How to get more KMs out of your car (Pt 2)

Hi again... hope you found yesterday's tips useful. As promised, today we continue on the 2nd and final part of the tips.

• Tip #4 - Beware the bling - Bro / Girl, if you gotta pimp your ride, then forget about fuel economy. The power amps you use to drive those huge sub-woofers and speekers draw a lot of current... and current comes from the alternator (i.e. dynamo) which draws power from your engine... and yes, hits your fuel economy. LCDs and all your multimedia gadgetry look great for your ICE but adds more weight for your car to carry.

• Tip #5 - Plan your trip - Short trips with loads of start-stop situations burn up fuel unnecessarily. Putting some thought to where you are going, when and how makes a difference. You not only save on fuel, you'll see your blood pressure lowering too!
  
  

1. Is your 'usual' route the most efficient route? In the past you may have avoided the shortest way because you had to pay toll. Now, relative to the fuel increase, would it be cheaper to just fork out the dough than to be stuck burning fuel in a crawl for another 20 mins?



2. Must you go at that time of the day? Would going earlier or postponing it to a non-rush window be possible? What can you juggle around to make that happen?
   
   
3. Combine your multiple runs to the nearby sundry store or for your errands.... make a list of stuff and just go there once for all the things you need. Once you get into the hang of it, you'll find yourself being more proactive instead of leaving it till you're at your last teaspoon of sugar before you make that mad dash to the minimart. Then you get home and you realize actually you needed some soy sauce too!! 'AARGH!??!' right?
   
   
4. Read the map before you get on the car. Have a mental picture of where you want to go first, then drive. Stopping by the road and figuring out your route is not only fuel inefficient, its dangerous!!!
   

• Tip#6 - Beware your habit - Some of the pefectly innocent habits we have actually cost os money. Changing them doesn't cost a cent but helps reduce your fuel consumption.
  

1. Air conditioning -- Mow many of you have the settings at full blast by default? Achieving the maximum cooling in the shortest time is one thing... but maintaining it there throughout the journey is the real fuel killer. But if you really *must* have it at the higher setting just to feel cool... you might want to have the air-cond guy look at it to be sure its running properly.
   
   
2. Waiting -- Make a trip to Damansara Uptown or Taipan or any busy commercial area, and you'll see plenty of people waiting patiently in their car. The engine would be running and of course so is the aircond. Every litre of fuel burnt in that manner does ZERO to your fuel efficiency. Instead, switch off, get out of the car and find a nearby shady spot to wait.
   
   
3. Parking -- We all love to be able to park right at the mall entrance... but at what cost? Lots of us are willing to sacrifice a lot of fuel to wait for someone to vacate a spot. Instead, park somewhere further and walk. You're not just doing your pocket a favour, you're helping reduce greenhouse gases... you're helping save the world!
   
   
4. Checking -- Our standard procedure is to start the engine the moment we get in. Deos it matter that we actually still need to fasten seatbelts, look 3 times in the vanity mirror, adjust our clothes, put on makeup, holler at the kids at the back first? How about if did all of that first, then switch on the engine? OK, Ok, we all want the cool comfort of the aircond when doing all of that..... right....

• Tip #7 - Set personal targets - Go ahead, do a benchmark. See how far you're going with a full tank today. And then, tell yourself you want to get 10% more out of that tank. There's nothing like a target to motivate you to really do something. Of course you don't have to do the steps below if you dont want to. You can just get straight to hypermiling today -- but you won't know how much that is actually saving you.

1. Have a small note pad and pencil in your car.
   
2. Reset the trip meter the next time you fill up and leave that trip meter running.
   
3. The next time you fill up again, not down the distance covered and the amount you have to pump in.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3.
   
5. After a while, you'll have an idea how many KMs to a liter you're making. Don't worry about accuracy and the amount your pump. After a few cycles, the figures will average out.
6. Then start hypermiling... and see what works and doesn't work for you and your fuel economy.

I'd encourage your to do more reading about this subject before starting. As a start, you can check out these links:

- Hypermiling FAQ and then, the technique
- 105 tips on eco-driving
- Whys and Hows to Hypermile (forum)


DISCLAIMER: I personally do not agree with nor recommend all the techniques taught by hypermilers. Some 'advanced' techniques (which I didn't want to cover above) can be dangerous although they do yield extra mileage.

e.g. Just so you know what to look out for...

• Drafting -- following very closely to the car in front to piggy-back on the aerodynamic airflow
• Pulse and Glide -- accelerate to a target speed then switching off your engine and gliding on neutral gear (and starting it back on to accelerate again once you've dropped below target)
  
• Significantly over inflating the tires -- not only do you tend to lose too much grip, any bumps and potholes will be bad for your suspension and comfort
  
• Forgetting that you're NOT driving alone -- Hypermiling (usually involves driving slower than others) without regard to the traffic flow can not only be annoying to other drivers, it can also be dangerous (picture yourself doing 70km/h on a 110km/h stretch)

So have fun, drive safe and start saving some $$ :)

How to get more KMs out of your car (Pt 1)

Crude prices have fallen to USD 106 (from US 147 a few months ago), after hurricane Gustav blew over with minimal havoc. While this is a much welcomed reprieve, people around the world are still nervous that the slightest crisis or weather even around the corner will trigger another sharp increase in oil prices.

Fuel economy - its still very much the in-word today. Everybody's talking about how to get their cars to run longer with every small fortune we spend on filling up our tank.

Peddlers touting all manner of fuel saving devices and additives have ramped their sales campaigns and are making a killing. In my previous post on this subject, I'd shown you studies that show that none of these products work anywhere near as claimed. In short, they're all a bunch of crap.

There are, however, real and proven ways you can increase your car's fuel efficiency. Its got to do with the way you drive and the way you maintain your car. The buzzword is hypermiling. The best thing about hypermiling is that, most of the time, practising it does does not require you spending a single cent -- yep, its practically free fuel!

You can use hypermiling techniques on all kinds of vehicles and still see positive results.

Here are some simple tips that anybody can start... all it takes is some practice and a lot of discipline.

These tips below can be practiced quite safely as it does not require any fancy (read: dangerous) jiggling or tampering with the car. However it always pays to be careful when doing anything new. Considering this involves cars, highways and relatively high speeds, please be careful, read and understand, then experiment!

• Tip # 1 - Prep your car -- There are 2 very easy things you can do which are FREE, and another one which is relatively cheap to do.
  

1. Inflate your tire to slightly (10%) above spec. This helps lower rolling resistance and improves fuel economy. Do NOT over inflate as that causes you to lose road grip, and, hard tires can spoil your suspension.
   
   
2. Clear your car off junk. Check your boot... how many things you have in it do you really need? The more non-essential things you get your car to carry, the more fuel it burns. Other things to look out for... that Thule box on top of your MPV; the bicycle rack on top or behind your car; your kangaroo bar; half-used bottles of engine oil; the 'still ok' wipers you refuse to throw away... and the list goes on... you'll be surprised what has accumulated at the back over the years.
   
   
3. Service your car to specs. A poorly maintained engine (engine oil, fuel and air filter, spark plugs, ignition and timing, air-conditioner) can easily cause you an extra 10% to 20% in fuel to run. Changing to a lower viscosity engine oil (e.g. SAE 5 or 10 - 40) helps too.
   
   
   
   

• Tip #2 - Find your car's fuel-economic 'sweetspot' What is the most efficient cruising speed of your car? Consult your car manual (it is typically around 75-95km/h). Drive at that speed as much as practical. When climbing hills, its usually a good idea to ease off the pedal, aim for the RPM 'sweetspot' instead (that's when the engine turns more easily) as this is more efficient going uphill. Once you're up the hill, lift off the pedal and coast down to recover the 'lost' fuel spent in climbing up.
  
  

• Tip #3 - Drive 'gently'; anticipate and respond -- accelerate slowly to your target speed. Hard accelleration only burns up fuel unnecessarily. Hard braking then eliminates all that momentum you burnt so much fuel to get. Look ahead and start easing off the pedal once you know you have to slow down or eventually stop. If your car has a fuel consumption meter (shows km/l consumption), make full use of it. You'll find yourself rewarded with higher fuel economy figures as you start paying attention to this meter and drive less aggressively.

There's this guy who says he is 'as one' with his car... he drives with his bare right foot so he can feel every slightest presser on the pedal. He also 'knows' from the engine sound and vibration when the engine is running optimally or is under too much exertion (i.e. not running efficiently). As a result, he is actually able to beat the fuel consumption figures published in his car manual! And he is not alone...

• Tip #3 - 'Upgrade' your care wisely - Some folks love spending money on their cars. There are those who spend on performance, and others who spend on 'looking like there is performance'. Forget all those performance enhancements if you are looking for fuel economy.
  

1. If you want more power (think: re-chipping, turbo, spark plugs, manifolds and extractors etc), you will get it, but by burning a lot more fuel.
   
   
2. If you want better tire grip, you get it by having expensive softer and wider tires which again burn more fuel, and wear out faster. Having harder suspension and better brakes don't burn more fuel by themselves ... but they do encourage you to drive a lot more aggressively.... which then burns more fuel
   
   
3. If you want more down-force, the well-tuned fairings, side skirts all help at that...and again you burn more fuel.
   
   
4. The fake performance parts are even worse... they cost you money, do nothing for performance and *still* causes you to burn more fuel... go figure!

If you must spend on your car, consider putting on a good tinting film. Choosing the right film is good investment as it has a 3-fold effect:

(a) Rejects heat and helps lower your cooling cost (save fuel)

(b) blocks out UV rays to slow down the fading and damage to your dashboard and everything else in the car (increase 2nd hand care value)

(c) gives some level of safety and security -- the lamination prevents shattered glass from flying all over; and protects you to a degree if there is impact.

Continued tomorrow - another 4 fuel saving tips in Pt 2

Robot Trivia #1 - The answers and results

The 'contest' is over, finally! And wow, what a non-event. :(

(Alton, Mr Gundam, where art thou?)

Looks like either the robots I'd picked are way too obscure, or this subject is just not your cup of tea. I'm seriously wondering if I should go through with part 2!?!? That's meant to be slightly more challenging ... i.e. likely more obscure!

Anyway, a MILLION THANKS to those of you who participated. Hope it was fun for you. Unfortunately (or may be, fortunately), nobody was geek enough to get all of the questions right... but there were a few good attempts. I'll announce the 'winner' at the end of this post.

But in the mean time, for those of you who are dying to know just what or who those familiar-looking characters are, but can't quite place them, here they are again, in the same order...

#1 - Astroboy by Osamu Tezuka... came out as a comic (manga) in the 50's and then had his own cartoon series (anime) in the 60's... look out for the brand new CGI movie in theaters near you in the future.




#2 - B9 from the 60's SciFi TV series, Lost in Space.




#3 - Cylon Centurion from the 80'x TV series, Battlestar Gallactica. Remember, the constant pain in the rear for Starbuck (the pilot, not the coffee joint) and Apollo?




#4 - Commander Data, from Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series. He was the logic-driven advisor to Captain Picard as Spock was to Captain Kirk (original Star Trek TV series).




#5 - The Daleks, bad guys from arguably the most successfuly British sci-fi TV serial, Dr. Who. Its also *the* longest-running sci-fi TV serial in the world. Their favourite word: Exterminate!




#6 - ED-209, the highly-lethal but buggy law enforcement droid (i.e. 'ED') in Robocop. As dumb and as clumsy as they may be, you still won't want to mess with those 2 pairs of machine guns!




#7 - Aah... the Fembots from Austin Powers... I think these ladies pack both a pair of machine guns and flame-throwers! Gentlemen, you 'd want to be very careful with them!!




#8 - The Iron Giant, from the full-length movie of the same name. I didn't expect many to get it right... but if you love a good movie with 'soul', and don't mind feeling soppy at the end, this is the show, you *must* see this movie! The director is Brad Bird -- same guy who did the Incredibles and Ratatouille!!




#9 - Johnny-5 from Short Circuit, the military robot that achieve self-awareness when he got his circuits zapped by lightning. Doesn't Wall-E look similar to him?




#10 - An obscure robot from an equally obscure movie. This is Marvin, the clinically depressed and pathologically paranoid robot from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That movie was almost as brilliant as the original BBC radio series, but sadly didn't do well at the box office.




#11 - Mazinga-Z (マジンガーＺ）... or Tranzor Z to the North Americans. Created by Go Nagai, and had its fair share of popularity as both a manga and anime TV series in the 70's.




#12 - Megatron, in his original form from the first of many Transformers TV series. Leader of the Decepticons, the bad guys who always almost kick the butts of the softie good guys, the Autobots.

OKAY, so there you have it, all 12 of the robots, named and shamed! :)

And the WINNER IS ROBOTBOY (yay, yay, cheer!!!) He/she didn't get all of them right... but frankly, I think I liked some of the alternate names given as answers... bubblehead, LOL!


Should I still continue with Part 2 soon? Would the world care? Would it help achieve world peace and fight world hunger? Naah.... it would just be pointless but fun -- for me, at least!

I should probably get back to blogging about some useful tech in the mean time.... Cheers!