Over here in the UK, we have a television programme called 5th gear. In last night's episode, racing drivers Jarno Trulli (who drives for Toyota F1) and Tiff Needell were challenged to drive a Prius for 1 hour in the city as economically as possible. Tiff was trying all the 'hypermiling' tricks he'd learned from websites such as these, including lots of pulse and glide and the last section in EV mode. Results were: Jarno Trulli - 60.1 mpg (50.1 mpg US) Tiff Needell - 61.9 mpg (51.6 mpg US)
F1 qualifying and fuel strategy has made all the drivers Hypermilers at one time or another. Getting rid of the traction control for this season has made things more exciting. Next year the cars will have a hybrid kinetic energy recovery system installed. Hope that levels the playing field and it's not another Ferrari / McLaren romp. Mike
You know what would be fun... Get Wayne Gerdes (CleanMPG founder and well known hypermiler) vs Jeff Gordon (or some other famous race driver) in a FE challenge. Give them a reasonable route, a time limit and let them go!
It would be fun, but it wouldn't be fair Of course, if I could find someone to bet on that contest with...
I don't know...I think it would depend a lot on the driver. Give them the car for a week, let Wayne give them a hypermiling instruction course at the start of that week, then do the challenge. I think those guys are so atuned to the vehicles they drive, of any kind, that they could actually do quite well quite quickly....agreed, maybe not at Wayne's level, but still pretty well.
