Ford Fusion Salvage

Nascar: The Origins Of Hypermiling To Save Gas by Garry Betsworth

Believe it or not, Nascar and environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand. The 22,000 seats at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina are made from the recycled seats from the Hornets’ defunct Charlotte Coliseum. The Daytona scoring towers were salvaged from a bankrupt California speedway. The parking lots of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway were made from the old asphalt from the torn-up racing track. You can find recycling bins at all major speedways now as well. Perhaps the best thing to come out of this environmentally-friendly mentality is the hypermiling technique to save gas. It may surprise you to learn that hypermiling driving techniques, which are now popular on city streets and highways, first began with professional speeders. There is much to learn from people whose livelihood depends upon their ability to use fuel wisely.

Hypermiling is a method used to get more gasoline mileage out of your car, whether you’re driving hybrid cars or old gas guzzlers. Many drivers weren’t satisfied with the initial offering of hybrids that got 30 to 45 MPG and were convinced they could do better. However, one beneficial component built into these new vehicles was the fuel economy gauge, which allowed drivers to see what drove down their MPG ratings or picked them up. They began accelerating slower from green lights, coasting to a stop well before the light and changing their driving habits to get as much as 100 MPG. It may surprise you, but many of these same strategies were first used by professional race car drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., who couldn’t afford to run out of gas mid-race.

In June 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. caught flack from critics for coasting past the pace car to hypermile as much as possible, and making it to the end of his Lifelock 400 race just in time to run out of gas. He turned his engine off to coast whenever he could, knowing that the race would be extended past the scheduled 200 laps. “I didn’t know how much they were going to worry about it,” told news reporters. “All the cars out there are gassing it, shutting ‘em off, coasting about a half straightaway, cranking ‘em back up, gas it, coast. Everybody’s doing it.” This hypermiling technique is also known as “pulsing and gliding,” which works by making your engine use fuel when it’s most efficient. Drivers accelerate with lots of throttle and then glide or coast in neutral with the engine off. When the speed begins to drop again, the driver will give the vehicle another pulse on the gas pedal. Experts say this fuel economy technique is not recommended in heavy traffic, but is rather designed for open road driving.

Sure, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is more about getting the checkered flag than conserving fuel and saving the planet. However, the racing world sees a benefit in saving fuel economy. This was especially important during the 1970s oil embargo when fuel was in short supply. The Daytona 500 shortened some of their races in response to the crisis. As the price of gas climbed higher and higher in the new millennium, drivers looked at the hypermiling technique to save gas. Even though sponsors like Sunoco usually pay for the race fuel, there are times when avoiding an extra pit stop can make the difference between first and second place. Thanks to Earnhardt’s stunning victory, hypermiling driving techniques took center stage.

Hypermiling guru Wayne Gerdes found that using the cruise control hypermiling technique to save gas for speeds above 30 MPH, one can increase fuel economy by double-digit percentages. In May 2009, Gerdes, Nascar driver Carl Edwards and five Ford engineers took turns driving stretches of 1,000 miles to break the 2002 hypermiling distance record. They doubled their Ford Fusion Hybrid‘s fuel economy to an average of 80 mpg by driving slower, keeping one guy in the car at a time to minimize the load weight, maintaining even throttle pressure, accelerating slowly, coasting to signals, keeping the AC off, closing the windows and using the pulse and glide technique. There is much to learn from the professionals, especially if it means being able to drive 1,445 miles on just one tank of gas!

About the Author

There are lots of ways to save money when you’re on a budget, but following some fuel saving tips for your vehicle can make a significant impact on your finances. Click here to learn about how to Save Fuel.
2010 Ford Fusion SE – Stock Number 4259 – repairable, damaged, salvage