Hypermiling WBAL | Hypermiling Website

Hypermiling WBALTV Baltimore Report

According to Baltimore's WBAL tv.com consumer alert report, hypermiling techniques may just save the consumer mileage and dollars. Here's how.

With gas prices being what they are these days, many drivers are starting to take a hard look at how much gas they actually use on a daily basis. While you can simply do less driving, you still have to drive sometimes and there are ways to conserve fuel and save money, whether you're driving a Hummer, a hybrid or something in between.

According to Steve Chafe, a self-confirmed hypermiler (someone who tries to exceed his car's EPA fuel economy rating) he reached a 20% increase in fuel mileage simply by using his cruise control to avoid another $150 speeding ticket. In three weeks, he said his mileage went from 22 to 26 miles per gallon. That equates to a free tank of gas every 6 fill-ups.

Chafe's hypermiling techniques and scan gauge can be found at: http://www.hypermiling.com. Here are some of his recommendations:

Step 1: Relax behind the wheel. "Chill out, take a chill pill, listen to classical music. What happens is a lot of people are used to being in a hurry," Chafe said.

People in a hurry drive aggressively and can't pay attention to hypermiling techniques, he said.

Step 2: Don't do jackrabbit starts and use slow acceleration. "I accelerate slowly over the longest possible distance. The slower you accelerate, the more you extend it over time and the less gas you use," Chafe said. "Acceleration is what really uses the gas."

Step 3: Know your gas mileage. Steve uses a scan gauge -- a tool that plugs into the car's computer, which instantly gives all kinds of readings, including miles per gallon, cost per trip and gallons per hour. "Just idling, we're using 0.24 gallons per hour," Chafe said. When using air conditioning, "it goes up to 0.33 gallons per hour, so a third of a gallon instead a quarter of a gallon, using quite a bit more gas. "Chafe said some hypermilers turn off their cars at stoplights. He admitted it saves gas, but he avoids it."Your engine is off and there's all this urgency to turn the engine back on and get going or people will honk … and so you speed up and violate all your hypermiling techniques," he said.

Step 4: Use cruise control anytime you're going 25 miles per hour or more. "Cruise control is always interacting with the engine computer. It exchanges information to it in the best possible way. Cruise control is great for saving gas," Chafe said.He said he even uses cruise control for short trips around town because it accelerates more slowly than his foot, saving more gas.

Step 5: Stay in motion. "It took gas to make the motion and it took money to get the gas, so what happens when you put on your brakes? You're taking money and turning it into heat instead of motion. So the more you can use motion without your brakes the better," he said. Chafe said that means leaving lots of space for reaction time between you and the car in front of you and coasting up to red lights or stop signs.

Step 6: Drive the speed limit. "Let's say you're going 80 and the speed limit is 70. In many parts of the country, just going the speed limit will gain you 10 percent," he said. WBAL TV 11 News reporter Donna Hamilton tried it out and said it does take some practice using the cruise control, but the immediate feedback on what mileage you're getting is kind of fun.

Some hypermilers take things to the opposite side of the spectrum by doing questionable things such as overinflating their tires, drafting behind big trucks and coasting with the engine off. Chafe said he does not recommend them.