GET 50+ MPG with your versa.

[AZhitman]

find a facebook page or something, it's sure to be comedy!

Better. I got the temp plate # off his POS Bimmer. Useless to some, pure gold to someone in my profession.

[srellim234]

As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maROON!" I see on another forum he was selling the same V8 he told us he was getting 28 mpg because he could only get 20 mpg out of it. He's impressive at fabricating stuff, isn't he?

I especially liked his reasoning that coasting in neutral is safe because you can't tie an elephant to a parking meter in Florida without sticking a coin in the meter. Very creative. We don't even see the likes of that type of reasoning in the political forum!

[AZhitman]

I didn't even get into the discussion over the Scangauge... it's really a trinket, a toy... of no real use to a hardcore hypermiler. In fact, most people don't accurately calibrate them, and even when they do, there's some software limitations that render any long-term testing useless. You can't even datalog with it.

Plus, it doesn't conserve fuel, it just tells you how you're doing - You're gonna get what you get. Period.

That $200 could have bought 81.63 gallons of fuel here in Phoenix. At 50mpg, that's almost 4,100 miles of FREE driving he pissed away. Oops. Way to go, dumbass.

Wasteful kids and their electronic contraptions, I swear.

[float_6969]

FACT: Most, if not all, vehicles with ELECTRONIC fuel injection built since the mid 80's have incorporated some sort of fuel-cut when the throttle is closed over a certain RPM (generally around 2K RPM).

FACT: Coasting in gear uses no fuel in these vehicles.

FACT: Coasting while idling uses fuel.

FACT: You can coast much farther in neutral than you can in gear.

FACT: If you coast in neutral with the engine off, you'll get better gas mileage than you will coasting with the engine on the transmission in gear.

FACT: If you coast in neutral with the engine off, you'll get better gas mileage than you will coasting with the engine on and the transmission in neutral.

FACT: Engine load increases marginally when the clutch is depressed due to the minor increase in friction due to the effort required to spin the crank against the thrust washer and the throw-out bearing. This is where the increased fuel consumption he see's on his gauge comes from. This load is ONLY applicable when the clutch is depressed.

MIGHT BE A FACT: Coasting in gear with the engine on gets better gas mileage than coasting in neutral with the engine on.

MIGHT BE A FACT: Coasting in neutral with the engine idling gets better gas mileage than coasting in gear with the engine on.

Obviously the last two are what we're talking about here. The main question is this; does the increased distance traveled when coasting in neutral vs. coasting in gear overcome the fuel used idling the engine?

My personal hypothesis is that the result will vary from vehicle to vehicle, and I could believe either to be true.

[srellim234]

And FACT: Citing safety concerns, coasting while in neutral is now against the law in many states.

[AZhitman]

The main question is this; does the increased distance traveled when coasting in neutral vs. coasting in gear overcome the fuel used idling the engine?

Which, incidentally, I addressed earlier in this thread.

But young Cris was too busy whacking off with his Scangauge to read any of it.

[float_6969]

Define neutral? I'm sorry, but I just can't get my head around the safety concerns on the neutral thing. What if I coast with the clutch in and it's in gear? Isn't it the same thing? If not, why? Is it more dangerous than speeding?

[AZhitman]

Yeah, I don't care so much about that... I do it myself, honestly. It's unenforceable anyway.

The point is, there's some things that are just not worth doing to save a nickel a week on gas.

[srellim234]

The safety issue is most easily explained by Mike Allen at Popular Mechanics. From his July 29, 2010 column:

"I've said, on the record, many times, that it's a bad idea to coast downhill or up to a stop sign in neutral. It's unsafe. You need to be able to use the accelerator to avoid an unexpected road hazard; cars don't handle well in neutral during sharp cornering maneuvers when the engine isn't connected to the drivetrain. "

With the clutch in, you just have to release the clutch pedal to engage the gears to avoid an unexpected road hazard. The car would still be technically in a gear based on the gear shift position. I think that would be much safer (quicker) than having to physically move the shifter from neutral and find drive on an automatic or physically depress the clutch and move the stick into a gear on a manual transmission.

Apparently there was enough documentation showing the difference in response times and/or handling issues to pass the laws in the various states. I found out, too, that at least in some of their owners manuals Subaru and BMW warn against coasting in neutral.

My gripe with MPG on this specific point was that he was advocating breaking the law to save a few pennies on gas. My suggestion was to get the evidence and work on getting the laws changed if he felt the law wasn't correct or justified. We have a social and societal responsibility to respect the law and not merely ignore the ones we don't like.

[Bubs daddy]

At the end of the day, you drive a Versa. I'd rather have my head crushed by an elephant.

LOL

[AZhitman]

^ No offense to present company, of course...

[iluvmyVersa08]

Why can't people just buy a car and drive it? Who cares what the MPGS are! Just get in the car, give it gas and have some fun driving this little go cart. If they want good MPGS buy a smart.

[srellim234]

I agree. I you want really good gas mileage, buy a bicycle. Healthier, too.

Some hypermiling techniques do make sense and save gas. I was reading one discussion, however, that was debating the pros and cons of hypermiling as it relates to saving gas and the environment overall. The argument was that the slow starts and sub speed limit driving actually waste gas overall due to the amount of extra gas other people use getting around the hypermiler.

I drive very conservatively but I'm not nuts about it.

[Mikiee]

How many more months will this pissing match continue?

[srellim234]

This thread's only been going less than two weeks. The argument was over one particular facet of hypermiling which is illegal, determined to not save gas by those who know how fuel injected engines work. In defending his position someone violated the TOS and was banned from the forum. No "pissing match" is going on any more.

Exactly what are you referring to?

[wingFeather]

Magazine racers...

[Bubs daddy]

Why can't people just buy a car and drive it? Who cares what the MPGS are! Just get in the car, give it gas and have some fun driving this little go cart. If they want good MPGS buy a smart.

ILMV gets it.

[EZcheese15]

Wow, this guy is retarded. Page EC-38 from the FSM:

"FUEL SHUT-OFF
Fuel to each cylinder is cut off during deceleration, operation of the engine at excessively high speeds or operation
of the vehicle at excessively high speeds."

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/versa/2010/EC.pdf

and the English language:

de·cel·er·ate 
verb (used with object)
1. to decrease the velocity of: He decelerates the bobsled when he nears a curve.

coast
verb (used without object)
9. to continue to move or advance after effort has ceased; keep going on acquired momentum: We cut off the car engine and coasted for a while.

[AZhitman]

Wow, this guy is retarded. Page EC-38 from the FSM:

"FUEL SHUT-OFF
Fuel to each cylinder is cut off during deceleration

I tried.

He was more interested in showing everyone his Scangauge.

Wait - I think I have a picture of him after he found out his Scangauge was useless... I'm not sure, but I think he ripped it out of the dash and found a new use for it.

[Codelicious]

By the way, you drive a Versa - You're never gonna get laid.

Unless you are me.

[iluvmyVersa08]

Why can't people just buy a car and drive it? Who cares what the MPGS are! Just get in the car, give it gas and have some fun driving this little go cart. If they want good MPGS buy a smart.

ILMV gets it.

[wingFeather]

Oh hi! Is this thread still alive?

[NODES]

You want good fuel economy in the Versa then get a Scanguage....your fuel economy will go through the roof within the first day.

[Ferrofab]

On the subject of "coasting in neutral" being against the law. This law was probably (almost certainly) enacted due to truckers. It is a safety issue for large trucks and the old "straight cut" gears. I worked as a truck mechanic around 1970 (White semis with Cummins engines) and I can tell you that sometimes if you get the transmission in neutral while driving, it can be impossible to get it back into gear without coming to a complete stop. Dave Dudley's song "Six Days on the Road" refers to having a "Georgia Overdrive". That means coasting in neutral going downhill. Now you know why some steep hills have signs telling truckers to "use lower gears" or even making the trucks come to a complete stop before starting down the hill (West Virginia Turnpike? Somebody check me out on this). The old Saab cars used to have a sprague clutch that would allow "freewheeling" - yep, that is coasting in neutral even with transmission engaged. You had a lever that would allow you to defeat freewheeling, but usually you just let it do its thing.

Bottom line is that the law was primarily intended for trucks. My former 1999 F-150 would damn near freewheel going downhill when overdrive was selected (which was most of the time). Deselect OD and you could feel the "holdback" quite significantly.

[AZhitman]

^ VERY interesting! Thanks for the info!

[Francesco]

....The old Saab cars used to have a sprague clutch that would allow "freewheeling" - yep, that is coasting in neutral even with transmission engaged. You had a lever that would allow you to defeat freewheeling, but usually you just let it do its thing....

The old Saab cars with the 3 cylinder 2 cycle engine with the oil mixed into the gas had to freewheel especially going downhill otherwise the engine would get damaged due to no gas-oil mix being supplied because the throttle was shut and no oil was being delivered. Later 2 cycle models had a separate oil tank and a mixing system that always supplied oil to the engine for lubrication. Problem finally went away when they switched to 4 cycle engines.

Frank
2009 Versa S sedan MT-6 with 16600 mi