Hypermiling – 5 Tactics to Reduce Gas Consumption

With gas prices averaging $4.00 around the country, the average person is always looking for a new way to save money on gas and get the most mileage out of every tank. Many today are trying something new called “hypermiling”, a driving technique that many believe squeezes every last mile out of every gallon of gas.

The biggest 2 questions are simply this; what exactly does hypermiling entail and does it actually work?

First, hypermiling will is not just one tactic but several. It entails doing a number of things differently when driving, no matter the car that you have, so that your vehicle uses less gas. The question of whether or not it works is debatable and more than likely will depend on the way that you hypermile, the amount of driving that you do and the vehicle that you drive.

So let’s take a look at 5 tactics that are used in hypermiling.

Tactic #1. Coasting. One of the most important tactics involved in hypermiling is coasting. It’s actually quite simple but involves keeping an intent eye on the road and determining when you will need to stop well ahead of time. If you can do that you will be able to coast in many situations rather than using gasoline to power your vehicle forward until you come to a stop. Remember that your car, once you have it up to speed, will coast for quite some time on the gasoline that you already have used to get it  there.

Tactic #2. Putting your car in “neutral” when you are approaching a stoplight or stop sign. People that engage in hypermiling on a regular basis will tell you that this is one of the best ways to conserve gas, especially if the stoplight that you are approaching is a long one.

Tactic #3. Only filling your gas tank halfway whenever you go to the gas station. If you’ve read any tips about how to increase your gas mileage, many of them will tell you that one of the best ways is to reduce the amount of weight in your car. Well, gas weighs quite a bit and if you’re driving around with a full tank you are actually getting fewer miles per gallon. By only filling your tank half way, hypermilers believe that you will save lots of gas.

Tactic #4. Using cruise control as much as possible. While this is considered somewhat unsafe by some people, using cruise control around town can help you to stay at the same speed for longer periods of time. Most  experts agree that constantly increasing and decreasing speed wastes gas and thus being able to use cruise control, as long as you keep a constant eye on the road, is believed to reduce fuel use and thus save money on gas.

Tactic #5. Driving like an “old lady”. While this  might sound a little silly, the fact is that most older people drive much slower than the rest of us. Driving slower is indeed a great way to save gas and thus save money too. It’s also safer, less damaging to your car and, even better, will make sure that you very rarely, if ever, get a speeding ticket.

These 5 hypermiling tactics aren’t exactly “proven” by experts but, if you take the word of many people who use them, they  can save you money not only on gasoline but also on automobile maintenance. Most of them make a lot of sense and are relatively safe if you make sure that you keep your eye on the road at all times. The only way to find out if they will actually save you money is to try them out for yourself. Good luck, and happy driving.