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Can Your Car Get 1,700 MPG?
Xaroth writes "Given all the hubbub over EPA mileage ratings, I'm a little surprised that this one hasn't come up earlier. SAE apparently holds a contest each year to encourage students to design single-person, fuel-efficient vehicles. This year's winner achieved 1,747.4 MPG, with the press release that tipped me off pointing out that third got a 'measly' 1,194. There are more details on the competition over at SAE's site about the competition. Now, if only they could make these street-legal..." However, even the winner has nothing on top entries we mentioned in Shell's competition a few years back.
When I can buy a car with that kind of effencieny I'll look into it, but until then, a walkin' I a' go.
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It's important to note that MPG has a lot to do with driving style. While my car cannot get 1700 MPG, a bit of predictive driving (i.e. know when to start slowing down, when to build up momentum) will greatly increase the MPG.
Absolutely. My wife gets noticeably lower gas mileage than I do while driving, mainly because of less consistent speeds while driving. (Not a big deal, as she's actually a safer driver than I am anyway, so it all evens out.)
One thing that's a problem is that a lot of people don't actually understand the ways to drive to maximize MPG - drive smoothly, try not to brake as much as possible (just let up off the gas!), and if you've got a manual, make sure you're in the right gear. Most cars are not efficient at low RPMs - cars get best gas efficiency when they're in their power band. So you should strive to make sure that a car's tachometer stays quite high (probably 3000 or higher - try to find the car's torque peak and go a little lower for your own). A car sputtering around town at 500-1000 rpm will get a small fraction of the gas mileage it gets on the highway.
The best way to maximize gas mileage is to pay attention. Experiment - cars are very different. Alter the average speed at which you drive, and record the mileage. Best way to do it.
While I completely agree with everything you said it was still so hopelessly off topic that my only reaction is to think that you are either a retard or a jackass. You see, if you are retarded then you may have trouble comprehending the post to which you replied and may have thought it was about hydrogen fuel cells as a method of solving fuel problems, when in fact it was about the inneffeciency of combustion engines. However, if you AREN'T retarded (and it's doubtful you are) then you MUST be a jackass because you refused to read and think about the post and then respond reasonably.
You are the perfect example of how someone can post a perfectly reasonable, true statement and still look like an asshole.
Apparently you've never been to Boulder, CO. Believe me they're out there, WAY out there.
There's a difference between a generic environmentalist and an envirowacko. Envirowackos tend to be fairly hostile, especially when you disagree with them (think radical/fundamentalist <put word here>).
I'm not saying everyone in Boulder is an envirowacko, but I've met a couple there.