There’s no yellow in green

by Susan Anderson
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 1:52 PM MST

Hybrid fever hasn’t swept Wyoming at this moment, but across the country there is a breed of car driver that is racing to a different tune. They are competing to be Most Fuel-Efficient Driver in the World.

I know a little about this myself, because my car has a display telling you what miles-per-gallon you are getting while you drive and, somehow, I always get at least five mpg better than other drivers in my car.

Now, after reading about the “hyper-milers,” as they are called, I know why.

To get better mileage, you have to drive like the proverbial cautious elderly lady who only drives to church once a week.

That’s me. If I can drift to a stop, rather than slam on the brakes, I will do it. I kind of picture grass growing when I accelerate.

Everything that a teenage boy driver would never do is exactly what I do without even trying. And, as it turns out, they are habits that use less gas. Accelerating suddenly and braking at all are no-nos.

But I’m a minor-leaguer compared with the real hyper-milers. The man described as Most Fuel-Efficient Driver, Wayne Gerde, refuses to use the air-conditioning, keeps his windows up and dumps all extra weight, including the car’s tool box and his own wallet.

He starts his car by parking on a hill and coasting down.

And he never, ever allows the car to idle.

He happens to have an ice-vest from his job in a nuclear plant that has hot rooms, which makes keeping the windows up a lot more comfortable in summer.

Don’t touch those brakes

I read about this in an article in “Mother Jones,” where the author writes that in a race for hyper-milers, Wayne’s arrival at the finish line looks like this:

“Wayne’s cap is off and his head, soaking wet, is sticking out the window because his breath has fogged up the windshield and he refuses to turn on the defroster.”

Did I mention that he also turns off the engine while exiting on a freeway and doesn't waste the gas it requires when you brake, so he takes the 25 mph turn going 50 until the car slows down on its own?

All this added up to an amazing record finish in his race. He got 150 miles per gallon.

His prize was a subscription to “Green Car Journal” and a $25 gas card.

At that mileage, he could drive from Casper to San Francisco on the gas card, using only eight gallons.

Of course, it would take him a while, because his favorite speed is 60 mph.

Experts say that for every 5 mph you drive over 60, you lose 7 percent of your fuel efficiency.

Wind resistance is the reason for that, so in Casper we’re already out of luck in the very low mpg competition. We could probably make records for the worst mileage some days when we try to drive on Wyoming Boulevard, even at 60 mph.

Yellow cars

One of my favorite cause-oriented idealists, a friend named Kate, is the one who showed me the article on hyper-milers. She herself drives a car plastered with all kinds of stickers for causes, including environmental ones.

But she has a problem with hybrid cars.

She says that she feels terrible about not having one, but she does have her priorities. She won’t buy a hybrid until they make one in yellow.

She is a person who walks into a car dealership and asks simply what cars they have that are yellow. Many a salesperson has sputtered about all the wonderful models with their cargo space, moon roofs and GPS systems.

Too bad. Kate starts with the color and works on from there.

Some day the hybrid makers will figure out how to reach both the Waynes of the world and Kate. But for now, only car makers with women consultants will have the best colors and the loyalty of certain green car buyers who love yellow.

Print this story   |   Email this story