[Nr!qUe]

So, I didn't find a thread specifically on hypermiling techniques so I decided to make one.


Yes, its very ironic to hypermile in a BMW. But it's doable.
I'm going to share my experience with you guys.

Check out this article (it is kind of extreme but even doing some of these will help your mileage.
http://www.moneytalksnews.com/2013/0...by-70-percent/

I'm sure if you all knew how i was driving during this time i'd get flamed.

-I tried not to drive past 45 in city driving or 55 in highway driving.
-I drove with no a/c and windows up but i did have the fan circulating air (while this is ridiculous in the middle of July in Florida, I'm sure you can drive comfortably without any A/C in other states up North.
-I drove skipping 2nd, and 4th gear. meaning that i only shifted from 1st to 3rd, 3rd to 5th, and 5th to 6th. (make sure you give the engine a little more time than usual if you're going to skip a gear)
-Accelerated from a stop slowly. probably taking about 12-15 seconds to get to the speed limit.
- This will probably help with fuel economy the most: react to traffic changes 10 or 15 seconds ahead. If a traffic light turns red about 600 ft in front of you. WHY ARE YOU GOING TO PASS ME. Slow down to ~20mph way before you get to the light. let people pass you. You may even get to the light just as it turns green so you don't even have to stop. The least amount of stops you make, the less amount of take off's you need to make. Taking off from a stop takes the most gas.
- I actually used regular gas. I probably would have gotten better results using 93
-leave to or from work or school later or earlier to avoid traffic.


While some of this is ridiculous. I find it to be worth some of the savings.
Yes it's a BMW,
Yes, "if you can afford such a car why should you worry about gas?" Because i drive a lot. about 500 miles a week. and I find the savings to be worthwhile.

I averaged 28.25 miles per gallon on my 328i. on mixed driving. (65% highway, 35% stop and go.)
( I was usually averaging 23MPG in the same highway and city mix above filling up after about 350 miles )
350 miles / 15ish gallons = 23.33 miles per gallon
430 miles (miles driven on this tank / 15ish gallons to fill up = 28ish Miles per gallon (savings of about 23%, like getting a free fill up for about every 4 fillups)

I hope this helped anyone who's looking to get more miles between fill-ups

In the picture below, I hit 400 miles JUST as the first Gas Alert went off.
(the 44.3 MPG showing is live MPG, not average MPG) I coded it hehe

[E902009]

It's a worthwhile cause, but you need to stay off the freeway. yes, I understand that while the speed limit is 55 on a lot of the freeways, NO ONE goes 55mph, and you're hazard to yourself and others when you're doing 55mph or less on the freeway. Furthermore, you're contributing to the perceived BMW owners' douchey image by crawling on the freeway. Sure, you have the right to travel on the freeway at 55mph, but it's you against everyone else on the freeway.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. I'm all for conservation and use only what you need. But it's definitely dangerous. Stick to side streets and on the right lane.

[Benstuck]

Driving in summer with no AC and windows up sounds quite ridiculous tbh

I cruise @ 65 and I get about 450 miles to the tank, so about 28 mpg.

[edirtaynine]

damn i'd be happy if i got ~23mpg without hypermiling lol. i avg about 17-18mpg (70% city/30% fwy) right now

[miringrains]

You belong is a prius my friend.

[Meeni]

What is the rationale behind skipping gears ? Best efficiency is reached at low RPM, you'd expect that short shifting would be rather recommended (and this is what is taught in the new eco-permit in France these days, so I suppose some administrative has backup statistics to substantiate).

[ChipB]

I believe that hyper-milers in city traffic cause an increase in congestion and air pollution. These are the guys who accelerate really slowly when the light turns green, with the result that fewer cars make it through the light before it turns red. It's especially annoying when you're in a left turn lane where normally 7 or 8 cars can make the turn with the left turn green arrow, but because of some hyper-miling twit only three cars get through, resulting in inconvenience for the other 5 cars, increased air polution, and more congestion. Please, please, do us all a favor and don't be one of those guys!

[Nr!qUe]

I understand all your concerns for holding up other cars at traffic stops, roads, etc.

My local area/commute generally has lower traffic levels than more populated areas like West or South Miami or Little Havana.

If I am driving in these areas then yes, of course I would have moved up and out of the way. Also this was a week experiment of how many miles I could actually achieve in a tank. I do, however, generally drive on the slower side of the highway as I see it unnecessary to blast through i75 85mph. I usually 'go with the flow' of traffic on highways.

[Dozhdbog]

When my family is in the car with me, I can easily average 26mpg in mixed conditions without even trying.

When they're not, I tend to average about 18mpg without even trying.

[idrift4wd]

You should also try leaving lights using less gas. from 0MPH to 10-15 should be very very light throttle. <10%. never should you reach >3500 rpm or give it over 50% throttle.

also when on highway. use the rev and coast technique. If speed limit is 65, go 70 and coast down to 60 then repeat.

[E902009]

Originally Posted by idrift4wd

also when on highway. use the rev and coast technique. If speed limit is 65, go 70 and coast down to 60 then repeat.

And that's how you drive everybody nuts, and the middle fingers go flying. I hate when people are inconsistent with their speed on the freeway. Even if you are in the slow lane, you're going to cause others having to hit the brakes, then speed up.

[smallseafishie]

Buy the new 328d and be done with it if you're trying to save some gas.

Hypermilers (priuses are notoriously bad in this regard) push my buttons. Please for the love of goodness do it on open roads with plenty of passing space.

[Maestro]

I have done this for years, and having a 6M makes it a lot easier, however, it is a lot of work. My commute is mostly back roads has lots of up and down hills and what I tend to do is get the car up to speed, skip a few gears, my routine is 1st, 2nd and to 5th since I use second to get me up to cruising speed. Once up to speed I drop to 4th for up hills and netual for down hill and coasting to red lights and such. Usually when I see the light turn green i let off the gas and let is coast all the way to the light. I never seen more than a few MPG improvement when I doing all this, But I do cruise at 50+ even on the back roads.

I guess it would be better if the roads were more flat since pushing the car up an hill take lots fuel.

[shadow191]

Driving at 55mph on most freeways is terrifying. I had to do it a few months back while trying to get the car readiness set for emissions and on my other car for a DIY TPMS reprogram. Even in the right lane, it's scary and infuriating at the same time. This was on a 55mph limit too, I wouldn't even want to try on the 70mph areas.

I'm curious as to what the point is on a BMW or any car that wasn't really built for it. It seems to take all the fun out of driving, and if you have to drive 500 miles a week and care about economy, why not buy a Civic or something? You could drive it normally and that in itself would probably be more fun than hypermiling. I recently rented a Chevy Cruze, beat on it for a week, and still averaged ~32mpg in city and highway over 1300 miles. If I drove my 335 that way, I'd probably get 17mpg and if I drove my FX that way, it would get 13mpg.

Originally Posted by E902009

It's a worthwhile cause, but you need to stay off the freeway. yes, I understand that while the speed limit is 55 on a lot of the freeways, NO ONE goes 55mph, and you're hazard to yourself and others when you're doing 55mph or less on the freeway. Furthermore, you're contributing to the perceived BMW owners' douchey image by crawling on the freeway. Sure, you have the right to travel on the freeway at 55mph, but it's you against everyone else on the freeway.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. I'm all for conservation and use only what you need. But it's definitely dangerous. Stick to side streets and on the right lane.

[jrs130]

Hypermiling = root cause of a lot of road rage; especially around K-town here in LA...ugh

[Meeni]

Originally Posted by Maestro

up hills and netual for down hill and coasting to red lights and such. Usually when I see the light turn green i let off the gas and let is coast all the way to the light.

Neutral when coasting usually eats more gas than keeping a gear engaged. The engine has to eat fuel to keep idling, while most modern (like for the last 15 years) shut off fuel supply when engine braking (so in effect, you are using the engine pumping loss to keep it idling w/o gas).

Again, I'm curious about the rationale for skipping gears.

[shadow191]

By skipping gears shouldn't that keep rpm's low? It's similar to short shifting; you're shifting into a higher gear earlier than normal. Just takes less shifts to do it. I remember that a decade ago, GM's had that shift block on their V8 manual cars. You had to go from 1 to 4 under anything less than heavy throttle. Supposedly it was to increase fuel economy.

Originally Posted by Meeni

Neutral when coasting usually eats more gas than keeping a gear engaged. The engine has to eat fuel to keep idling, while most modern (like for the last 15 years) shut off fuel supply when engine braking (so in effect, you are using the engine pumping loss to keep it idling w/o gas).

Again, I'm curious about the rationale for skipping gears.

[DanielGonz]

You all are crazy.

[E902009]

Originally Posted by shadow191

Driving at 55mph on most freeways is terrifying. I had to do it a few months back while trying to get the car readiness set for emissions and on my other car for a DIY TPMS reprogram. Even in the right lane, it's scary and infuriating at the same time. This was on a 55mph limit too, I wouldn't even want to try on the 70mph areas.

I'm curious as to what the point is on a BMW or any car that wasn't really built for it. It seems to take all the fun out of driving, and if you have to drive 500 miles a week and care about economy, why not buy a Civic or something? You could drive it normally and that in itself would probably be more fun than hypermiling. I recently rented a Chevy Cruze, beat on it for a week, and still averaged ~32mpg in city and highway over 1300 miles. If I drove my 335 that way, I'd probably get 17mpg and if I drove my FX that way, it would get 13mpg.

I think most people's comfort zone is around 70-75, so even at a 55 zone, you're going to see most people doing closer to 70. Most people will not find you excusable for going 55mph in the US unless you're in a truck, towing a heavy load, or you're driving a classic car. I'm actually very happy with the E90's fuel consumption. For the amount of enjoyment it provides in driving, my 328i still yields around 30 to 31mpg on the freeway when driving long distance. But in the city, not so much. What do you expect out of a 3.0 liter engine?

Funny you should mention the Cruze. I just returned a rental Cruze. As the replacement for the Cobalt, it is a fantastic car. The only thing bad about it is a little bit of a turbo lag, but once it hits the right RPM, it gets up and goes. Doing 70 on the freeway from Madison to Milwaukee (about 85 miles), I averaged about 41.3 MPG. If I had a job that required me to commute, I would pick up a Cruze.

[jeffro535]

the hyper slow start can be counter productive. you spend more time accelerating and less in a low power cruise. I was taught at a factory event several years ago to use 2/3 throttle and something of a short shift, the objective being to get into your top gear as quickly as possible. Have to use a tad less throttle setting in the 335, though, but it works for me, though.

[Dan_335]

I hate hypermiling people... completely stuff everyone else around who have to account for you and drive around you because you are either too tight to pay for fuel or you bought the wrong car to save the environment...

[E902009]

Originally Posted by Dan_335

I hate hypermiling people... completely stuff everyone else around who have to account for you and drive around you because you are either too tight to pay for fuel or you bought the wrong car to save the environment...

I'm all for people driving sensibly, as there's really no reason to do jackrabbit starts or race just to get to the next red light. However, much of our country's driving habit is cultivated by cheap gas. If you watch the way Europeans drive, you'll know how to drive efficiently. They have to. They pay $10/gallon, sometimes more, depending where you are. They anticipate a red light, then cost to it when they see a red light in front of them. Whereas in the U.S., you see people gun it to the next red light.

By people who hypermile with no regard to the traffic surrounding them suck! Because you're able to save a couple of bucks, you're going to hold up a parade of cars behind you? That I don't support.