Its been a while since I have had a chance to update my blog and a lot has changed since my last post. The trusty 306 has been sold and has been replaced by our already owned Citreon Xara Picasso 1.6 Petrol "boat". Long gone are the days of 60+ MPG and FAS its time to prove that even a heavy, underpowered and brick like "boat" can also see significant gains from Hypermiling.

When my partner was using the Picasso she was retuning about 35-37 MPG round town. She had no idea about Hypermiling and frankly could not give a monkeys. The book give the following figures Urban 29.7 - Extra Urban. 47.1 - Combined. 38.7. The roads that I travel on are not only very slow and twisty but they have a lot of stopping and starting, putting it in the Urban(ish) range.

For those that have read my previous blog posts you will not that I managed to squeeze over 55MPG from the boat on a long day trip into deepest Grimsby. I am very proud to report that using only techniques from this site and no FAS I am managing 52 MPG from the Citreon on a daily basis. Thats an improvement of about 49%!!!!

With petrol being cheaper than diesel it is actually costing me the same per mile to run as the 306 was and I'm not driving round in a unreliable, poorly built, French rot box that can fail at any moment... agh.... I'll get back to you on that one.

Having never really driven our Picasso on a long trip I was quite sure that Hypermiling was not going to work well on the "family boat", especially when we were 5 up in the mid day heat. Having made my point about not having the air con on we set off up the A1 to Grimsby (about 80 miles away). The "boat" normally returns about 37/40MPG with my partner driving and I was determined to improve on that, although knowing I was carrying 5 people and their belongings I knew my work would be cut out for me.

My plan was to sit at 65ish on the A1 and make full use of the extra weight to carry me down the hills and to take a steady speed cross country when we turned off at Newark. This was easier than I expected and the addition of a fuel consumption display made it infinitely easier to maximize every drop of fuel in the tank. Its the one item I really need in the 306 to help break into the 70's.

I made a pact with myself not to check the average MPG for the trip of 160miles however I was certain that I was achieving the region of 45/50 MPG for the trip. On arriving back home I was quite shocked to find I had averaged 55.3 MPG for the full journey. Citroen say that I should expect 40...ish MPG for our model so I was quite chuffed to beat that by a considerable margin, however my fellow passengers did not seem to pleased with sweating it out for nearly two hours each way while I hypermiled my heart out. I can only estimate that without the two extra adults I would be achieving closer to the 60 mark for the same distance.

As you all should know, Hypermiler.co.uk does not condone many of the advanced Hypermiling Techniques suggested my many more "fanatical" sites. However, before completely dismissing these techniques I have taken it upon myself to see if they actually work and give the massive MPG gains that have been suggested. Drafting seems a bit too dangerous for my liking so I have opted to try out "forced auto stop" or "FAS" for short. Here is the technique as explained in the Hypermiling Techniques Pages:

This technique simply involves turning the engine off while the car is moving and rolling for as long as possible only using the cars momentum. This is a dangerous technique as it effects braking and power steering. If you are going to use this technique (not that we would recommend it) we would suggest you dip the clutch, turn off the engine then turn the ignition back on. This means the car can be quickly started by removing your foot from the clutch.

This FAS technique also ensures that your true mileage is recorded. Many cars will still show the current driving speed with the ignition on and will not effect your estimated MPG if you are working it out with mileage vs. Litres used.

I have started to use this technique as above on my daily commute to work as I travel very quite roads, very early in the morning. So far I have not had any bad experiences using this technique and at no point do I feel I have put either myself or anybody else at risk. I have hover noticed that my rolling distances as compared to an in gear no clutch approach are very noticeable. On some of the roads I have been able to obtain nearly a mile of coasting where as before I would be lucky to get even half that.

It’s too early yet to see if I am able to improve on my record 59MPG but I am sure that using the FAS technique I will be able to exceed this by a very large amount. I will report back with my findings as soon as I have to fill up again.