HyperMiling: Great Sense or Sheer Stupidity?
It is not a new phenomenon. Gas prices climb. The demand for saving increases. Hints, tips, and tricks appear.
In fact, during the gas embargo in the 70s, all sorts of hints came across the wires for saving gas, including riding your bike to work or driving exactly 55 mph (although this may have been more to curb the natural tendencies of Boston drivers.)
Recent news broadcasts have noted similar hints and tips, including making sure the air pressure in your car tires are even at the appropriate level and carpooling.
Either way, the practice of using driving techniques to save gas isn’t a new concept. As gas prices continue upward, many people are noticing that they don’t exactly get the mileage per gallon the dealership sticker promised when they purchased their car.
Enter HyperMiling—a series of techniques to help reduce the gas used in the average day. While most of the tips center around understanding how much mileage your vehicle currently gets, as well as how you tend to drive, some border on the extreme.
Both CBS and CNN have run segments warning that HyperMiling can be dangerous. Techniques like “drafting” (aka—tailgating by most law enforcement agencies) encourage pulling up close behind larger vehicles to cut wind resistance. One scenario showed a passenger car drafting a Semi—a definite Driver’s Ed “Don’t.”
Another technique, nicknamed “pulse and glide,” suggests speeding up to about 50mph, turning off the engine and gliding. The questionable stupidity of this may be obvious, even to those who haven’t seen The World According to Garp. In many vehicle models, turning off the car can eliminate hydraulics connected to important features like power steering or brakes. Not to mention that the steering wheel could lock, or that the technique relies on reaction time to include restarting the ignition…quickly.
But not all HyperMiling sources encourage these practices. The HyperMiling.com website offers a six step how-to for saving gas safely. Check it out for more info, as well as links to articles covering the good and bad of HyperMiling, here:
http://www.hypermiling.com/car-mpg.html
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