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How well can pulse and glide work on a TDI?

2944 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  rookie, 
I
I was reading about this and assumed it only worked on hybrids like the Prius. I finally googled it and it supposedly works on all cars. Here's the theory as a simple example: if you're getting 30 mpg getting up to speed, say 60 mph, take your foot off the pedal and glide back down to 40 mph. With the foot off the pedal you're getting infinite mpg because you're using no fuel, effectively doubling the distance traveled per fuel consumed. If you've driven an equal amount of time pulsing and gliding, the average works out as 60 mpg. The average is greater than what could be achieved just driving at a steady speed of say, 50 mph. Any long term tests with your TDI?
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T
It should work as long as there's no traffic behind or ahead of you. Constantly speeding up and slowing down by 30 mph = road rage. Try to do some pulse and gliding on gentle hills or use the gliding idea when coasting to a stop light so that you gradually slow down instead of having to use a lot of brakes.
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More details on the math please. If you drive at an average of 100 mph for 10 seconds you've traveled a much greater distance than if you drive at an average of .0001 mph for 10 seconds. You've gone an average of 50 mph over 20 seconds but the measurement is in mpg. What about hills? Engine drag?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy-maximizing_behaviors Found some more tips. They call it burn and coast. It's supposed to save about 15%.
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R
IMHO, some of those tips are more practical than others. I believe in coasting to a stop because it saves wear on the brakes too. However, how much of a fuel economy penalty on wide tires is due to aerodynamics and how much is due to the contact patch?
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