[jdmccright]

The topic of gas mileage is prevalent these days and I'd like to open a thread regarding what techniques people are using to squeeze extra miles out of their tank.

I keep track of my mileage for my commuter '92 Camry. I go abt 70 miles round trip to/from work...50% highway miles, 25% back roads, and 25% city. My baseline was about 26mpg. I rarely use the A/C, then only in the afternoon.

I've started to try a few techniques that those "hypermilers" use to push their cars to the limit and I have to say that there is a difference. I've tried the following:

1) Cruise along in the highest gear possible for as long as possible...that means in O/D and TC locked up...usually at 45 mph and above and light throttle.
2) Shift into neutral and coast down upcoming hills and towards stoplights. I rev the engine up before shifting back into Drive to help minimize slippage and encourage faster TC lock up. I keep my speeds reasonable with the traffic flow...not too fast or too slow.
3) Shut off the engine at longer red lights. I will say that on hills to beware that you'll slowly lose vacuum assist for brakes, so you'll have to press harder to stay put or hold the parking brake.
4) Run the A/C only as long as it takes to cool the cabin down, then turn it off and recirculate the air. The air temp from the registers will stay pretty cool due to the swamp-cooler effect from the condensate that has formed on the evaporator. I use a thermometer to help gauge when it's time to turn it on & off...usually gets uncomfortable above 80 degrees for me.
5) Easy acceleration from red lights and stop signs, especially if there's another one just a block or two away. Why hurry to the next red light?

I do not currently inflate my tires to max sidewall pressure because that promotes uneven tire wear...and rolling resistance is not one of the larger factors. I also noticed an uptick in mileage when I readjusted my timing and cleaned the cap and rotor contacts. As of this writing using these techniques I posted a 30.05 mpg at my last fillup, an improvement of about 15%.

If anyone else has any tidbits they'd like to share, I'm sure we'd all like to hear about it