1:06 The rpm of the engine is the size of the bucket. The throttle position is the angle of the bucket. It's true that neither one determines fuel consumption alone, because they both have a direct impact. I don't want anyone thinking that flooring it at low rpm in higher uses more fuel than half throttle at high rpm in a low gear, because that isn't true. Lower rpm is just a way to limit air getting into the engine and less air means less fuel. The nuance here is that excessively low rpm causes heat from combustion to escape into the cylinder block and head, and excessively high rpm tends to cause heat to escape out the exhaust. Low rpm and thus low piston speeds means lower air intake velocity and poor air/fuel mixing, and the engine can't effectively use all the spent fuel. High rpm allows for the higher velocity to mix the air and fuel, but not as much time to do so which is another disadvantage, plus the higher pumping losses and the pistons racing away from the combustion products. Naturally, somewhere in the middle is a zone where the engine is most thermally efficient. However, there's still more nuance, because an engine might be more thermally efficient at 2200 rpm than 1200, but if the fuel lost from pumping losses is more than the gains of higher combustion efficiency (as is usually the case when traveling downhill or when very little power is needed), then it's still better to use the higher gear with less rpm. 10:44 Pulse and glide is more effective when you have an energy storage device. For example, if you have a hybrid car, you can pulse the car on the engine and then glide on battery power. When the engine shuts off, you drastically reduce the amount energy required to operate the car. Then when it comes back on, you only use it in the most efficient BSFC zone, hopefully store some energy in the battery, restore some speed, then switch to EV mode and glide once more. I find when driving in hilly areas in my manual non hybrid car, I can use my engine's peak BSFC zone to climb the hill, then after I crest the hill, shift to neutral and nearly eliminate the engine's resistances, allowing gravity to propel me. In this case, the terrain is my battery. Pulse and glide is simply useless in a non hybrid car when there is no hill. In the manner I pulse and glide my non hybrid, maintaining a set speed or actually losing speed in neutral downhill (rather than revving up the engine for "no reason" or nearly no reason because I need 0.1 gallons per hour of "push", but my engine uses 0.2 gallons per hour in neutral idling, but in order to send that 0.1 gallons per hour of "push", I first have to rev the car to 2500 rpm and shift to gear, which will cost me 0.7 GPH, plus the 0.1 GPH of push is 0.8 gallons per hour, or 4x the total fuel consumption to maintain speed downhill, whereas I can shed a mph here and there and just regain it once the road flattens out under peak BSFC) is more efficient than speeding downhill and slowing uphill. For reference, a typical compact sedan requires about 0.7-0.8 GPH of push at 65 mph and around 1-1.1 GPH of push at 75 mph on flat ground. On more extreme hills (5%grade and up) It's obviously best to leave it in the highest gear that allows you to maintain a safe speed and maintain DFCO when travelling down, and traveling up, you want to go as fast as you can while not going over your BSFC peak. I know my engine's BSFC peak is 2500 rpm at 80% throttle, so if I can do that in 6th at 66 mph, I will do that. If not, I will do it in 5th at 55 mph. If not 5th, then 4th at 42 mph, and so on. Here's what I found out about coasting in neutral. If you can coast in neutral and maintain a safe and desirable speed, then it is more efficient, point blank. Engine braking is only more efficient if you need to slow down anyway (very very steep hill, traffic light turns red, etc). Personally, when I coast in neutral, my right foot is covering the gas and my right hand is covering the shifter (USA driver, sorry) so I can shift into the exact gear I need in a second or less to reduce the risk of needing to accelerate. More often than not (90-92% of the time) I need to shift into gear to SLOW DOWN (as in, I need DFCO to be more efficient), not to speed up, at those times when I do need to be in gear suddenly. When it comes to slipstreaming or drafting, I have never measured a difference in using that technique using my scangauge 2. If you follow closely enough, you will be able to notice and measure a difference in fuel consumption, but you will be so close, that your risk of getting into an accident (or suddenly braking and wasting the fuel you were trying to save) is so high, that it could never, ever be worth the practice imo. 22:14 I love your argument here. I live in the US and I actually get my gas and groceries from the same store (costco) so I can combine a grocery trip and a gas trip. The only trouble is that I buy gas twice as often as I buy groceries, not the inverse, so I usually stop for groceries every other fillup, rather than for gas every other grocery run. I have found that removing 80kg of weight from my car (6% the weight of the car) saves me about 1-1.5% on fuel (on mostly highway trips with very little stop/start) so at around 8 gallons of fuel not utilized out of 18, say maybe 22kg of fuel, cut my range down from 560 miles on 16 gallons to 280 miles on 8 gallons (leaving 2 in reserve) I'd save maybe 0.3% on a tank of fuel, which would be 0.024 gallons saved per fillup. At my typical 35 mpg (which would be more than what I'd get going out of the way to get fuel), the round trip distance of the fuel station would have be 0.83 miles out of the way, or less, and at 25 miles per gallon, it would have to be 0.6 miles out of the way or less. Just not worth it plain and simple unless you can combine trips.
I salute you! I concur with all of your points. I was not aware of BSFC figures being available until watching this video, however. Ever since my first fuel injected car, i used max throttle, low revs, and anticipation and engine braking to gain up to 65% fuel economy from a 1990 corolla with no trip computer (paper and pen only). And i discovered my mpg at constant 35-40mph in 6th in a diesel Audi was higher than the inbuilt computer could display :) i always let off the gas before going downhill and accelerate up the other side in top gear, going down the gears if necessary, just like you, and it kills me to see everyone braking down the hill in my local tunnel, only to force me to have to change down a gear coming out the other side, so i have to give them extra 'stupid' room, which then infuriates the drivers behind who think they are somehow getting held up, which they are not as we all leave the tunnel at the same time. I usually only fill to 1/4 to 1/3 of a tank, and I don't keep my spare wheel in the trunk unless driving out of town, where I also add 9% to the tyre pressures if it's going to be highway and the weather is dry. Though one particular winter i did lower my pressures by 55% and i was the only vehicle in the area able to make it up the hill that winter
Re slipstreaming - I've found some lorries have a second zone much further back where you can get a tow. It's big enough that other vehicles will drop into the gap so it works best when traffic is low. But its way more relaxing that trying to get really close.
I hardly use my brakes at all. I love giving myself targets for example not to touch the brakes at roundabouts. So long as traffic isn’t too heavy it is very possible. I had a Mini Cooper D and would consistently achieve 62mpg a tad less in winter months. I have a Mini Cooper 1.5 petrol now and seem to be struggling to achieve 53mpg. Our other car is a BMW 2L D auto. We both get 56mpg but of course braking is hard to avoid.
I'm an avid engine-breaker who has forced myself to stop doing so, I'm not as fuel efficient as before but my brakes are a lot healthier now! My point with the comment is just to find a good balance, if you use your brakes too much try to engine brake more. If you engine brake too much you should let your brakes work a little bit more every now and then. Just my 2 cents
Another great video from TorqueCars. A lot of thought has obviously gone into making it. Thanks👍. We have three cars in our household: a turbo diesel which seems most economical around 1400 - 2000; a turbo petrol around the 1600 - 2300 noted here; then a higher reving normally aspirated petrol engine probably around the 2200 to 2800 rpm mark. The biggest savings however are not to drive like you found out that your house is on fire and to anticipate the road ahead. Years of driving has taught me that driving faster not only uses more fuel, but the reduction in driving time is absolutely negligeable on our congested roads. It also causes far more stress for the driver, passengers and wear to the vehicle.
Cheers buddy, your kind words make all the hard work seem worth the effort. Thanks for sharing your experiences also, it helps me build out a more rounded picture.
I drive a 1.8 97 toyota celica ( at200 ), with my driving, I generally fuel up once every 3 weeks. Not bad for old thing, since purchasing it like 2 months ago, I don't need to add synthetic oil yet, damn good engine. Loved the video, keep em coming!!
Wow, thanks! I'm just blown away we've got so many nice followers and regulars on here. I only do this for fun and to share my knowledge so am pleased to hear people appreciate the videos.
I had found pulse and gliding very beneficial for my Toyota hybrid in urban and suburban driving (0-60km/h) because it takes advantage of the engine shutting down when letting off the accelerator pedal. It is also easier to disguise pulse and gliding with the the natural ebbs and flows of urban and suburban traffic. I used to average ~24km/L (~4.2L/100km) across fuel tanks by accelerating and braking heavily along with most drivers. These days I now average ~34km/L (~2.9L/100km) across fuel tanks. After a few months of conscious practice I had become more proficient at understanding the minimum amount of throttle to accelerate to my desired speed, reading and anticipating traffic ahead, timing red traffic lights so I often roll through without stopping, and understanding how fast the car naturally decelerates from air and rolling resistance. Something I figured out with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) is that the hybrid battery's state of charge operates between 40% and 80%, and the HSD operates in a way that aims towards 60% charge. When battery charge is depleted to 40% the petrol engine is forced on to generate some electrical power to store in the battery. When the engine is fired up during acceleration, and battery charge is below 60%, a portion of energy generated by the energy is always used by the HSD through its power split device (the planetary gearbox) to generate electricity to charge the battery. This means I am not accelerating with all my petrol and engine power driving the wheels. When battery charge is at 60%, all petrol consumed and engine power drives the wheels. When battery charge is over 60%, the HSD tries to make headroom for additional energy created by regenerative braking. It does this by using the electric motors more aggressively, either by increasing the threshold of power demand before the engine fires up; or when the engine is fired up, the electric motor assists with a few kW of power so the engine runs at lower throttle. After understanding the HSD's behaviour around the hybrid battery's charge, it became clear it was optimal to maintain the battery's charge at around 60% to ensure petrol consumed and power generated by the engine is maximised driving the wheels. Pulse and gliding with the ebbs and flows of suburban and urban traffic plays into this because pulses ensure the battery is topped up at 60%, and my glides use little to no battery charge as I decelerate in anticipation of slow/stopped traffic flow ahead. Any additional charge from the few instances I have to regenerative brake (thereby taking my charge slightly above 60%) is soon put back to re-accelerating the car with aggressive electric motor assist and less engine throttle.
@@saulmunoz3731 My car is a 2014 Toyota Aqua (Prius C). However from experience driving friends' Toyota and Lexus vehicles with the Hybrid Synergy Drive, I found it operates much in the same way as I outlined above because, per its name, its function is to synergise an internal combustion engine and electric motors, even though the engine and electric motor specs can vary between vehicles.
I ignore gear advice on dashboard as for me it’s too low but still get long average of 61 mpg 2lt diesel and on one journey had 70mpg at constant speed. I also keep reasonable distance and lift off to slow instead of breaking. 62,000 miles no break pad change.
I used to drive that way, I hardly used any brakes to the point the calipers kept stucking and I had to use hammer constantly on lug nuts. At the MOT they rejected me and I went on a highway to brake violently (with hand brake too), went back and passed MOT. Now I force myself to intentionally brake.
Yeah, i used to frequently slam my brakes on and off at the traffic lights to free up the calipers. You don't have to be moving (and thus wasting momentum) to do it.
All so, so true my friend, I'm or was a fitter/mechanic (elect) but have been riding/driving for over 58yrs, and driving every day for work. Been striping & rebuilding motors, 2 stroke & 4, most of that time for myself and sometimes for income. Porting both 2/4 stroke, mild cams & changing intake/exhaust ports size & position. In that time I found carbon buildup robs power, economy & kills motors. So yes use the rev range, be in the right gear, keeping oil pressure up when under load with just enough throttle to get you over the crest at a minimal considerate speed for others, let the car build speed on the downside when you can with minimal throttle without engine breaking, unless you are getting too fast, to hit a target speed at the bottom to aid the next climb. Change back a gear before you are forced to, keeping engine revs up for the climb. And let the motor spin at times to burn that carbon. Lugging up a hill at low revs is the quickest way to kill your motor early = more $ Vary your revs. Even when stuck on a boring freeway for hours. I learnt as a young driver, a car out of gear is a car out of control ! Risking the loss of vacuum for the brake booster = lost braking performance at a critical time might kill you &/or others. Also, you can't just hit the throttle if needed, reaction time 😲 Sorry for the rant but I see so many uneducated drivers, it makes me cry 😪 Cheers.
Once told best way to drive for economy was try to keep revs at maximum torque when accelerating / cruising as much possible, obviously other factors have to be taken into account. Also, because cruise operates reactively, I sometimes switch from auto to manual on undulating roads to make use of gravity and anticipate need to use accelerator. As well as keeping tyres at correct pressure, it's important to use suitable tyre type / size. Thanks for another greatly informative video.
Fuel economy is a combination of throttle position AND RPM, not just throttle as you suggest! I agree low RPM under load (lugging) is bad, possibly very bad for an engine. Economy driving has always been measured at 56 mph and has never been 50 mph. My experience with gear change lights is that they ignore engine load and so a re pretty useless- changing at 1500rpm up a steep hill is crazy! Of course some cars may be better at this than others. I absolutely agree that minimising braking is key. I see so many drivers not anticipating the traffic in from and accelerating just to have to them brake which is totally unnecessary. Coasting and hence slowing down only saves fuel when you anticipate the traffic ahead is going to slow down, or if you are going downhill and so use free gravity! I always switch off cruise when hills are present so that I can drop speed going uphill and increase speed going downhill - I am certain this saves a significant amount of fuel. Cruise maintains speed so uses a lot more throttle going uphill, and hence more fuel. Quick acceleration wastes fuel, period.
I find the VW DSGs all try to climb the gears way too quickly. Before remapping, my DQ200 used to cause dangerous engine lugging quite frequently. I much prefer driving in ‘manual’ mode, which also seems to be more economical as I can keep it in the 2-2.5k rpm Goldilocks zone you mentioned. Great video as ever, thank you. 👌
I had a Mkvii golf 1.6 tdi, better mpg in sport mode for motorway driving, eco mode in the city. Now driving a transporter campervan, wind resistance is an mpg killer over 60mph. At 80mph (or more accurately 130kmh on French autoroute) it can be 15mpg lower.
I'm a lorry driver, and I was taught to stay within the RPM green band (where the engine produces the highest torque) to save fuel when pulling up hill. Yes, you can get even more power to the wheels by shifting down, but that will cost you fuel. I don't know how this applies to lighter vehicles, though.
I'm surprised more manufacturers haven't implemented something similar in their cars. Maybe a green band on the rev counter is a bit low tech nowadays, but I'm sure they could set the gauge cluster to change colour based on keeping the engine in the ideal economy or even power band. In fact, I think some cars do have something like this, maybe the Prius, Insight, or Yaris GRMN?
I’m driving Honda Jazz HEV. I find using higher octane gas can give me better gas mileage. I also used 5w30 motor oil. Before the high octane gas and motor oil, I was only getting around 25km/L. (4L/100Km, or 58.8 MPG) After the changes, I’m getting 28km/L (3.6L/100km, or 65 MPG) I switch to B mode if I see a long downward slope, or anticipating a stop at a red light. Eco mode 90% of the time besides going up highway ramps, or steep hills. I think drivers need to know the system well in order to squeeze the MPG, and fyi, I love my Honda and I’m addicted to squeezing that bit more fuel economy out of it. Trying Techron in my new car, to prevent any major carbon build up. Hope it can last!
Slipstreaming a lorry in South Africa is almost guaranteed to get your windscreen cracked by a stone thrown out under the lorry's tyres. I stay far away from lorries, and in any case, if you want to overtake them, it's not a good idea to be right on the lorry's arse. Then you can't see properly or accelerate in time. I keep a distance from the lorry, read the road, and then floor it to get past. I'm talking here of single lane roads, not freeways. On freeways, just stay away from trucks and don't dawdle next to them or in their blind spots. You don't want to be next to a lorry's tyre if that decides to blow.
Great video as usual TorqueCars. I drive a 2013 Toyota Auris 1.8 Hybrid. I'm definitely a hypermiler for sure. I seem to consistently get around 68 to 80 mpg going at 58 to 64 mph. I do get much higher mpg around town though. Town driving gets me between 80 to 90 mpg. Even though it's a Hybrid and I don't have to worry about what gear I should be in, I do read the road ahead all the time, anticipate the traffic lights, etc.
Learning to use less brakes and don't idle the vehicle I would say are the biggest factors for most people to learn. I have commuted (around 10 miles) many times without touching my brakes at all, albeit at quiet times on the road but it does take practice and you have to find a balance of using less brakes and not holding up traffic. I drive a 2006 Honda Jazz and get almost 60mpg (1.4 petrol engine). Pulse and glide method sounds horrible, there's nothing worse than being around a car that is doing that or worse being passenger. Slower driving speeds and lower revs are always bug factors (assuming you are not lugging the engine). Tyre pressure and type of tyre, alignment and servicing are also factors (fresh oil in engine and gearbox = less friction = less wear and more efficiency). Don't forget to check the brakes aren't binding and that the wheel bearings are in good condition.
I find that in my RS6 which has an 8-speed automatic box, motorway cruising at ~70Mph, 8th gear driven with around 1500RPM is ample without labouring the engine, some motorway inclines require me to manually drop it into 7th gear to maintain the sweet spot. Having these two additional overdrive gears helps a lot, however I intentionally disable the active cylinder system, the concept is brilliant for the 4.0 TFSI motor however in practice it's a costly system to repair when, it inevitably fails and kills the engine, so I turn it off, and for 90% of the time I drive in semi-auto mode as I prefer to have control over the gear selection, especially when I want to use engine braking for slowing down becuase, like most auto boxes, when descending down a hill, or rolling up to a junction, the TCU will selected the highest gear possible for the road speed/engine load combination, and you inevitably end up riding the brakes so holding the car in 2nd or 3rd depending on the gradient saves my brakes too. I did an experiment a while back whilst on a business trip to see a client, I was in no real hurry to get there as I was travelling the evening prior so I drove from my home in Newcastle, to Bridlington via the A19 which is mostly dual carriageway, and I decided to sync my cruise control to a convoy of trucks in the inside lane, for most of that journey until I left the A19 on to the winding roads, I never disengaged the cruise control and sat at ~56Mph, including the combined driving of the towns either side of my trip and the dual carriageway, I returned 34MPG in 8 cylinder mode, which for such a big engine I though was rather impressive. So, like you say, it varies from car to car on how best to drive economically and finding that sweet sopt is trial and error, but as a comparison, on the return journey home from the former trip, mentally I was in get home mode with the RS6 in dynamic mode, lots of overtaking and hard driving and I used twice as much fuel on the return journey as I did on the outbound journey, time difference? Well, it was something like 45mins quicker getting home, much more fun albeit. As a driver, once we understand the wins of using momentum and forward planning, the savings in fuel consumption can be massive, although if like me you enjoy frequent spirited driving, it all kind of balances out in the end.
Good advices. I use them. The best is to brake less and drive at decent speeds, using predictive driving. For hybrids the best is to brake gently - only regenerative (not braking hard).
On long road trips, solo, I found a bit of weight in the boot makes the car squat a bit at the back and improves aero as well as altering the wheel geometry a bit. Only works well for long motorway runs, but I found good improvements. The weight also increases momentum which helps on long runs.
1.6tdi 2012 Octavia, auto 7 speed. Tank takes 53 liters. Max miles is 590. Sometimes 620miles. Drive slower and use cruse control. Tyres over inflated to 35psi. No load in the car. The best car for mileage per tank I had was the 407 1.6 tdi. It done 50 more miles than the Octavia. Same tank. Would love a big fuel tank in a car. I did see a tank you can add into where you keep the spare wheel. 20ltrs more to the cars capacity.
I get over 40mpg out of my mk3 golf vr6 according to the mpg meter. More on a good run. Seems pretty close from filling it up and working it out from how much petrol it uses. Not bad for a 27 year old 2.8v6. I’m lucky that I have very few stops before I get on to the main road so the car does get to cruise pretty quickly.
In BMW with ZF8 autobox, in eco mode it freewheels whenever you let your foot off the accelerator. One of the screens within the idrive shows the mpg you have been doing, and it also shows how far you have freewheeled for.
@@torquecars I get around 44mpg from my 330d. I use eco mode for commuting to and from work. I found it interesting when I connected the Bimmerlink app on my phone, and set one of the displays to show which gear its in, and according to that it keeps it in gear, even when the revs drop to idle while it freewheels. I don't know whether it does or not, or if it disengages some clutches or something within the gearbox to enable the freewheel. It is a seamless transition though, you wouldn't know it was doing it if you didn't look at the rev counter. It does roll for a lot longer and keep more speed up when off throttle in the eco mode with the freewheeling option enabled in the settings compared to the standard comfort or sport mode. It's the first car I've bought with an auto box, but it's really impressed me. It does rate your eco driving giving you stars for your driving too on one screen. It also tells you when to let off the throttle so that you will be at the right speed when the limit changes coming into towns and villages etc. The display on the dashboard changes from blue to grey when you're not driving economically.
As above I have a m240i and in eco mode free wheeling I get 45mpg on motorways and it’s a 3 litre 6 cylinder ! But give it some beams and I get 20mpg 😂
I am doing 40 mpg on average on my commute (In a VW Bora 2.0 from 2004). When doing mostly highway I can reach 45 MPG. I try to brake as little as possible, mostly using engine braking. I also try to get as quickly to my desired speed as possible without being heavy footed. And I regularly skip fourth gear. BTW: Where I live the highway, speedway, autobahn is called 'snelweg' (The Neterlands).
I'm in Canada and have a Ram 1500 pick-up truck (124 L tank, 8 cylinder). Half a tank does make a difference but not enough to warrant making more frequent trips to the fill-up station. Slip streaming does help but isn't worth the safety compromise. As you said, keeping a constant speed works the best. If I travel at the lowest speed that the truck can get into its top gear, that seems to make the most difference in fuel consumption. However, there is a second sweet spot (from my non-scientific observations). If I increase speed from 80 Kph/50Mph to about 110 Kph/70Mph the fuel consumption seems to go down again. I don't know if this is just wishful thinking on my part but I do see that (slight) reduction when it comes to cost at the pump. Winter and summer driving also make a difference but that is probably more due to warm-up times than anything else.
My story about not using the brakes : for like two years now, my e46 have a flawed disc 🥴 I used to be a heavy breaker since I learned to drive on the track (that’s also why my disc overheated on a downhill). I’m very poor so I still don’t have changed the brake disc, but I learned to drive almost without breaking since the vibrations is awful to feel 😂
I have a 2011 Ford Kuga with the 2.5 petrol Turbo engine, im still on the original front pads only 40% worn and discs at 47,500 miles. I dont rush up to traffic lights or junctions and then slam on my brakes, that has got to be one of the biggest savings on fuel -not to mention maintenance.
I ve got a New Peugeut 408 and for a Petrol MPG is very impressive I got around 57 Mpg motorway and around 32 mpg stop start traffic Auto Allows Neutral Gearbox when driving it goes all the way to 8th gear and car does a MPG report on every Trip so you can compare
Don't do pulse and glide in traffic, especially on motorways. Keep a steady speed and be considerate. To keep a steady pace, I use the speed limiter rather than the cruise control (except motorways, of course, always adaptive cruise control). With the speed limiter and Toyota's, if the needle is below the first quadrant you can blip the throttle and stay on the electric motor for a while. Else, don't bother and keep your speed up, until the needle falls back down on a low to negative gradient. As for fuel type (98 / 95), I haven't seen a difference in economy. I put 98 for the moment, the car has 5000km. Will probably switch to 95 after 10000km. For acceleration types, I use reasonable power to reach the speed, but not full acceleration, of course. 'Brisk' acceleration uses the electric motor, so that's all good. Low acceleration, you spend so much time getting up to speed. I think it's more of a feeling, on CVT, you don't want to stay on an acceleration for long, feels wrong. This works if you're gonna stay on Electric for a while afterwards. It's about maximizing time on the electric motor. If it's a lot of stop and start, or you gonna stay in the ICE, probably not worth it. I'm doing under 4.5L country roads and main roads, under 4L (easy) in city, then the rest doesn't really matter, it's a steady whatever on cruise control and it's between 5L to 6.5L, maybe 7L when loaded (motorway). Corolla TS 196.
The latest internet trick I used is going slower on the motorway uphill sections (mostly disabling cruise control) event for shorter climbs. It is very useful in the hilly country sides. You can make up by going faster when going down. Avoid luging the engine though.
Started doing this many years ago, 60 uphill, 66 on the flat, 69 (is!) downhill......gets me an average of 48mpg on a Sussex to Cornwall run in an Allroad....that'll do.
Another great video and I love that all the techniques and tips called up came with a healthy dose of reality check and pragmatism. Big picture thinking for me has always been, any driving method that could cause injury or an accident could cost anywhere between your excess or you capacity to earn a living, so everyone needs to just drive safely. Likewise anything that harms the car obliterates the savings in repair costs. Aussie journalist John Cadogan on Autoexpert also does a great video on this subject, worth checking out. Thank you torquecars for your great content once again.
Thanks for your kind words. I have learned not to be too dogmatic, there are too many variables out there, I'd much rather tell people the theory and options and let them find what works for them. I've not come across John yet so i will check him out on your recommendation.
@@torquecars yep, you modus on giving us the theory is what I think keeps the more technical car heads coming for more. You’re in for a treat with John believe me. His engineering is bob-on but it is delivered with a cutting irreverent wit.
I’ve noticed you have to be to close to get benefit of slipstreaming. If you are at a safe distance you’re in a lot of dirty air and you can fill the car moving around.
The TV show called "Myth busters" did an episode on Slipstreaming, they found that it had to be really close tailgating to get the most benefit. Dangerously close in fact.
I have a 2018 Ford escape 1.5 AWD turbo. And I found that if I run 87 or standard gas. My gears when in 1, 2 and 3 are choppy and stutter. Often jerking my car. Cause it automatically uses AWD when at a stop and going again. Now if I use 93 it changes gears more effectively and I don't get it. And my turbo runs better and I feel more power. But my sweet spot i have found is using non ethanol. I noticed the miles per tank. With 87 I get 320 to 340 miles per tank or about 20mpg with my uphill driving and country roads. But with non ethanol I have achieved 24 to 30mpg average. Usually getting about 360 to 400 miles a tank. But it costs $1 more a gallon for 90 non ethanol. I have filled up immediately after my driving of half a tank. And even though I pay $1 more it usually costs me the same amount or less on fill-up. It's odd
I find it bizarre when people use the brake when there are no other cars around or unexpected situations. To me that just signals that they can't plan ahead and that they're a bad and oblivious driver. If there's a roundabout up ahead let go of the accelerator, it's not rocket science.
Rapid acceleration, braking and driving too fast are the big fuel wasters. Other things to consider are low tire pressures, roof racks, carrying heavy weights, open windows.
I believed a lot of these myths for much of my driving life. So I just hope I can pass on a few new tips to our subscribers. Let me know if you enjoy it.
I can drive all the way to town (6miles) without using the brakes. Trouble is: I've found with that style of driving, the rear brakes tend to seize up becoming inoperable over time. But I still drive like that, lifting and coasting.
Highway in Poland is Autostrada. Sometimes i skip from 2 to 4 then to 5 and 6th gear. I find it most economical. Mostly city driving 50/70km/h limit(90-100max).
Absolutely agree with everything I heard in this video; however, I did not hear - once again- one very specific thing that I found out myself: the electrical system of a car. Make sure it is working in tip-top condition. Spark plug wires, ignition coils, earth connections, the alternator itself and a healthy battery will help MPG a great deal. I recently replaced coils and spark plug wires in my '99 Alfa Romeo 146 Twin Spark and these alone gave me an extra 4+ mpg. I then added a capacitor to the battery and not only got rid of any - very minor - current and voltage drops but also improved my mpg by a further 2-3. This last thing though goes into "car - modding" but it does help the electrical system and the overall operation of all electrical devices on a car.
For good engine life deactivate the start stop and let your engine idle for 30 seconds before you drive so oil can flow around all the metal parts. For better fuel economy get rid of the emmision filters and remap the engine to optimise the engine for the extra airflow. Ask the tunner to focus on low down and mid range torque. Engine waists a lot of fuel trying to push exhaust gases through those tiny filters. I gained 10 mpg and 40 hp improving airflow with the CAT EGR & DPF. Next step is lower friction tyres. Goodyear Efficient Performance 2 or Michelin e.Primacy 2 are good. My car went from 50mpg to 64mpg afterwards. It became nicer to drive with more performance, with better mpg than offical figures.
I achieved almost 45mpg from hypermiling my 2008 Renault Clio tce 100 I only used 32 miles of fuel from a 42 mile drive on mostly urban areas with no motorway driving £12 of fuel has lasted me nearly 4 days from half a tank and I only use esso synergy supreme 99, gulf, vpower to get the best out of my Clio tce 100 as it can take 95ron(e10) or 98ron(e5) according to my fuel cap but the engine seems more economical and lively with the e5 stuff I still use redex or stp fuel system cleaners once a month to keep the injectors clean as e5 still contains ethanol which ethanol can lead to clogged up fuel injectors overtime and it doesn’t matter which “cleaning agents” modern fuel has fuel injectors can still get dirty overtime if neglected
Is it a good idea with a automatic transmission to use the Eco indicator for fuel saving but not damaging your engine by using to low Rpm ? It seems that it's counter productive.
I find that avoiding ethanol blended fuels saves MPG. A tank full of 10% ethanol fuel can drop MPG by 15% in my vehicle. It seems using renewable fuel causes me to use MORE fossil fuel, not to mention the energy used to produce the ethanol. Ethanol has far less energy per gallon when compared to gasoline. Adding some diesel to the gasoline gives better mileage, as it contains more energy per gallon.
Motor manufactures used to tune it specifically for constant 56 mph. If you look at a torque curve on an engine it will have a bit of a dip at a specific rpm in the rev range which corresponded with the gearing in top gear for 56mph. This is why a lot of the “gains” you get from remapping is just removing things that the manufacturer has added for fuel efficiency, longevity and safety.
Disabling Regen makes sense if you want that speed and you don't feel like having a feather touch on the accelerator. Fuel economy is not about constant speed, it's about driving with a steady load and allowing speed to vary. The way you frame things makes a little more sense if you live where it is flat. I'm in Appalachia. Pulse and glide is the way it is with all these mountains. It ruins the fuel economy of those who, for example, insist on cresting the top of a mountain at the speed limit.
As expected, the punchline is: be intelligent. Use the terrain to your advantage and be smooth about it. Personnally I think braking on the highway/freeway is detestable. Especially there, you really only need it during emergencies
Good video. Quick point: if you half fill a 60l tank, you're saving around 22kg, not the full tank's weight. Which helps your point about the cost of travelling to the station.
1:33 that is the point where you have just reached the optimal torque, diesels have this point much lower on the rev scale, another difference is atmosferic vs turbocharged benzin motor.. And you'll reach the BEST possible fuel economy when you keep reaching this point upon driving.. Wanna know where that point is? Run a dyno check 😉
People don’t get the right balance. A reliable car is ur first issue. Not too big and not too small. With a Reliable proven engine again not too big an engine not too small. Easy to service yourself. Solve that first then concentrate on fuel. Use cruise control as much as possible. It will save you points and mistakes. Drive on Motorway at 60mph for best efficiently. Gas on = spending money. Gas off = not much money. So roll to lights and roundabouts. Simple as that.
If you don't use your brakes they'll go rusty seize up and not work very well if you need to use them in an emergency brake you'll crash because they won't work
Gasoline cars struggle a lot a low rpm because of the pumping loss. Throttle valve causes vacuum and that makes a Gasoline engine less efficient. So my car's sweet spot is in between 2,000rpm and 2,500rpm. But my car is stick and every gear speed's ratio is tall. So it is hard to hypermiling stick shift Gasoline vehicles, but I can't resist not driving a manual transmission vehicle.
I have a Bosch ME7.1.1 engine management in my car (VR6 24V) and it will keep injecting fuel under 2000RPM in higher gears even when going downhill. This causes the car to not slow down in high and slow down too much in low gear. I would say it is not the engine management that will do this.
Pulse and glide in manual car could work better at slower speeds. At highway speeds, it's even more pertinent that constant speed reduces air resistance, since air resistance squares with velocity - you'd have to pulse and glide every few seconds, which i assume is not what people are doing (unless they mean pulse and coast?). There'll say they get better mpg than staying right up at the speed limit, which is true, but if they are pulsing to 70mph limit then gliding to 60mph, they'd probably be better cruising at 65mph (or using pulse and glide within a smaller range of 64-66 or 63-67)
@@torquecars I first tried it on a 1990 fuel injected corolla GTi. I was using max throttle for the pulse, which in retrospect would not have been the most efficient in a car tuned for power (134hp from 1576cc). However, it still gave me good fuel economy doing this. I'm sure it would have been better had I used 2/3rds throttle. It was only a couple of seconds pulse, then 5 seconds glide, if memory serves. And my speed was around 50mph instead of 70+. That's how I increased mpg by 65%
The problem I've found with driving on the interstate I'm traffic while staying a certain distance back so I don't need to break results in someone getting in front of me in that gap. When I get the same distance back from the new car it happens again, rinse and repeat. The drivers in my city just cannot seem to just stay in one lane or stand not being in the fastest lane at all times. I could write a book on how awfully the drivers in my city are.
Horribly in respect of being sensible and respecting traffic flow I think my cars best mpg is about 20mph. It’s a hybrid. Anyway if true, and I’m pretty sure, this could lead to a nightmare outbreak of crawlers!!
I live in the us and drive a car with only 4 speeds. It's an automatic. It really does not like to shift before 2500 rpm under moderate acceleration. Much too high for a large torque engine.
You talk about 1/3 the throttle to be a limit. May be ok when you got the atmosferic engine but any turbocharged one this WILL be an issue sooner or later. Feel free to ask why
I really shouldn't throw out "rules of thumb" there are too many exceptions aren't there. But I encourage people to experiment with their car and see what works best for them. Keeping in the BMEP is the key.
Some really good advice here. I know that it has a bit of a salty image but my IAM obbo would often refer me to looking ahead, planning my route, selecting the right gear and only using the brake when it was really necessary. Something I still do now 25yrs later...
They do seem pretty reliable overall, but I don't know that much about them, I really don't get to see that many of them so haven't really got a full picture. You are right, there is not much out there.
They've been here for years. They seem solid provided you don't push them too hard all the time (you get shitty MPG) and don't drive only short distances (cold engine means water condensation and fuel in oil which causes excessive wear).
The benefits to slip streaming are for a larger area behind the truck than he assumes so his comparison is incorrect and the insinuation that in order for slip streaming to be beneficial that you've got to be close enough to be a danger is entirely untrue. Mythbusters covered this.
You are right there, I was actually working on the weight of a full 80 litre tank and thinking that you are running at an average of 25% overall whilst you are driving, but it is a minor consideration for most and as I said in the video the extra fill up trips will negate any savings here.
Using the left lane on a "Freeway" I'm in Oz. The problem comes from the idiots that "merge" into 110kph traffic doing 80kph because they think they are driving safely. SMH.
What tips? You spent the entire video telling us that getting high MPG is too complicated. I get 40mpg with a Corolla wagon. Given the correct conditions most of these methods discussed have merit.
I find the constant nagging that the car wants me to change to a higher gear annoying. If you do what it wants the engine labours and goes outside the power band.
Neutral and coasting is being dangerous for yourself and the others on top of costing more fuel... brake assist is achieved by vacum from the engine intake, if the engine for whatever reason is not mechanically engaged and stalls, no more brake assist... modern EFI entirely shuts fuel injection while coasting, meaning no fuel is sent in the combustion chamber! so keep a gear in at ALL times! If engine braking is to much for your liking, coast in a higher gear it won't slow you down as much! The half tank is such a non sense for most of the car production... Should your tank be 120 liters (almost none of us have such tanks...) the fuel density is 0,75 so 50% of 120 liters is 60 liters, 0,75 x 60 = 45Kg... the weight of a child, and as we have more 50/60 liters tanks you save 18,75 to 22,5 kg insignificant in regards to the weight of the car....
Braking is burning energy. So to drive with foresight is the most effective thing you can get good fuel economy. I also have an example when coasting in neutral got me a bit better fuel economy than being in gear. It is part of my daily commute route over the highway. There is a part where the highway goes downhill, and you drive around 110-120 kmh there. When I let my car in 6th gear, it slowly decalerates, and I have to give it a bit of throttle. When I'm in neutral, it holds the 120 without a problem. So I think in situations like those, it might work. Even though the engine consumes a tiny bit, what becomes more and more negligible at higher speeds, it is less than what it needs to give it a bit of throttle in gear in my situation.
Being in neutral is a very high risk decision. Not recommended. But keeping the highest gear without accelerating while driving down the hill results in zero fuel consumption. Yes, braking means lost energy and braking system stress, wearing down pads, rotors etc. - except for the vehicles with regenerative braking.
the dashboard recommendations are trash. My 2015 Golf GTD shows me to upshift to 6th gear even though i was coasting at around 1500 RPM already on a construction on the autobahn. My sweetspot is 1900-2100 ish form where i can floor it without issues to the enige (2.0 TDI)
The footage you have going on at the start of this video, add a traffic light every ~6 seconds. It goes from when I start the car to when I am at the destination. The drive time is ~10 minutes. Eco drive that. edit: brake pads are cheap, clutch is not. Use brakes, that's what they are there for. I don't care whatever he says, he's wrong about this.
The minimised braking game and not lugging the engine are the main things. If you focus too much on efficiency you’ll end up stuck at traffic lights or behind idiots who you’d rather were as far away from you as possible. Plus the inevitable DPF/EGR/whatever other issues you care to think of. I pay zero attention to my fuel efficiency and still get 60 mpg easily. I laugh at stingy drivers. They’re not saving nearly as much as they think they are but they put so much effort into it. Diminishing returns and all that. Be sensible, stay safe and enjoy the ride 😉
@@torquecars can confirm this is accurate. I did over 100 miles on A roads the other week. Full throttle pulls off roundabouts and such. Average mpg 61.4. 2.0 diesel hatchback with brutal acceleration. Tire pressures were set to 34/32 F/R iirc. Car is run exclusively on V-power or Esso premium as a backup plan. Zero smoke, can’t even smell anything at idle. Still got the DPF in place, just fitted a new Bosch air filter. Strangely seems to get up to temperature faster with it. Very happy with what I’m getting from the car anyway 👍😎
Turn off all those ECO mode features and Sport mode off, be in the proper gear that doesn't lug the engine on the route you're on, hold the throttle pedal and lightly maintain that throttle pressure once the speed you want is reached, step on the brake pedal lightly as little as possible, drive in the lane that you know won't need you to constantly adjust your vehicle's speed, assume the other drivers is out to ruin your day, maintain your vehicle's maintenance constantly and consistently. Then finally use the proper octane of fuel from a brand that works best with your vehicle. I almost forgot to mention, if you can comfortabley, close your windows and turn off your vehicle's air condition system. All these things I mentioned provided me the best fuel economy BUT these tips work the best on an open road. If you're in the crowded city road. Sorry, there's not much you can do to save fuel in that kind of evironment. Just make sure to keep your head on a swivel, there's no gap infront of you for a vehicle to cut you off and keep up with traffic. You'll be happier driving in places like that.
Really? I very rarely ever delete comments, why would I? We need them for the algorithm. The only time a comment is deleted is if it is offensive or foul but these are usually filtered out anyway so i never see them. The moderation queue is empty. You are not the first to say a comment has not appeared. Please post up your question and I'll do my best to answer it for you my friend.
No No No ! never tailgate any vechicle especially a HGV. I was following a HGV with a safe distance on a motorway and it changed lane to avoid a stationery van. I had very little time to process the new situation and then change lane safely as I had no visibility of the lane ahead. Dread to think what would have happened if I had decided to tailgate but nothing good would have come from it.
The assumption that HGVs take more time/distance to break or come to a halt is plain wrong!!! Depending on their load, especially anything younger than 10-15years, is rather likely to brake better or equal compared to most cars at the speeds they commonly go. So no, you really can t assume that the HGV will take more time breaking/coming to a halt than most cars and that s been wrong for a very long time! You also better assume that the HGV isn t fully loaded (most aren t weight-wise) and therefore is likely to brake better than your average car.
Cut a soft compound squash ball in half, super glue it if possible to the accelerator bump stop. This is a great way of saving a little extra fuel. You should still have 3/4 of throttle depending on the design of the accelerator pedal. This restricts how much travel there is in the accelerator by stopping you from flooring it, if you really need full wack press harder to overcome the resistance of the squash ball hence using a soft compound ball.
![🚫10 Driving Habits That KILL Your Car 💥[Warning]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NONXE1_lE5Q/mqdefault.jpg)
1:06 The rpm of the engine is the size of the bucket. The throttle position is the angle of the bucket. It's true that neither one determines fuel consumption alone, because they both have a direct impact. I don't want anyone thinking that flooring it at low rpm in higher uses more fuel than half throttle at high rpm in a low gear, because that isn't true. Lower rpm is just a way to limit air getting into the engine and less air means less fuel. The nuance here is that excessively low rpm causes heat from combustion to escape into the cylinder block and head, and excessively high rpm tends to cause heat to escape out the exhaust.
Low rpm and thus low piston speeds means lower air intake velocity and poor air/fuel mixing, and the engine can't effectively use all the spent fuel. High rpm allows for the higher velocity to mix the air and fuel, but not as much time to do so which is another disadvantage, plus the higher pumping losses and the pistons racing away from the combustion products. Naturally, somewhere in the middle is a zone where the engine is most thermally efficient. However, there's still more nuance, because an engine might be more thermally efficient at 2200 rpm than 1200, but if the fuel lost from pumping losses is more than the gains of higher combustion efficiency (as is usually the case when traveling downhill or when very little power is needed), then it's still better to use the higher gear with less rpm.
10:44 Pulse and glide is more effective when you have an energy storage device. For example, if you have a hybrid car, you can pulse the car on the engine and then glide on battery power. When the engine shuts off, you drastically reduce the amount energy required to operate the car. Then when it comes back on, you only use it in the most efficient BSFC zone, hopefully store some energy in the battery, restore some speed, then switch to EV mode and glide once more. I find when driving in hilly areas in my manual non hybrid car, I can use my engine's peak BSFC zone to climb the hill, then after I crest the hill, shift to neutral and nearly eliminate the engine's resistances, allowing gravity to propel me. In this case, the terrain is my battery. Pulse and glide is simply useless in a non hybrid car when there is no hill.
In the manner I pulse and glide my non hybrid, maintaining a set speed or actually losing speed in neutral downhill (rather than revving up the engine for "no reason" or nearly no reason because I need 0.1 gallons per hour of "push", but my engine uses 0.2 gallons per hour in neutral idling, but in order to send that 0.1 gallons per hour of "push", I first have to rev the car to 2500 rpm and shift to gear, which will cost me 0.7 GPH, plus the 0.1 GPH of push is 0.8 gallons per hour, or 4x the total fuel consumption to maintain speed downhill, whereas I can shed a mph here and there and just regain it once the road flattens out under peak BSFC) is more efficient than speeding downhill and slowing uphill. For reference, a typical compact sedan requires about 0.7-0.8 GPH of push at 65 mph and around 1-1.1 GPH of push at 75 mph on flat ground.
On more extreme hills (5%grade and up) It's obviously best to leave it in the highest gear that allows you to maintain a safe speed and maintain DFCO when travelling down, and traveling up, you want to go as fast as you can while not going over your BSFC peak. I know my engine's BSFC peak is 2500 rpm at 80% throttle, so if I can do that in 6th at 66 mph, I will do that. If not, I will do it in 5th at 55 mph. If not 5th, then 4th at 42 mph, and so on.
Here's what I found out about coasting in neutral. If you can coast in neutral and maintain a safe and desirable speed, then it is more efficient, point blank. Engine braking is only more efficient if you need to slow down anyway (very very steep hill, traffic light turns red, etc). Personally, when I coast in neutral, my right foot is covering the gas and my right hand is covering the shifter (USA driver, sorry) so I can shift into the exact gear I need in a second or less to reduce the risk of needing to accelerate. More often than not (90-92% of the time) I need to shift into gear to SLOW DOWN (as in, I need DFCO to be more efficient), not to speed up, at those times when I do need to be in gear suddenly.
When it comes to slipstreaming or drafting, I have never measured a difference in using that technique using my scangauge 2. If you follow closely enough, you will be able to notice and measure a difference in fuel consumption, but you will be so close, that your risk of getting into an accident (or suddenly braking and wasting the fuel you were trying to save) is so high, that it could never, ever be worth the practice imo.
22:14 I love your argument here. I live in the US and I actually get my gas and groceries from the same store (costco) so I can combine a grocery trip and a gas trip. The only trouble is that I buy gas twice as often as I buy groceries, not the inverse, so I usually stop for groceries every other fillup, rather than for gas every other grocery run. I have found that removing 80kg of weight from my car (6% the weight of the car) saves me about 1-1.5% on fuel (on mostly highway trips with very little stop/start) so at around 8 gallons of fuel not utilized out of 18, say maybe 22kg of fuel, cut my range down from 560 miles on 16 gallons to 280 miles on 8 gallons (leaving 2 in reserve) I'd save maybe 0.3% on a tank of fuel, which would be 0.024 gallons saved per fillup. At my typical 35 mpg (which would be more than what I'd get going out of the way to get fuel), the round trip distance of the fuel station would have be 0.83 miles out of the way, or less, and at 25 miles per gallon, it would have to be 0.6 miles out of the way or less. Just not worth it plain and simple unless you can combine trips.
What fantastic insights you've shared here, a truly valuable and thought provoking comment. Glad to have you along my friend.
I salute you! I concur with all of your points. I was not aware of BSFC figures being available until watching this video, however. Ever since my first fuel injected car, i used max throttle, low revs, and anticipation and engine braking to gain up to 65% fuel economy from a 1990 corolla with no trip computer (paper and pen only). And i discovered my mpg at constant 35-40mph in 6th in a diesel Audi was higher than the inbuilt computer could display :) i always let off the gas before going downhill and accelerate up the other side in top gear, going down the gears if necessary, just like you, and it kills me to see everyone braking down the hill in my local tunnel, only to force me to have to change down a gear coming out the other side, so i have to give them extra 'stupid' room, which then infuriates the drivers behind who think they are somehow getting held up, which they are not as we all leave the tunnel at the same time. I usually only fill to 1/4 to 1/3 of a tank, and I don't keep my spare wheel in the trunk unless driving out of town, where I also add 9% to the tyre pressures if it's going to be highway and the weather is dry. Though one particular winter i did lower my pressures by 55% and i was the only vehicle in the area able to make it up the hill that winter
Re slipstreaming - I've found some lorries have a second zone much further back where you can get a tow. It's big enough that other vehicles will drop into the gap so it works best when traffic is low. But its way more relaxing that trying to get really close.
I hardly use my brakes at all. I love giving myself targets for example not to touch the brakes at roundabouts. So long as traffic isn’t too heavy it is very possible. I had a Mini Cooper D and would consistently achieve 62mpg a tad less in winter months. I have a Mini Cooper 1.5 petrol now and seem to be struggling to achieve 53mpg. Our other car is a BMW 2L D auto. We both get 56mpg but of course braking is hard to avoid.
@@cindyvillagechick514 Best comment. As long as you keep sensibly near the speed limits, you can ignore the impatient idiots behind.
I'm an avid engine-breaker who has forced myself to stop doing so, I'm not as fuel efficient as before but my brakes are a lot healthier now!
My point with the comment is just to find a good balance, if you use your brakes too much try to engine brake more.
If you engine brake too much you should let your brakes work a little bit more every now and then.
Just my 2 cents
Another great video from TorqueCars. A lot of thought has obviously gone into making it. Thanks👍.
We have three cars in our household: a turbo diesel which seems most economical around 1400 - 2000; a turbo petrol around the 1600 - 2300 noted here; then a higher reving normally aspirated petrol engine probably around the 2200 to 2800 rpm mark. The biggest savings however are not to drive like you found out that your house is on fire and to anticipate the road ahead.
Years of driving has taught me that driving faster not only uses more fuel, but the reduction in driving time is absolutely negligeable on our congested roads. It also causes far more stress for the driver, passengers and wear to the vehicle.
Cheers buddy, your kind words make all the hard work seem worth the effort. Thanks for sharing your experiences also, it helps me build out a more rounded picture.
I drive a 1.8 97 toyota celica ( at200 ), with my driving, I generally fuel up once every 3 weeks.
Not bad for old thing, since purchasing it like 2 months ago, I don't need to add synthetic oil yet, damn good engine.
Loved the video, keep em coming!!
One of the best channels i found recently, thanks for Your work! Really like Your videos and detailed approach.
Wow, thanks! I'm just blown away we've got so many nice followers and regulars on here. I only do this for fun and to share my knowledge so am pleased to hear people appreciate the videos.
I had found pulse and gliding very beneficial for my Toyota hybrid in urban and suburban driving (0-60km/h) because it takes advantage of the engine shutting down when letting off the accelerator pedal. It is also easier to disguise pulse and gliding with the the natural ebbs and flows of urban and suburban traffic. I used to average ~24km/L (~4.2L/100km) across fuel tanks by accelerating and braking heavily along with most drivers. These days I now average ~34km/L (~2.9L/100km) across fuel tanks. After a few months of conscious practice I had become more proficient at understanding the minimum amount of throttle to accelerate to my desired speed, reading and anticipating traffic ahead, timing red traffic lights so I often roll through without stopping, and understanding how fast the car naturally decelerates from air and rolling resistance.
Something I figured out with Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) is that the hybrid battery's state of charge operates between 40% and 80%, and the HSD operates in a way that aims towards 60% charge. When battery charge is depleted to 40% the petrol engine is forced on to generate some electrical power to store in the battery. When the engine is fired up during acceleration, and battery charge is below 60%, a portion of energy generated by the energy is always used by the HSD through its power split device (the planetary gearbox) to generate electricity to charge the battery. This means I am not accelerating with all my petrol and engine power driving the wheels. When battery charge is at 60%, all petrol consumed and engine power drives the wheels. When battery charge is over 60%, the HSD tries to make headroom for additional energy created by regenerative braking. It does this by using the electric motors more aggressively, either by increasing the threshold of power demand before the engine fires up; or when the engine is fired up, the electric motor assists with a few kW of power so the engine runs at lower throttle.
After understanding the HSD's behaviour around the hybrid battery's charge, it became clear it was optimal to maintain the battery's charge at around 60% to ensure petrol consumed and power generated by the engine is maximised driving the wheels. Pulse and gliding with the ebbs and flows of suburban and urban traffic plays into this because pulses ensure the battery is topped up at 60%, and my glides use little to no battery charge as I decelerate in anticipation of slow/stopped traffic flow ahead. Any additional charge from the few instances I have to regenerative brake (thereby taking my charge slightly above 60%) is soon put back to re-accelerating the car with aggressive electric motor assist and less engine throttle.
Which Toyota hybrid and year?
@@saulmunoz3731 My car is a 2014 Toyota Aqua (Prius C). However from experience driving friends' Toyota and Lexus vehicles with the Hybrid Synergy Drive, I found it operates much in the same way as I outlined above because, per its name, its function is to synergise an internal combustion engine and electric motors, even though the engine and electric motor specs can vary between vehicles.
I ignore gear advice on dashboard as for me it’s too low but still get long average of 61 mpg 2lt diesel and on one journey had 70mpg at constant speed. I also keep reasonable distance and lift off to slow instead of breaking. 62,000 miles no break pad change.
I used to drive that way, I hardly used any brakes to the point the calipers kept stucking and I had to use hammer constantly on lug nuts. At the MOT they rejected me and I went on a highway to brake violently (with hand brake too), went back and passed MOT. Now I force myself to intentionally brake.
I got 71 mpg in my 2.0 TDI on a recent 500 mile drive not trying to save fuel the road works on the M1 and M6 was to blame for my amazing economy 👍
Not sure why you think it's an amazing MPG. That's pretty silly numbers. Anyone with a bit of dedication can get 80+ mpg on a small petrol
Yeah, i used to frequently slam my brakes on and off at the traffic lights to free up the calipers. You don't have to be moving (and thus wasting momentum) to do it.
@@igorpotocnik7231 Same here, I occasionally intentionally brake hard. Brakes were stuck due to me always braking slightly.
All so, so true my friend, I'm or was a fitter/mechanic (elect) but have been riding/driving for over 58yrs, and driving every day for work. Been striping & rebuilding motors, 2 stroke & 4, most of that time for myself and sometimes for income. Porting both 2/4 stroke, mild cams & changing intake/exhaust ports size & position. In that time I found carbon buildup robs power, economy & kills motors. So yes use the rev range, be in the right gear, keeping oil pressure up when under load with just enough throttle to get you over the crest at a minimal considerate speed for others, let the car build speed on the downside when you can with minimal throttle without engine breaking, unless you are getting too fast, to hit a target speed at the bottom to aid the next climb. Change back a gear before you are forced to, keeping engine revs up for the climb. And let the motor spin at times to burn that carbon. Lugging up a hill at low revs is the quickest way to kill your motor early = more $ Vary your revs. Even when stuck on a boring freeway for hours.
I learnt as a young driver, a car out of gear is a car out of control ! Risking the loss of vacuum for the brake booster = lost braking performance at a critical time might kill you &/or others. Also, you can't just hit the throttle if needed, reaction time 😲
Sorry for the rant but I see so many uneducated drivers, it makes me cry 😪
Cheers.
Once told best way to drive for economy was try to keep revs at maximum torque when accelerating / cruising as much possible, obviously other factors have to be taken into account. Also, because cruise operates reactively, I sometimes switch from auto to manual on undulating roads to make use of gravity and anticipate need to use accelerator. As well as keeping tyres at correct pressure, it's important to use suitable tyre type / size.
Thanks for another greatly informative video.
So using LT offroad tires on my honda civic is a bad idea?
The tires weight more than the engine so...
Fuel economy is a combination of throttle position AND RPM, not just throttle as you suggest! I agree low RPM under load (lugging) is bad, possibly very bad for an engine.
Economy driving has always been measured at 56 mph and has never been 50 mph.
My experience with gear change lights is that they ignore engine load and so a re pretty useless- changing at 1500rpm up a steep hill is crazy! Of course some cars may be better at this than others.
I absolutely agree that minimising braking is key. I see so many drivers not anticipating the traffic in from and accelerating just to have to them brake which is totally unnecessary.
Coasting and hence slowing down only saves fuel when you anticipate the traffic ahead is going to slow down, or if you are going downhill and so use free gravity! I always switch off cruise when hills are present so that I can drop speed going uphill and increase speed going downhill - I am certain this saves a significant amount of fuel. Cruise maintains speed so uses a lot more throttle going uphill, and hence more fuel.
Quick acceleration wastes fuel, period.
I find the VW DSGs all try to climb the gears way too quickly. Before remapping, my DQ200 used to cause dangerous engine lugging quite frequently. I much prefer driving in ‘manual’ mode, which also seems to be more economical as I can keep it in the 2-2.5k rpm Goldilocks zone you mentioned. Great video as ever, thank you. 👌
I had a Mkvii golf 1.6 tdi, better mpg in sport mode for motorway driving, eco mode in the city. Now driving a transporter campervan, wind resistance is an mpg killer over 60mph. At 80mph (or more accurately 130kmh on French autoroute) it can be 15mpg lower.
Maintaining constant speed and avoiding accelaration and deceleration as much as possible (on a level road) will do the job.
I'm a lorry driver, and I was taught to stay within the RPM green band (where the engine produces the highest torque) to save fuel when pulling up hill. Yes, you can get even more power to the wheels by shifting down, but that will cost you fuel. I don't know how this applies to lighter vehicles, though.
Every engine and car is different, it is something we have to play with to find the best zone. If only cars all came with an Econometer.
I'm surprised more manufacturers haven't implemented something similar in their cars. Maybe a green band on the rev counter is a bit low tech nowadays, but I'm sure they could set the gauge cluster to change colour based on keeping the engine in the ideal economy or even power band. In fact, I think some cars do have something like this, maybe the Prius, Insight, or Yaris GRMN?
I’m driving Honda Jazz HEV. I find using higher octane gas can give me better gas mileage. I also used 5w30 motor oil.
Before the high octane gas and motor oil, I was only getting around 25km/L. (4L/100Km, or 58.8 MPG)
After the changes, I’m getting 28km/L (3.6L/100km, or 65 MPG)
I switch to B mode if I see a long downward slope, or anticipating a stop at a red light. Eco mode 90% of the time besides going up highway ramps, or steep hills.
I think drivers need to know the system well in order to squeeze the MPG, and fyi, I love my Honda and I’m addicted to squeezing that bit more fuel economy out of it.
Trying Techron in my new car, to prevent any major carbon build up. Hope it can last!
Slipstreaming a lorry in South Africa is almost guaranteed to get your windscreen cracked by a stone thrown out under the lorry's tyres. I stay far away from lorries, and in any case, if you want to overtake them, it's not a good idea to be right on the lorry's arse. Then you can't see properly or accelerate in time. I keep a distance from the lorry, read the road, and then floor it to get past. I'm talking here of single lane roads, not freeways. On freeways, just stay away from trucks and don't dawdle next to them or in their blind spots. You don't want to be next to a lorry's tyre if that decides to blow.
Good info, my experience is that new drivers have learned to drive like Miss Daisy and destroy their cars ASAP.
lol That film has a lot to answer for!
Great video as usual TorqueCars. I drive a 2013 Toyota Auris 1.8 Hybrid. I'm definitely a hypermiler for sure. I seem to consistently get around 68 to 80 mpg going at 58 to 64 mph. I do get much higher mpg around town though. Town driving gets me between 80 to 90 mpg. Even though it's a Hybrid and I don't have to worry about what gear I should be in, I do read the road ahead all the time, anticipate the traffic lights, etc.
Thanks for sharing and for your kind words. Do they come with the CVT transmission? I've heard that is good for economy.
Do change the CVT fluid 4yrs or 40,000 max & it'll last.
@@torquecars Hi Torquecars, it's actually an E-CVT transmission.
@@tardeliesmagic Thanks @tardeliesmagic, I intend to get the fluid changed next year.
Learning to use less brakes and don't idle the vehicle I would say are the biggest factors for most people to learn. I have commuted (around 10 miles) many times without touching my brakes at all, albeit at quiet times on the road but it does take practice and you have to find a balance of using less brakes and not holding up traffic. I drive a 2006 Honda Jazz and get almost 60mpg (1.4 petrol engine). Pulse and glide method sounds horrible, there's nothing worse than being around a car that is doing that or worse being passenger. Slower driving speeds and lower revs are always bug factors (assuming you are not lugging the engine). Tyre pressure and type of tyre, alignment and servicing are also factors (fresh oil in engine and gearbox = less friction = less wear and more efficiency). Don't forget to check the brakes aren't binding and that the wheel bearings are in good condition.
I find that in my RS6 which has an 8-speed automatic box, motorway cruising at ~70Mph, 8th gear driven with around 1500RPM is ample without labouring the engine, some motorway inclines require me to manually drop it into 7th gear to maintain the sweet spot.
Having these two additional overdrive gears helps a lot, however I intentionally disable the active cylinder system, the concept is brilliant for the 4.0 TFSI motor however in practice it's a costly system to repair when, it inevitably fails and kills the engine, so I turn it off, and for 90% of the time I drive in semi-auto mode as I prefer to have control over the gear selection, especially when I want to use engine braking for slowing down becuase, like most auto boxes, when descending down a hill, or rolling up to a junction, the TCU will selected the highest gear possible for the road speed/engine load combination, and you inevitably end up riding the brakes so holding the car in 2nd or 3rd depending on the gradient saves my brakes too.
I did an experiment a while back whilst on a business trip to see a client, I was in no real hurry to get there as I was travelling the evening prior so I drove from my home in Newcastle, to Bridlington via the A19 which is mostly dual carriageway, and I decided to sync my cruise control to a convoy of trucks in the inside lane, for most of that journey until I left the A19 on to the winding roads, I never disengaged the cruise control and sat at ~56Mph, including the combined driving of the towns either side of my trip and the dual carriageway, I returned 34MPG in 8 cylinder mode, which for such a big engine I though was rather impressive.
So, like you say, it varies from car to car on how best to drive economically and finding that sweet sopt is trial and error, but as a comparison, on the return journey home from the former trip, mentally I was in get home mode with the RS6 in dynamic mode, lots of overtaking and hard driving and I used twice as much fuel on the return journey as I did on the outbound journey, time difference? Well, it was something like 45mins quicker getting home, much more fun albeit.
As a driver, once we understand the wins of using momentum and forward planning, the savings in fuel consumption can be massive, although if like me you enjoy frequent spirited driving, it all kind of balances out in the end.
You and I could definitely be friends. But I suspect you’re not one of the two RS6 that live in my area.
Good advices. I use them. The best is to brake less and drive at decent speeds, using predictive driving.
For hybrids the best is to brake gently - only regenerative (not braking hard).
Thanks for sharing. I should have added the gentle braking tip when I mention the regen options but I guess most that have it already know.
On long road trips, solo, I found a bit of weight in the boot makes the car squat a bit at the back and improves aero as well as altering the wheel geometry a bit. Only works well for long motorway runs, but I found good improvements. The weight also increases momentum which helps on long runs.
1.6tdi 2012 Octavia, auto 7 speed. Tank takes 53 liters. Max miles is 590. Sometimes 620miles. Drive slower and use cruse control. Tyres over inflated to 35psi. No load in the car. The best car for mileage per tank I had was the 407 1.6 tdi. It done 50 more miles than the Octavia. Same tank. Would love a big fuel tank in a car. I did see a tank you can add into where you keep the spare wheel. 20ltrs more to the cars capacity.
I have a Peugeot 407 1.6 HDI with DPF/EGR off and remap . 70MPG is easily achievable and 1200miles range from full on a long run
I get over 40mpg out of my mk3 golf vr6 according to the mpg meter. More on a good run. Seems pretty close from filling it up and working it out from how much petrol it uses. Not bad for a 27 year old 2.8v6.
I’m lucky that I have very few stops before I get on to the main road so the car does get to cruise pretty quickly.
In BMW with ZF8 autobox, in eco mode it freewheels whenever you let your foot off the accelerator. One of the screens within the idrive shows the mpg you have been doing, and it also shows how far you have freewheeled for.
That's interesting, I didn't know they did that. Is the MPG pretty good on those then?
@@torquecars I get around 44mpg from my 330d. I use eco mode for commuting to and from work. I found it interesting when I connected the Bimmerlink app on my phone, and set one of the displays to show which gear its in, and according to that it keeps it in gear, even when the revs drop to idle while it freewheels. I don't know whether it does or not, or if it disengages some clutches or something within the gearbox to enable the freewheel. It is a seamless transition though, you wouldn't know it was doing it if you didn't look at the rev counter. It does roll for a lot longer and keep more speed up when off throttle in the eco mode with the freewheeling option enabled in the settings compared to the standard comfort or sport mode. It's the first car I've bought with an auto box, but it's really impressed me.
It does rate your eco driving giving you stars for your driving too on one screen. It also tells you when to let off the throttle so that you will be at the right speed when the limit changes coming into towns and villages etc. The display on the dashboard changes from blue to grey when you're not driving economically.
As above I have a m240i and in eco mode free wheeling I get 45mpg on motorways and it’s a 3 litre 6 cylinder ! But give it some beams and I get 20mpg 😂
I am doing 40 mpg on average on my commute (In a VW Bora 2.0 from 2004). When doing mostly highway I can reach 45 MPG. I try to brake as little as possible, mostly using engine braking. I also try to get as quickly to my desired speed as possible without being heavy footed. And I regularly skip fourth gear. BTW: Where I live the highway, speedway, autobahn is called 'snelweg' (The Neterlands).
I'm in Canada and have a Ram 1500 pick-up truck (124 L tank, 8 cylinder). Half a tank does make a difference but not enough to warrant making more frequent trips to the fill-up station. Slip streaming does help but isn't worth the safety compromise. As you said, keeping a constant speed works the best. If I travel at the lowest speed that the truck can get into its top gear, that seems to make the most difference in fuel consumption. However, there is a second sweet spot (from my non-scientific observations). If I increase speed from 80 Kph/50Mph to about 110 Kph/70Mph the fuel consumption seems to go down again. I don't know if this is just wishful thinking on my part but I do see that (slight) reduction when it comes to cost at the pump. Winter and summer driving also make a difference but that is probably more due to warm-up times than anything else.
My story about not using the brakes : for like two years now, my e46 have a flawed disc 🥴 I used to be a heavy breaker since I learned to drive on the track (that’s also why my disc overheated on a downhill). I’m very poor so I still don’t have changed the brake disc, but I learned to drive almost without breaking since the vibrations is awful to feel 😂
I have a 2011 Ford Kuga with the 2.5 petrol Turbo engine, im still on the original front pads only 40% worn and discs at 47,500 miles. I dont rush up to traffic lights or junctions and then slam on my brakes, that has got to be one of the biggest savings on fuel -not to mention maintenance.
I ve got a New Peugeut 408 and for a Petrol MPG is very impressive
I got around 57 Mpg motorway and around 32 mpg stop start traffic
Auto Allows Neutral Gearbox when driving it goes all the way to 8th gear and car does a MPG report on every Trip so you can compare
Don't do pulse and glide in traffic, especially on motorways. Keep a steady speed and be considerate.
To keep a steady pace, I use the speed limiter rather than the cruise control (except motorways, of course, always adaptive cruise control).
With the speed limiter and Toyota's, if the needle is below the first quadrant you can blip the throttle and stay on the electric motor for a while. Else, don't bother and keep your speed up, until the needle falls back down on a low to negative gradient.
As for fuel type (98 / 95), I haven't seen a difference in economy. I put 98 for the moment, the car has 5000km. Will probably switch to 95 after 10000km.
For acceleration types, I use reasonable power to reach the speed, but not full acceleration, of course. 'Brisk' acceleration uses the electric motor, so that's all good. Low acceleration, you spend so much time getting up to speed. I think it's more of a feeling, on CVT, you don't want to stay on an acceleration for long, feels wrong.
This works if you're gonna stay on Electric for a while afterwards. It's about maximizing time on the electric motor. If it's a lot of stop and start, or you gonna stay in the ICE, probably not worth it.
I'm doing under 4.5L country roads and main roads, under 4L (easy) in city, then the rest doesn't really matter, it's a steady whatever on cruise control and it's between 5L to 6.5L, maybe 7L when loaded (motorway). Corolla TS 196.
Good tyre pressures
The latest internet trick I used is going slower on the motorway uphill sections (mostly disabling cruise control) event for shorter climbs. It is very useful in the hilly country sides.
You can make up by going faster when going down. Avoid luging the engine though.
Started doing this many years ago, 60 uphill, 66 on the flat, 69 (is!) downhill......gets me an average of 48mpg on a Sussex to Cornwall run in an Allroad....that'll do.
Another great video and I love that all the techniques and tips called up came with a healthy dose of reality check and pragmatism.
Big picture thinking for me has always been, any driving method that could cause injury or an accident could cost anywhere between your excess or you capacity to earn a living, so everyone needs to just drive safely. Likewise anything that harms the car obliterates the savings in repair costs.
Aussie journalist John Cadogan on Autoexpert also does a great video on this subject, worth checking out.
Thank you torquecars for your great content once again.
Thanks for your kind words. I have learned not to be too dogmatic, there are too many variables out there, I'd much rather tell people the theory and options and let them find what works for them. I've not come across John yet so i will check him out on your recommendation.
@@torquecars yep, you modus on giving us the theory is what I think keeps the more technical car heads coming for more.
You’re in for a treat with John believe me. His engineering is bob-on but it is delivered with a cutting irreverent wit.
I’ve noticed you have to be to close to get benefit of slipstreaming. If you are at a safe distance you’re in a lot of dirty air and you can fill the car moving around.
The TV show called "Myth busters" did an episode on Slipstreaming, they found that it had to be really close tailgating to get the most benefit. Dangerously close in fact.
@ When I was young and daring, I would drift behind semi on a bicycle. You had to get very close and the wind would push you forward.
I have a 2018 Ford escape 1.5 AWD turbo. And I found that if I run 87 or standard gas. My gears when in 1, 2 and 3 are choppy and stutter. Often jerking my car. Cause it automatically uses AWD when at a stop and going again. Now if I use 93 it changes gears more effectively and I don't get it. And my turbo runs better and I feel more power. But my sweet spot i have found is using non ethanol. I noticed the miles per tank. With 87 I get 320 to 340 miles per tank or about 20mpg with my uphill driving and country roads. But with non ethanol I have achieved 24 to 30mpg average. Usually getting about 360 to 400 miles a tank. But it costs $1 more a gallon for 90 non ethanol. I have filled up immediately after my driving of half a tank. And even though I pay $1 more it usually costs me the same amount or less on fill-up. It's odd
I find it bizarre when people use the brake when there are no other cars around or unexpected situations. To me that just signals that they can't plan ahead and that they're a bad and oblivious driver. If there's a roundabout up ahead let go of the accelerator, it's not rocket science.
Rapid acceleration, braking and driving too fast are the big fuel wasters. Other things to consider are low tire pressures, roof racks, carrying heavy weights, open windows.
Got 58mpg from my 2015 1.3L Yaris with CVT,brilliant & smooth. The manual gets worse MPG believe it or not.
Well done buddy.
Don't know why, but my car is never as fuel efficient as many others claim.
Hopefully this video will help me out in some way.
I believed a lot of these myths for much of my driving life. So I just hope I can pass on a few new tips to our subscribers. Let me know if you enjoy it.
Many thanks for the great content on the channel.
A lot depends on your driving style. I always get more than wife in mpg.
I think I need to work on the acceleration @@davidellis8141
You can check Spritmonitor or fuelly to see real world figures for your car, great websites.
I can drive all the way to town (6miles) without using the brakes. Trouble is: I've found with that style of driving, the rear brakes tend to seize up becoming inoperable over time. But I still drive like that, lifting and coasting.
Highway in Poland is Autostrada. Sometimes i skip from 2 to 4 then to 5 and 6th gear. I find it most economical. Mostly city driving 50/70km/h limit(90-100max).
That's interesting I have never heard that one before.
Absolutely agree with everything I heard in this video; however, I did not hear - once again- one very specific thing that I found out myself: the electrical system of a car. Make sure it is working in tip-top condition. Spark plug wires, ignition coils, earth connections, the alternator itself and a healthy battery will help MPG a great deal. I recently replaced coils and spark plug wires in my '99 Alfa Romeo 146 Twin Spark and these alone gave me an extra 4+ mpg. I then added a capacitor to the battery and not only got rid of any - very minor - current and voltage drops but also improved my mpg by a further 2-3. This last thing though goes into "car - modding" but it does help the electrical system and the overall operation of all electrical devices on a car.
For good engine life deactivate the start stop and let your engine idle for 30 seconds before you drive so oil can flow around all the metal parts.
For better fuel economy get rid of the emmision filters and remap the engine to optimise the engine for the extra airflow. Ask the tunner to focus on low down and mid range torque. Engine waists a lot of fuel trying to push exhaust gases through those tiny filters. I gained 10 mpg and 40 hp improving airflow with the CAT EGR & DPF. Next step is lower friction tyres. Goodyear Efficient Performance 2 or Michelin e.Primacy 2 are good. My car went from 50mpg to 64mpg afterwards. It became nicer to drive with more performance, with better mpg than offical figures.
I achieved almost 45mpg from hypermiling my 2008 Renault Clio tce 100 I only used 32 miles of fuel from a 42 mile drive on mostly urban areas with no motorway driving £12 of fuel has lasted me nearly 4 days from half a tank and I only use esso synergy supreme 99, gulf, vpower to get the best out of my Clio tce 100 as it can take 95ron(e10) or 98ron(e5) according to my fuel cap but the engine seems more economical and lively with the e5 stuff I still use redex or stp fuel system cleaners once a month to keep the injectors clean as e5 still contains ethanol which ethanol can lead to clogged up fuel injectors overtime and it doesn’t matter which “cleaning agents” modern fuel has fuel injectors can still get dirty overtime if neglected
Is it a good idea with a automatic transmission to use the Eco indicator for fuel saving but not damaging your engine by using to low Rpm ? It seems that it's counter productive.
I find that avoiding ethanol blended fuels saves MPG.
A tank full of 10% ethanol fuel can drop MPG by 15% in my vehicle. It seems using renewable fuel causes me to use MORE fossil fuel, not to mention the energy used to produce the ethanol. Ethanol has far less energy per gallon when compared to gasoline.
Adding some diesel to the gasoline gives better mileage, as it contains more energy per gallon.
The famous Sweet Spot, yeah!!!!
Motor manufactures used to tune it specifically for constant 56 mph. If you look at a torque curve on an engine it will have a bit of a dip at a specific rpm in the rev range which corresponded with the gearing in top gear for 56mph. This is why a lot of the “gains” you get from remapping is just removing things that the manufacturer has added for fuel efficiency, longevity and safety.
I believe all women know the sweet spot, but 99% of men have no idea. 🙂
@qre268Zrtb Unfortunately you're right, dude!!!
Disabling Regen makes sense if you want that speed and you don't feel like having a feather touch on the accelerator.
Fuel economy is not about constant speed, it's about driving with a steady load and allowing speed to vary. The way you frame things makes a little more sense if you live where it is flat. I'm in Appalachia. Pulse and glide is the way it is with all these mountains. It ruins the fuel economy of those who, for example, insist on cresting the top of a mountain at the speed limit.
As expected, the punchline is: be intelligent. Use the terrain to your advantage and be smooth about it.
Personnally I think braking on the highway/freeway is detestable. Especially there, you really only need it during emergencies
I'v heard that Eco driving has more wear and tear on the pistons in an IC engine!
Good video.
Quick point: if you half fill a 60l tank, you're saving around 22kg, not the full tank's weight. Which helps your point about the cost of travelling to the station.
1:33 that is the point where you have just reached the optimal torque, diesels have this point much lower on the rev scale, another difference is atmosferic vs turbocharged benzin motor.. And you'll reach the BEST possible fuel economy when you keep reaching this point upon driving.. Wanna know where that point is? Run a dyno check 😉
❤ When you accelerate behind another fuel saver
Using an E class 2012 diesel with cruise control on I get 70 mpg I get 51mpg on a 2005 peugeot 407 diesel too
re coasting. On BMW in eco mode if you are not accelerating it will go coast. however when going down hill it will go into gear
It will only go into gear down hill if you brake fairly hard or accelerate
People don’t get the right balance. A reliable car is ur first issue. Not too big and not too small. With a Reliable proven engine again not too big an engine not too small. Easy to service yourself. Solve that first then concentrate on fuel. Use cruise control as much as possible. It will save you points and mistakes. Drive on Motorway at 60mph for best efficiently. Gas on = spending money. Gas off = not much money. So roll to lights and roundabouts. Simple as that.
If you don't use your brakes they'll go rusty seize up and not work very well if you need to use them in an emergency brake you'll crash because they won't work
Gasoline cars struggle a lot a low rpm because of the pumping loss. Throttle valve causes vacuum and that makes a Gasoline engine less efficient. So my car's sweet spot is in between 2,000rpm and 2,500rpm. But my car is stick and every gear speed's ratio is tall. So it is hard to hypermiling stick shift Gasoline vehicles, but I can't resist not driving a manual transmission vehicle.
I have a Bosch ME7.1.1 engine management in my car (VR6 24V) and it will keep injecting fuel under 2000RPM in higher gears even when going downhill. This causes the car to not slow down in high and slow down too much in low gear. I would say it is not the engine management that will do this.
Pulse and glide in manual car could work better at slower speeds. At highway speeds, it's even more pertinent that constant speed reduces air resistance, since air resistance squares with velocity - you'd have to pulse and glide every few seconds, which i assume is not what people are doing (unless they mean pulse and coast?). There'll say they get better mpg than staying right up at the speed limit, which is true, but if they are pulsing to 70mph limit then gliding to 60mph, they'd probably be better cruising at 65mph (or using pulse and glide within a smaller range of 64-66 or 63-67)
There do seem to be some merits to the narrow range pulse and glide method, I am still testing this one out to be sure.
@@torquecars I first tried it on a 1990 fuel injected corolla GTi. I was using max throttle for the pulse, which in retrospect would not have been the most efficient in a car tuned for power (134hp from 1576cc). However, it still gave me good fuel economy doing this. I'm sure it would have been better had I used 2/3rds throttle. It was only a couple of seconds pulse, then 5 seconds glide, if memory serves. And my speed was around 50mph instead of 70+. That's how I increased mpg by 65%
The problem I've found with driving on the interstate I'm traffic while staying a certain distance back so I don't need to break results in someone getting in front of me in that gap. When I get the same distance back from the new car it happens again, rinse and repeat. The drivers in my city just cannot seem to just stay in one lane or stand not being in the fastest lane at all times. I could write a book on how awfully the drivers in my city are.
@@jamesstaggs4160 Everywhere!!!!!!
Horribly in respect of being sensible and respecting traffic flow I think my cars best mpg is about 20mph. It’s a hybrid. Anyway if true, and I’m pretty sure, this could lead to a nightmare outbreak of crawlers!!
I live in the us and drive a car with only 4 speeds. It's an automatic. It really does not like to shift before 2500 rpm under moderate acceleration. Much too high for a large torque engine.
You talk about 1/3 the throttle to be a limit. May be ok when you got the atmosferic engine but any turbocharged one this WILL be an issue sooner or later. Feel free to ask why
I really shouldn't throw out "rules of thumb" there are too many exceptions aren't there. But I encourage people to experiment with their car and see what works best for them. Keeping in the BMEP is the key.
Some really good advice here. I know that it has a bit of a salty image but my IAM obbo would often refer me to looking ahead, planning my route, selecting the right gear and only using the brake when it was really necessary. Something I still do now 25yrs later...
They are probably the single best habits we can form as a driver.
Can you please talk about 1.0 tsi engines
How reliable are they?
There’s not much information out there
They do seem pretty reliable overall, but I don't know that much about them, I really don't get to see that many of them so haven't really got a full picture.
You are right, there is not much out there.
They've been here for years. They seem solid provided you don't push them too hard all the time (you get shitty MPG) and don't drive only short distances (cold engine means water condensation and fuel in oil which causes excessive wear).
How do I save fuel going uphills?
@@NetVorTec get divorced
Don’t wear check trousers and striped socks 12.55.you may not get done for speeding but the fashion police will lock you up.😂
The benefits to slip streaming are for a larger area behind the truck than he assumes so his comparison is incorrect and the insinuation that in order for slip streaming to be beneficial that you've got to be close enough to be a danger is entirely untrue. Mythbusters covered this.
6:49 7:53 17:28 18:12 19:23
In Poland, we call the motorway : autostrada
Older cars will have higher BSFC RPM. My Supra is most economical cruising 3000rpm and up depending on weight in car.
I accelerate briskly and then coast. Coast keeping the car in gear at every opportunity and the fuel shuts off. Accelerating slowly wastes fuel.
60 litres of diesel weighs 50kg… probably not worth trying to save half that to fill up twice as often.
You are right there, I was actually working on the weight of a full 80 litre tank and thinking that you are running at an average of 25% overall whilst you are driving, but it is a minor consideration for most and as I said in the video the extra fill up trips will negate any savings here.
Especially considering the extra weight of the inevitable pasties, drinks etc purchased from the fuel station 'mini mart'
Leave on time and expect delays.
That way you don't have to lose the plot in the real world that doesn't care about your day.
Using the left lane on a "Freeway" I'm in Oz. The problem comes from the idiots that "merge" into 110kph traffic doing 80kph because they think they are driving safely. SMH.
None of this will make any impact on BMW and Audi drivers.
3.7 Liters /100km Audi here 😂😂😂😂
indicating burns fuel so maybe they're not that daft
Oi 😂 I bought a m240i for economy 😂
2015 Audi A3 2.0 TDi here - 44mpg on city roads, 58 on motorway.
1.5 tsi with dsg: sport is better.
I wish someone would tell motorcyclists that everytime they rev their engine it uses a teaspoon of petrol.
What tips? You spent the entire video telling us that getting high MPG is too complicated. I get 40mpg with a Corolla wagon. Given the correct conditions most of these methods discussed have merit.
Women generally don't give a crap about any of this my wife included haha
I find the constant nagging that the car wants me to change to a higher gear annoying. If you do what it wants the engine labours and goes outside the power band.
Neutral and coasting is being dangerous for yourself and the others on top of costing more fuel... brake assist is achieved by vacum from the engine intake, if the engine for whatever reason is not mechanically engaged and stalls, no more brake assist... modern EFI entirely shuts fuel injection while coasting, meaning no fuel is sent in the combustion chamber! so keep a gear in at ALL times! If engine braking is to much for your liking, coast in a higher gear it won't slow you down as much!
The half tank is such a non sense for most of the car production... Should your tank be 120 liters (almost none of us have such tanks...) the fuel density is 0,75 so 50% of 120 liters is 60 liters, 0,75 x 60 = 45Kg... the weight of a child, and as we have more 50/60 liters tanks you save 18,75 to 22,5 kg insignificant in regards to the weight of the car....
Braking is burning energy. So to drive with foresight is the most effective thing you can get good fuel economy.
I also have an example when coasting in neutral got me a bit better fuel economy than being in gear.
It is part of my daily commute route over the highway. There is a part where the highway goes downhill, and you drive around 110-120 kmh there. When I let my car in 6th gear, it slowly decalerates, and I have to give it a bit of throttle. When I'm in neutral, it holds the 120 without a problem.
So I think in situations like those, it might work.
Even though the engine consumes a tiny bit, what becomes more and more negligible at higher speeds, it is less than what it needs to give it a bit of throttle in gear in my situation.
Being in neutral is a very high risk decision. Not recommended.
But keeping the highest gear without accelerating while driving down the hill results in zero fuel consumption.
Yes, braking means lost energy and braking system stress, wearing down pads, rotors etc. - except for the vehicles with regenerative braking.
the dashboard recommendations are trash. My 2015 Golf GTD shows me to upshift to 6th gear even though i was coasting at around 1500 RPM already on a construction on the autobahn. My sweetspot is 1900-2100 ish form where i can floor it without issues to the enige (2.0 TDI)
Drive as if there's an egg between your feet the accelerator and brake pedals .
The footage you have going on at the start of this video, add a traffic light every ~6 seconds. It goes from when I start the car to when I am at the destination. The drive time is ~10 minutes. Eco drive that. edit: brake pads are cheap, clutch is not. Use brakes, that's what they are there for. I don't care whatever he says, he's wrong about this.
When I drive the shite out of my BMW I get the best mileage weird.
The minimised braking game and not lugging the engine are the main things. If you focus too much on efficiency you’ll end up stuck at traffic lights or behind idiots who you’d rather were as far away from you as possible. Plus the inevitable DPF/EGR/whatever other issues you care to think of.
I pay zero attention to my fuel efficiency and still get 60 mpg easily. I laugh at stingy drivers. They’re not saving nearly as much as they think they are but they put so much effort into it. Diminishing returns and all that.
Be sensible, stay safe and enjoy the ride 😉
That is the key, be realistic and keep the traffic flowing but don't go silly with the throttle or brakes.
@@torquecars can confirm this is accurate. I did over 100 miles on A roads the other week. Full throttle pulls off roundabouts and such. Average mpg 61.4. 2.0 diesel hatchback with brutal acceleration. Tire pressures were set to 34/32 F/R iirc. Car is run exclusively on V-power or Esso premium as a backup plan. Zero smoke, can’t even smell anything at idle. Still got the DPF in place, just fitted a new Bosch air filter. Strangely seems to get up to temperature faster with it. Very happy with what I’m getting from the car anyway 👍😎
Turn off all those ECO mode features and Sport mode off, be in the proper gear that doesn't lug the engine on the route you're on, hold the throttle pedal and lightly maintain that throttle pressure once the speed you want is reached, step on the brake pedal lightly as little as possible, drive in the lane that you know won't need you to constantly adjust your vehicle's speed, assume the other drivers is out to ruin your day, maintain your vehicle's maintenance constantly and consistently. Then finally use the proper octane of fuel from a brand that works best with your vehicle.
I almost forgot to mention, if you can comfortabley, close your windows and turn off your vehicle's air condition system.
All these things I mentioned provided me the best fuel economy BUT these tips work the best on an open road. If you're in the crowded city road. Sorry, there's not much you can do to save fuel in that kind of evironment. Just make sure to keep your head on a swivel, there's no gap infront of you for a vehicle to cut you off and keep up with traffic. You'll be happier driving in places like that.
My EV uses virtually no petrol, it’s the way I drive it…
lol, you'll have to share this secret with us one day. (I'm a little worried you said Virtually)
@@torquecars Well, EVs do use massive amounts of fossil fuels to manufacture the cars and to generate the electricity they use…
Comment deleted for asking a question, harsh.
Really? I very rarely ever delete comments, why would I? We need them for the algorithm. The only time a comment is deleted is if it is offensive or foul but these are usually filtered out anyway so i never see them. The moderation queue is empty.
You are not the first to say a comment has not appeared.
Please post up your question and I'll do my best to answer it for you my friend.
No No No ! never tailgate any vechicle especially a HGV. I was following a HGV with a safe distance on a motorway and it changed lane to avoid a stationery van. I had very little time to process the new situation and then change lane safely as I had no visibility of the lane ahead. Dread to think what would have happened if I had decided to tailgate but nothing good would have come from it.
So you are 50?
52 if you want to be precise. Time sure flies.
The assumption that HGVs take more time/distance to break or come to a halt is plain wrong!!! Depending on their load, especially anything younger than 10-15years, is rather likely to brake better or equal compared to most cars at the speeds they commonly go. So no, you really can t assume that the HGV will take more time breaking/coming to a halt than most cars and that s been wrong for a very long time! You also better assume that the HGV isn t fully loaded (most aren t weight-wise) and therefore is likely to brake better than your average car.
Cut a soft compound squash ball in half, super glue it if possible to the accelerator bump stop. This is a great way of saving a little extra fuel. You should still have 3/4 of throttle depending on the design of the accelerator pedal. This restricts how much travel there is in the accelerator by stopping you from flooring it, if you really need full wack press harder to overcome the resistance of the squash ball hence using a soft compound ball.
That is a really interesting tip thanks for sharing.
Or just don't floor it