Wayne Gerdes demonstrating one technique he calls "pushing the car to work."
Posted on 06/04/2008 8:04:04 AM PDT by Daffynition
WAUKEGAN, Illinois (CNN) -- Wayne Gerdes is a man on a mission. He wants to end our wasteful ways, and that became plain as day to me from the moment I met him.
He is the king of "hypermilers," drivers who push cars to their miles per gallon limits and beyond. Wayne gets about 50 mpg from his Honda Accord using hypermiling techniques.
We met him at the Waukegan Regional Airport not far from his home. CNN producer Dana Garrett and I had flown there in my small, single-engine airplane, a Cirrus SR22. Within moments, Wayne and I were talking about the kind of mileage it gets.
Fortunately, as air travel goes, it is a pretty efficient mode of conveyance. Once I have leveled off at say 8,000 feet and after, I have "leaned" the fuel/air mixture to the most efficient setting. I usually get about 13 miles per gallon.
Wayne seemed to approve of this and was glad I did not arrive alone. He reminded me miles per gallon per person, or MPGPP, is really the crucial number. That led us to a conversation about the relative benefits of driving versus flying commercially.
Wayne is a nuclear engineer and the kind of guy who runs the numbers. He says for longer trips -- flying on a full airliner is more efficient than driving. Matter of fact, it is not even close.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
“the Yukon was an anachronism — and borderline immoral.”
Is this a venial or mortal sin in the Church of Gaia?
Engine starter$ are a real pain when they go bad.
Now theres a gas saving idea I haven't heard of yet.
Great, if he's pushing his agenda in the market place of ideas. Not so hot if he is pushing them with the force of gov. Now, especially since he's buzzing around in a Cirrus, at lousy 13mpg. A 1955 Bonanza will do better, if he is such a fuel nazi, why is not flying around in a Mooney 201. They guy paid at least a $200K premium for new airplane smell and bad gas mileage.... And he's gonna push his high minded socialism on us??
Wayne Gerdes demonstrating one technique he calls "pushing the car to work."
Hey ... I got an idea! Why don't you just walk to work?
What, and be stuck without a car to push? You're nuts!
I'll bet his coworkers will really appreciate his efforts, especially as we get into that Global Warming-enhanced summer heat.
That’s one of the ways Prius keeps good gas mileage in stop-and-go traffic. It can shut of the gas engine any time it’s not needed, and start it up seemlessly and without damage, because it can pre-spin the engine using the electric motor.
My engine is always off at lights (once the car is warmed up). So on my very short, stop-and-go drive from home to work (3 miles) I get over 45 mpg. An ordinary car would be lucky to be up to 15 mpg on that trip, especially if you catch the morning commuter train and all the red lights.
I drive 50 miles on the highway to work and back each day. By over inflating my tires a little (32 lbs cold) and sticking at 65 MPH I can get 35 MPG in my V-6 Hyundia Sonata that can squeal the tires easily.
Just out of curiosity, is that a real measured 35 mpg (miles driven divided by fuel used) or based on the in-car computer's display. I suspect it's real in your case, but I've seen some people lately that are quoting what the car's computer tells them, which is an instantaneous estimate of fuel mileage rather than an actual measurement of miles driven versus fuel used.
I think it's a good idea to track mileage from fillup to fillup, and I keep a log for that specific purpose. One good indicator of approaching engine trouble (bad sensor, need for a tuneup, etc.) is when mileage starts dropping below the typical for those driving conditions. Keeping a log helps see this.
This makes me wonder - does anybody think that the traffic control "experts" will ever get their act together and actually time traffic lights so that traffic doesn't have to stop every 1000 feet for a red one in some cities? This is a huge waste of energy and time, but localities love to use traffic signals as speed-control devices.
There were streets in Cleveland, Ohio, some 40 years ago that had timed traffic lights on them. Streets like Madison Avenue and Carnagie Avenue - you could drive 35 mph for several miles and always hit all the lights green. That should be the goal today, but it's not.
Hey everybody MILES O’BRIEN HAS A CIRRUS SR22!
Back when I was commuting from Brooklyn to New Jersey every day, I found that the lights on Canal Street in Manhattan were sync’ed for either 35 MPH or 70 MPH. If you got across the Manhattan Bridge before 5:58 AM, you could get across Manhattan an into the Holland Tunnel in 90 seconds. If you crossed the Manhattan Bridge after 6:00 AM, the traffic started backing up, and it would take you about an hour.
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