Fuel Efficiency and the Yaris

[regal]

I have basically been hypermilling since 1990 when I was driving a 350ci Cutlass on a student budget. I think the OPer is not understanding the concept. The whole idea is not to accelerate more than you need to. Yes some of the techniques are not practical but gunning the car between lights is not practical either, or speeding up +20 mph 30 seconds before your exit. The idea behind hypermilling is to use common sense, something that probably 95% of the US drivers have none of. I drove a 50 mpg 85 Jetta for a few years and the 50 hp engine had no choice but to hypermill. It takes much less fuel to go from 0 to 60 mph in 25 seconds than to do it in 7 seconds.

The other thing about hypermilling people don't understand is that it isn't always about driving as slow as possible. 5th gear is always more efficient than 3rd. Puttering around at 30 mph in 3rd gear will give terrible milage vs 55 mph in 5th.