Gas Mileage Experiment Results...

Driving regularly: 26 mpg
Hypermiling: 31 mpg

That means I got 410 miles out of my tank before the gas light even came on! Woo hoo! I rock!

Hyper-Smiling...

I have to thank my boyfriend for introducing me to hyper-miling. Of course, I'm not going to thank him in person. This post should be enough, even though he doesn't read my B-log. Hyper-miling, as far as I can figure it, is the philosophy of driving in such a way so as to reduce your gas usage. It involves many things, such as slow acceleration, keeping a constant gas pedal position, coasting to stop lights, and even turning your car off as you are stopped at a light. Some people get really into it, and I'm sure there's way more to it than that. What I've been trying to do, due to increased gas prices, is just keep an eye on my acceleration and use coasting as much as possible. I've also incorporated keeping a safe distance and driving the speed limit or under. I've only been doing this since yesterday, but I did fill up my gas tank today just to check my progress and guess what?!? No progress. Well, no progress gas-wise anyways. I rationalize that I've not been doing it for that long, and I'll give it a good week before I pronounce hyper-miling to be a fraud.

HOWEVER, due to my change in driving habits, an unexpected benefit was quickly realized. I am soooo much less stressed out while driving. Granted, I haven't been in a "AHHHH I'M LAAAATE!!!" situation yet, but it still feels nice to drive at a relaxed pace. Driving has been the single most stressful stressor in my life thus far. Immediately when I changed my frame of mind about driving, all due to gas mileage issues, I could feel a change in my attitude. Now when people fly by me, instead of envying them, I'm just like, "Think of all that gas they're burning..." I read something that said going 65 mph instead of 75 mph on the highway decreases gas consumption by 80%.* Of course, I can't remember where I read that or the exact figures, but you get the idea.

We'll see after I week of hyper-miling the effect it has on my gas tank as well as my life in general, but I'm optimistic. It's hard not to be after I just got in from driving around at lunch. Man, I love driving!

*I made up that percentage.