How to Hypermile by Coasting

When faced with fluctuating gas prices, saving money driving is of the up-most importance, and that’s why it’s beneficial to hypermile. Hypermiling is a way of raising your car’s fuel ecomony, while reducing its fuel consumption. There are many hypermiling techniques used in different driving scenarios. People hypermile differently depending on their vehicles, preferences and comfort levels. This article will offer simple hypermiling tips used in smaller stick-shift vehicles, such as the 5-speed Scion.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Start to hypermile by coasting. Accelerate to about 3 on the tachometer, then shift into neutral and take your foot of the gas pedal. Coast until you sense the momentum slow. At that point, put the clutch back in 5th gear (or whichever is needed) and give a little more gas to regain your hypermile coasting speed.

2. Hypermile on hilly roads whenever possible as it gives your more coasting opportunities. Accelerate when you first start going down the hill, then shift into neutral and hypermile the rest of the way, coasting as far up the next hill as you can get without losing momentum. Then shift back into gear to give you enough power to begin the coast.

3. Improve your hypermile techniques by gradually increasing your coasting distance to stop signs and red lights. You will be amazed at how far you can go without gas. Also, when you gradually slow down, you use less of your brakes!

Tips & Warnings

• Never try hypermile techniques that feel dangerous. I do NOT recommend turning off your engine when hypermiling, nor do I recommend trailing closely behind large vehicles to lessen the air drag.