keep us posted on how you do.

we made a trip to my inlaws this weekend, managed 22.3 over 230 miles, still only 1500 miles on the clock. cruise set at 65.

 

2) Increase tire pressure to max rated on OEM Goodyears.

I'm a firm believer in increasing tire pressure to improve both mpg and tire life but I'm not sure how safe it is to run pressure at the max side wall. I think going to 37-38 at a sidewall rating of 44 psig is probably sufficient.

 

I'm a firm believer in increasing tire pressure to improve both mpg and tire life but I'm not sure how safe it is to run pressure at the max side wall. I think going to 37-38 at a sidewall rating of 44 psig is probably sufficient.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I'm not into risking my life over a couple mpgs.

And I'm not going to go nuts with this. If I need to step on the accelerator, I will! I want this to be something anyone can do with a little patience.

 

I am doing my best to keep engine rpms below 2000 at all times.

Low RPM for cruising is good, but when accelerating it may be better to use more power for less time, rather than drag out the acceleration.

1) I need to remove a bunch of my work material from the Pilot. I'm carrying some extra weight for no reason.

Yes

2) Increase tire pressure to max rated on OEM Goodyears. This should reduce rolling friction slightly. I'll live with firmer ride. Next year when I replace tires, I'll need to consider tire weight and rolling resistance into my buying decision.

Max pressure, min width, hard tread.

3) I need to change air filter...it's due anyway.... high flow version?

Nope, you are going the wrong way. Maybe try a restrictor plate to slow the air down. It will smooth-out the little throttle changes that you make by accident.

4) My next oil change I am going to try the 0W-20 Amsoil synthetic. They claim reduced friction and increased mileage. I'm going to test that claim.

Any 0W20 is fine, AMSOIL is teh Amway of auto supplies, no better, just more expensive.

Any other inexpensive ideas?

Wax the pilot, tape the seams, keep the fuel tank at less than 1/2, take off all accessories, keep the AC off and the windows rolled up. (Us a little AC above 40 and a little window below 40, as absolutely needed), keep electrical use to a minimum, replace all necessary lamps with LEDs or lower wattage bulbs. Remove unneeded bulbs. keep your foot off the gas when starting, shut off if you expect to idle more than about 20 seconds.

Anyone think I can get a true 30mpg over say 300-400 miles? That's my goal.

Easy! Draft a big truck at about 4 to 6 feet!

 

I'm a firm believer in increasing tire pressure to improve both mpg and tire life but I'm not sure how safe it is to run pressure at the max side wall. I think going to 37-38 at a sidewall rating of 44 psig is probably sufficient.

The sidewall MAX is the MAX safe pressure with all margins taken into account. You can probably go higher but I would not.

 

Good stuff. I like the 1/2 tank of fuel idea to drop weight, but then how do I check mileage?

No AC. I'm doing that now, but July-August....forget about it!

LED light bulbs? How much can that possibly impact? Suppose I can't listen to the radio either!

Tape the seams? Door seams? I need to open doors...

 

Good stuff. I like the 1/2 tank of fuel idea to drop weight, but then how do I check mileage?

Only fill when you NEED to check mileage.

LED light bulbs? How much can that possibly impact?

a Watt is a Watt is a Watt, 746 of them add-up to a HP, cruising probably only uses 12 to 20 HP.

Tape the seams? Door seams? I need to open doors...

Tape the ones you don't need.

 

I'd like to know how skinning the underside would help, but I'm not sure how practical it is to do. As the Pilot has good ground clearance, there is a fair amount of air passing underneath. The rough underside is surely creating a decent amount of drag.

 

Only fill up when you NEED to check mileage. Good idea there. I will run the tank down near the warning light every time. This will increase overall mileage and give me a better idea of how changing brands of fuel and things like ethanol and octane levels will impact mileage. Gives me a challenge to see how many miles I can put on one tank too!:2:

If I can increase my overall mileage 20-30% that is like paying $1 less per gallon!!!

One thing I've learned from experience over the years is that in some vehicles the higher octane fuels do give slightly better gas mileage. I know this isn't supposed to be true with the Pilot, but I'm going to test that. Also, it used to be that the cost difference was a much higher percentage of the purchase price. When gas was $2 per gallon, you'd pay $2.10 for 89 octane. Now instead of $4 per gallon you pay $4.10. The cost difference is only 2.5% now versus 5% a few years ago. To break even, the higher octane fuel only has to give you a slight increase in mileage. 0.5-0.6 mpg more is the break even point.

Anyone think 89 octane will give 1 mpg more?

As for the watt is a watt is a watt.... I'll give that some thought. No headlights unless it's dark. How many watts could I save by going LED? I will however continue to listen to the radio....maybe turn it down though and listen through just the front speaker.

 

Keep a good distance between yourself and the person in front, use a buffer to avoid braking and speed changes. I guess if you are already driving 60mph on the highway you probably don't have to think about this much.

In traffic, people accelerate/brake/accelerate/brake, etc., and they burn a lot of fuel this way. In traffic, you WILL drive the average speed of your lane, but if you keep a constant speed as close as you can to the average speed, you'll save gas. So when they accelerate in front of you, you just let the gap open up a bit, try to time it so that when they brake, you're still getting there, and by the time you catch up to them, they are off accelerating again, and you haven't had to brake. Its conservation of the momentum of your vehicle.

You'll have people turn into the gap in front of you, but so what, you just lose exactly the time it takes for you to travel one car length.

This is actually very hard to do but it is a little fun and becomes something of a challenge. People don't seem to get too irritated from behind, they just pass, and then of course they don't get anywhere any faster.

Man, I'm starting to sound old. :roadtrip:

 

Keep a good distance between yourself and the person in front, use a buffer to avoid braking and speed changes. I guess if you are already driving 60mph on the highway you probably don't have to think about this much.

In traffic, people accelerate/brake/accelerate/brake, etc., and they burn a lot of fuel this way. In traffic, you WILL drive the average speed of your lane, but if you keep a constant speed as close as you can to the average speed, you'll save gas. So when they accelerate in front of you, you just let the gap open up a bit, try to time it so that when they brake, you're still getting there, and by the time you catch up to them, they are off accelerating again, and you haven't had to brake. Its conservation of the momentum of your vehicle.

You'll have people turn into the gap in front of you, but so what, you just lose exactly the time it takes for you to travel one car length.

This is actually very hard to do but it is a little fun and becomes something of a challenge. People don't seem to get too irritated from behind, they just pass, and then of course they don't get anywhere any faster.

Man, I'm starting to sound old. :roadtrip:

As I have said many times.

Drive like your brakes don't work well and are very expensive to use.

 

Next year when I replace tires, I'll need to consider tire weight and rolling resistance into my buying decision.

GY Integrities are already a very light-weight tire and not a very good tire for an SUV. There may be lighter tires out there, but imho tires are such an important part of the overall safety of the vehicle that I would not compromise there. Michelin Cross Terrains are very good tires and are pretty much the same weight as the Integrities. Higher inflation will definitely help but there are diminishing returns after a certain point so don't go crazy there either. I only have a limited amount of patience so I only go hypermiling in my lightened Miata about every year or two--couple of times I've managed 40 mpg. I long for the days of 60 mpg in my '79 Diesel Rabbit.

 

I have an '06 FWD with the Generation I VCM iVtec engine.

I got 27 mpg on a full tank of gas on a trip through IA, MO, and OK (generally flat). I made an extreme conscious effort to keep the ECO light on whenever possible. I tried to drive about 60 and I would let speed drop (but usually not below 45) going up grades to keep the ECO light on. I could keep it on for 90% of the time if I tried. The family was sleeping so I had to do SOMETHING to stay awake!

It took so much concentration and effort that I could only do it for one tank. It was curiosity--not necessity!

In my normal highway driving, I tend to get in the 20-24 range, depending on driving speed.

 

Re: Re: Hyper-mileage Honda Pilot

I long for the days of 60 mph in my '79 Diesel Rabbit.

A friend from high school put a turbo kit on one of those and the highway mileage was insane!

 

Re: Re: Re: Hyper-mileage Honda Pilot

A friend from high school put a turbo kit on one of those and the highway mileage was insane!

You mean it was more fuel efficient?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Hyper-mileage Honda Pilot

You mean it was more fuel efficient?

I think he was getting in the high 40's before and got mid 60's after.
Of course it had the acceleration of turtle before and a turtle on speed after!

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hyper-mileage Honda Pilot

I think he was getting in the high 40's before and got mid 60's after.
Of course it had the acceleration of turtle before and a turtle on speed after!

No acceleration whatsoever! But remember when you argued with me that a turbo could not improve overall efficiency on the same engine?

 

I have an '06 FWD with the Generation I VCM iVtec engine.

In my normal highway driving, I tend to get in the 20-24 range, depending on driving speed.

Same engine '07, measured over about 2,000 miles, 23.5 (obviously a fair amount of highway in that). Didn't kill myself to do it either but I kept the speed reasonable, generally 65-70.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hyper-mileage Honda Pilot

No acceleration whatsoever! But remember when you argued with me that a turbo could not improve overall efficiency on the same engine?

I think we were discussing a gas engine.

And do you have our thread in some hyperlinked database for easy access, or do you have twisted form of photographic memory?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hyper-mileage Honda Pilot

I think we were discussing a gas engine.

And do you have our thread in some hyperlinked database for easy access, or do you have twisted form of photographic memory?

Nope, Diesel. Some people say the latter, but I actually disagree with the whole notion of photographic memory. Apologies to ejthomp for temporarily highjacking your hypermiler thread.

 

I think if they had a tool like the scangauge, except that instead of just measuring average MPG, it kept data about your MPG that was tied to the speeds you were driving. So over the last 5,000 miles you could see, what MPG you got when going 45-50 MPH, vs the MPG when you were going 50-55, etc.

Actually, if the dashboard displayed average MPG on little LCDs right next to each speed, I bet people would slow down! How long would you drive with the speedometer pointing at 80 mph if next to it you saw you average 16 MPG at that speed, and you look a couple of notches below, at 65 MPH, you saw you could be getting 24 MPG?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hyper-mileage Honda Pilot

Nope, Diesel. Some people say the latter, but I actually disagree with the whole notion of photographic memory. Apologies to ejthomp for temporarily highjacking your hypermiler thread.

If you say so, because I have learned not to argue with your bizarre memory, but I don't recall discussing turbo diesels with you.

 

. . . How long would you drive with the speedometer pointing at 80 mph if next to it you saw you average 16 MPG at that speed, and you look a couple of notches below, at 65 MPH, you saw you could be getting 24 MPG?

Except the difference is not that great.

And even if it was.

500 miles at 24 MPG at $4 a gallon = $83
500 miles at 15 MPG at $4 a gallon = $125
Savings $43

500 miles at 65 MPH = 7 Hrs 41 Min
500 miles at 80 MPH = 6 hrs 15 min
Savings 1 hr 26 min

Cost/savings for slowing down $30 an hour (Remember, the MPG figures we started with are wild guesses. If a car gets 24 at 65, it is still probably above 20 at 80)

500 miles at 24 MPG at $4 a gallon = $83
500 miles at 15 MPG at $4 a gallon = $100
Savings $17

500 miles at 65 MPH = 7 Hrs 41 Min
500 miles at 80 MPH = 6 hrs 15 min
Savings 1 hr 26 min

Cost/savings for slowing down $11.86 per hour

Now take those numbers and divide them by the number of people in the car. Unless your time is darn near worthless driving faster is the best economic choice.

As I have said MANY TIMES, gas is too cheap when you compare its cost to its value!:4:

 

As I have said MANY TIMES, gas is too cheap when you compare its cost to its value!:4:

I can appreciate that idea. I drive nearly 100 miles per day (but not with my Pilot!) so those small differences DO add up a bit for me.

I have done some simple tests with my Mazda 3 which I drive for daily commutes. The big difference in mileage for me is speed (much like with the Pilot). Final drive ratio (RPMs) shows a generally linear inverse relationship between RPMs and mileage (as you'd expect):

This is a for a 2.0L 5spd manual Mazda 3i (in 5th gear)

60 mph (2700 rpm) - 38 mpg
65 mph (2900 rpm) - 36 mpg
70 mph (3050 rpm) - 34 mpg
75 mph (3200 rpm) - 32 mpg*
80 mph (3500 rpm) - 30 mpg

*hypothetically you might know how fast I drive, because this is my usual mileage!

I've never done this for my Pilot since I don't get to drive it much, but I bet it would show similar trends.

I wish my 3 had a "granny gear" --6th gear so I could get better mileage at highway speeds. If they had 6th gear (or differently geared 5th), the car probably couldn't maintain cruise control on large hills, however.

The Pilot could also do with another gear if they really wanted to improve mileage. My buddy as a 2000 Z28 with a 350 and he gets 34mpg on the highway because his 6th gear at 80mph only turns the engine at 1000 rpm!!! (basically idle!)

 

There was a program on CNN last week about gasoline costs and hypermiling. Here are the transcripts from that program.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0806/01/se.07.html

In short, he took a stock issue Honda Accord and gets 50 mpg from it. He shuts off the ignition at most every opportunity, uses his brakes as little as possible, plans 3 intersections ahead on his driving, stays the speed limit and drafts big trucks whenever possible and installed a gas mileage scan tool. His techniques improved the reporter's GMC Yukon XL by 30%, though admitting the Yukon really isn't set up for high mileage city driving.

I am curious what your techniques will do in your Pilot...keep us apprised. And as to keeping only a half tank of fuel, which I think is a good idea, to record mileage, fill the tank, record the mileage and number of gallons you put in on the partial re-fills. At some future point fill the gas tank full, subtact the initial odometer reading, then divinding the total number of gallons you have put in on your fill-up and interim stops in between to record your mileage.