(New world record set! See Update)

It seems hypermiling and the quest for extreme fuel efficiency is not just limited to the U.S. where fuel prices have taken a big leap upwards the past couple of years. I recently met a couple from Australia who are determined to land themselves into the Guiness Book of World Records by traversing the world, covering 18,000 miles (28,970 kilometers), and doing it by using less than 40 tanks of gas in a Volkswagen Jetta TDI.

Currently, John and Helen Taylor are touring the 48 continental U.S. states with the goal of breaking the current world record for lowest fuel consumption across the 48 contiguous United States of 51.8 mpg. As of today they have driven more than 8,100 miles through 41states while averaging 59.33 mpg. Cost of the fuel consumption so far has been $562.43 with an average of 843 miles (1,356 kms) on every tank of gas. John and Helen are totally optimistic they are going to break the record if they remain focused and stay the course with their “FuelStretch” fuel-saving driving tips they developed with Shell.

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Hypermilers Unite!

Got mileage? Hypermilers are getting organized and are obsessed about getting the maximum mileage from their vehicles. At the annual HybridFest, fellow hypermilers flocked to join green-car techies and owners from across North America for presentations, hybrid and EV test drives. Whether it is a hybrid vehicle or an old fashion fossil fuel, carbon belching combustion engine. Find out if hypermiling techniques really work as this self styled "mileage obsessor" travels to Wisconsin to participate in a race to see who can travel the most miles with their hybrid.

The annual MPG Challenge competition goes down an open course in Madison designed to simulate real-world driving. The 26-mile route has a realistic time limit set by the coordinators, who prerun the loop and follow standard traffic rules. The average time of multiple runs then has a 5-minute buffer added, and all participants have to come in within that time frame. Many drivers were as much as 10 minutes late, and found themselves disqualified. Contestants were not allowed to see the course before the competition. There are eight divisions, and contestants are judged on the percentage that they score above the EPA estimates for their vehicles. In other words, this really is a challenge.

In the end, William Kenney proved that 109 mpg was possible, even under the tough competition guidelines: His Honda Insight scored 109 percent over the EPA for his car. However, he lost to local Jared Parish's Prius (pictured below), which scored 99 mpg and 115 over the Prius's EPA rating. Parish was heavily favored to win the MPG Challenge, since he was a local contestant and a superb hypermiler to boot.

By Kurt Gensheimer

“Back in the day”, to use the parlance of our times, when gasoline was a buck fifty, I used to spend hours in my Mazda RX-8 burying the RPM needle, downshifting to fourth on the freeway, and drifting through corners with hachi-roku zeal. But with the onset of over four dollar gasoline, my zeal for wasting fuel has subsided, and a new style of performance driving has taken over.

It’s called Hypermiling, and although an RX-8 isn’t the best car for this style of performance driving, when you’re averaging less than 20 miles per gallon, any improvement in fuel economy is welcome.
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