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Coasting his car to 60 mpg
Local attorney sets miles-per-hour record in Toyota Prius, and pushes his personal hybrid mileage to the limit
Date published: 8/7/2009
By KELLY HANNON Nothing remarkable stands out about Robert J. Barlow's hybrid. It is a tan Honda Civic. There is no vanity plate. Walking through a suburban parking lot, no one would give it a second glance. But Barlow, 50, a local attorney and former chairman of the King George County Board of Supervisors, has pushed his hybrid to achieve stupendous things. The Environmental Protection Agency's estimated fuel efficiency for his hybrid--a 2004 model with a manual transmission--averages 40 to 41 mpg, city and highway combined. Barlow faithfully gets 60 mpg and pushes it into the upper 70s or low 80s when he's trying hard. Once, he drove it from Virginia to Florida before stopping for gas. How does he do it? "All driving technique," Barlow said. Where some drivers mentally switch into autopilot behind the wheel, Barlow is hypervigilant. He pays attention to changes in topography, so he can coast on downhills and accelerate as his speed declines on uphills. When he spots a red traffic signal ahead, he slows down and coasts to the stop bar, rather than accelerating and stomping on his brakes. "People go flying by me, and then we get to the red light and they're right next to me," Barlow said. He keeps his tires inflated to the manufacturer's maximum allowance. "When one tire is going down I can tell," Barlow said. On Interstate 95, he drives 60 mph in the right lane. On local roads, he coasts as long as he can without holding up traffic behind him. Barlow compares it to playing a video game. He looks to the digital odometer to see how he's faring. "The score's right on the dashboard," Barlow said. The father of three teenagers--two sons, 19 and 14, and a 16-year-old daughter--was not always so adherent to a high mpg lifestyle. Before the Civic, Barlow drove a Dodge Durango. It averaged 17 miles per gallon. Then gas crept up to $2 a gallon. Back in 2004, this was alarming. "You think, this is just crazy," he said.
Date published: 8/7/2009
Ihate95
(posted by
wideopenspace
, Aug. 8, 2009 5:00 pm)
Says he is coasting with a manual tranny to a stop, even if he's got the clutch pushed in it's still considered out of gear because it's not engaged anymore.
This guy is no hero he was the
(posted by
ObservantOne
, Aug. 8, 2009 12:29 pm)
guardian ad litem in my visitation case and made negative pronouncements about me and my son but never met us except in court. He ran into us at Chuck-e cheese having a great time and still tried not to answer positively about my son and I. Fortunately I was able to impeach him in the courtroom and make him admit in so many words that my son and I were great together. What a jerk! He is harming children's relationships with their fathers needlessly. He should not be involved in these cases. HE IS A LIAR!
Hypermilling
(posted by
1eviltwin
, Aug. 7, 2009 8:05 pm)
Ok so what happens when the maximum inflated tire warms up an is now over inflated an blows out and causes a major wreck involving others...its called hypermilling i believe these idiots pump there tires up draft other cars and large tractor trailers all in attempt to try to save a few mpg... its nice that these people rather indanger lives to save a few gallons of gas..
Read People!
(posted by
Ihate95
, Aug. 7, 2009 8:03 pm)
Where in the story did it say he takes the car out of gear???? I use the same technique and went from 360 miles per tank to over 410! Smart man in my book…
Coasting
(posted by
wideopenspace
, Aug. 7, 2009 4:26 pm)
is illegal, but it's fairly hard for a cop to prove that the vehicle was out of gear at the time. If he can coast to a stop at a light without using the brakes, he's a rear ender waiting to happen. I shove the clutch in and watch way ahead but I still have to touch the brakes at times. You can use your brakes and still save fuel, it's how you use them that's important. How you shift is also important, skip every other gear and lug the vehicle up to speed. Try taking off in 2nd and then jump to 4th ASAP.
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