Stumbled across a discussion of high mileage techniques here:-
http://www.insightcentral.net/KB/faq-efficiency.html#acceleration
Although its on a website dedicated to the Mk1 Honda Insight (I’d quite like one of those, BTW. Certainly much more than any of the current hybrid offerings) most of them seem to be applicable to any car. Two in particular caught my eye:-
Full throttle acceleration: The idea seems to be that this minimises pumping losses, so its foot-to-the-floor and change up as fast as you can.
I get the second bit, but I’d always thought that a light accelerator foot was the path to fuel economy, so that’s what I’ve practiced.
Have I been doing it wrong all these years??
Surfing
I’ve slipstreamed behind trucks in the past, but stopped doing it seriously because of the direct danger (trucks brake pretty fast) and the indirect danger involved in pissing off lorry drivers.
I’ve found it difficult to avoid entirely though, because at economy speeds on UK motorways, you are inevitably sharing the inside lane with the lorries. If you keep a safe distance from the one in front, the one behind will ALWAYS overtake into it, and then keep station with the truck you were following at exactly the same speed. Drop back and repeat, or close up.
Surfing involves riding the “bow wave” of a truck in the adjacent lane. Of course I’ve felt the “shove” of an overtaking truck, but never tried to exploit it.
Interesting, but perhaps Taiwan isn’t the best place to start.
shttp://www.insightcentral.net/KB/faq-efficiency.html#surfing