I missed the traffic window.

This is why I work from home!

[Syeer]

I do some of the stuff this guy does, although it's more like 60-65mph on the interstate instead of 52. I also drive a 43 year old car so 50mph around a 25mph curve is out of the question. More like 40 for me. I also absolutely will not roll through stop signs either. I do cut my engine off when possible and coast. I have recently started doing the semi-truck drafting thing, and in my 2400lb car with its antiquated suspension system, it's a tad harrowing in all that turbulence.

It cut fuel to one of the twin carbs. Once you were up to highway speed, hey, 25hp is enough, right? I've seen the same mod on a similar-era Beetle. Funny enough, GM is doing the same thing today in trucks, shutting off unneeded cylinders when cruising.

Oh really? I've got a '64 Beetle that I'd like to squeeze a few more mpg out of. Any idea where I can find info for this this mod?

[MD]

Here's my version of "hypermiling":
50 mile commute makes for 500 miles per week. At 25 mpg I'll need 20 gallons of fuel per week.
I quit my job and now commute 5 miles per week, using approximately one quart of fuel.
Measured against my previous commute, my equivalent "mpg" is about 2000.
It's simple: stop driving.

[I_Like_Plants]

And 5 miles a WEEK means if it's possible (some places in the US it's simply not!) you can walk or bike it.

No fuel use at all!

But then, it's not just the commute, it's the shopping, going to the library, etc., I string errends together and I think most people do unless they're afflicted with ADHD .... ok most ppl don't.

[gg3]

Sure Wayne's doing some dangerous things and even a few illegal things. People do illegal & dangerous things on the road all the time and the vast majority have no good reason and no excuse. Wayne's at least making a contribution to the common good.

What the cynical (or perhaps chronically depressed but unmedicated) people here don't get is, hypermiling is a competitive sport and it will have spinoffs for the rest of us.

Most people can't afford to buy a high-efficiency vehicle when they feel like it. For them, improved driving techniques are a good way to catch up.

MPG meters on all cars sold would be a simple & cheap step to begin with. Seeing mileage in realtime will reqard better driving habits.

A toggle switch to shut off fuel feed to unneeded cylinders would be a good modification that should be possible on any vehicle.

---

As for Wayne's big TV and other electrical stuff, I don't have a problem with that, seeing as his electricity is probably coming from a nuclear plant. The one he works at.

And IMHO the guy would be a good spokesperson for the new nuclear power industry: a nuke plant operator whose hobby is to figure out driving techniques that beat 100 mpg.

[lawnchair]

Well, the shutting off unneeded cylinders is not always possible. There's no easy way to do it in a car with one carburetor nor a car with a single manifold fuel injector. It's possible in a modern car with per-cylinder fuel injection, but the engine management computer would go nuts. You could do it all in software, though, which is what manufacturers are doing today.

Syeer - Well, the 64 is certainly before the VW 'refinements' (fuel injector or watercooling). I know some VWs were twin-carb (it makes some sense in a boxer engine) and some were single-carb. If it is twin-carb, try pinching off the fuel line before one carb with the engine running. Wait a second for the fuel in the carb to get drained. See if it will run on two. On the Opel, it was just a spring-loaded ball valve in the fuel line before the carb and a Bowden cable (bicycle brake cable) to the dash.

YMMV and please don't sue me if this destroys your nice vintage VW. It's not worth killing a nice car!