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Pulse and Glide with a Sheriff behind you?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by hdrygas, May 17, 2006.

  1. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    So here I was on my best route home... I got this great tank going... I think... I hope it will be my second consecutive tank over 60 mpg. I am pulsing and gliding on the dark road back from the hospital and I see these lights behind me. The dude pulls up on my bumper and follows me. We go past a street light and I see the light bar on top of the car. Daxx how am I to go a few over and coast down withe him or her behind me!!! I do my best on the 35 mph road. I figure his ford will not have a digital speedometer so I pulse up to 37 and coast to 33. I was wondering if he was going to pull me over, but I was not going to blow this tank for him (or her). Thank god after a while he figures I am a harmless idiot and passes me like I am standing still. I probably lost .2 mpg in the gambit. I think Prius drivers should give lessons to the local constabulary explaining what we are doing. This is not the first cop to look me over. Is Pulsing and Gliding a punishable offence or just plain wierd?
     
  2. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

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    the only real problem is speeding (depending on the area, 2MPH might be enough to get pulled over). Other than that, you might get pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving (due to the seemingly "eratic" behavior).

    On the other hand, i've found that, with the exception of speeding tickets to reach their quotas, police only pull people over if they do something that ticks them off, and P&G techniques might just do that :-p
     
  3. busyrosy

    busyrosy New Member

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    I have a philosophical question for you..
    while you are pulsing and gliding, say you saw a squirrel in the middle of the road. Will you screech to a stop, or must the squirrel be sacrificed to save the environment?

    now.. how about a dog? a cat? your neighbor's three year old kid chasing after his bouncing ball?

    oh the dilemmas...
     
  4. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I was once pulled over with a friend of mine. We were on our way to college one Sunday late afternoon in mid-Fall and I was in my photography phase. So I would drive relatively slowly and when I saw something looked like it would make a good picture, I'd pull over and check it out. When cars got on my butt, I would signal, pull to the side, and let them pass. Apperantly, someone called in that I was drunk and I was pulled over. We convinced the officer that we were simply admiring the scenery and didn't want to hold up traffic behind us with slow driving. He conceded that the scenery was indeed beautiful and after telling us to be careful sent us on our way.

    I think that in your case, getting pulled over for PnG would affect your mileage more than maintaining PnG and worrying about getting pulled over. Under 40MPH you could have stealthed for a while and been done with it.
     
  5. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    that happened to me the other day on my best-mileage road that compensates for the low first-five-minute bar.

    fortunately it was mostly on a slight downhill so i was gliding, but on the uphill i figured most people probably think the car has no power, so i let it drop a few mph on the way up. he gave me space and wasn't riding the rear bumper, and didn't pull me over.
     
  6. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    If he's tailgating and not leaving you your little space "cell" in
    which to play, then he's arguably in the wrong. Now, I'm tempted
    to say "just try telling a cop not to tailgate", but Schmika will
    probably be all over me with certain rationales that make it
    occasionally necessary...
    .
    However, this is why I've adopted "pulse and slightly-augmented-glide",
    allowing about 10-15 amps of actual drive current during the glide.
    Doesn't create too much of an energy-conversion hit, but definitely
    evens out the speed -- at least probably enough to hold the glide
    until you get to your next good uphill, etc etc.
    .
    _H*
     
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    Henry, on my way to work (port of Olympia) i go thru the valley on Henderson Blvd. i coast it starting at about 30 mph at the top, getting to 45+ mph (limit is 35) and have had several cops in the area, never been pulled over. a few times, they were tailgaiting me though. obviously 45 mph is not fast enough if they are on their way to the donut shop
     
  8. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ May 17 2006, 09:07 AM) [snapback]256899[/snapback]</div>
    Hobbit I think that is what I sort of did extending the glide and keeping speed up a bit. I think he got bored following me and went looking for something more interesting.
     
  9. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ May 16 2006, 11:23 PM) [snapback]256718[/snapback]</div>
    I did get pulled over (doing a Pulse & Glide), due to the suspicion of drunk driving (driving under the speed limit), largely because it was over the Labor Day weekend. He saw I wasn't drunk and let me go.
     
  10. etyler88

    etyler88 etyler88

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    Any legal method to tease an officer should not be criticized. Just make sure you are 100% legal, your baggie is out of sight and use the unscented air freshener.
     
  11. kfarad

    kfarad Junior Member

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    I got pulled over for driving too slow once. I was going 45 MPH on the freeway at 2 AM.

    it was a FEMALE cop and she was real nice. She just wanted to take a look at my eyes I guess and my license and registration and asked if I was drinking. After that she let me go. What a sweetie.
     
  12. Catskillguy

    Catskillguy New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ May 17 2006, 01:16 PM) [snapback]256955[/snapback]</div>

    OH OH ... Do you really think it's wise to make donut shop cracks when your avatar is your license plate???

    :lol:
     
  13. Salsawonder

    Salsawonder New Member

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    What about the whole "turn off your engine please"?

    Could you just let the ICE shut off and then have the cop shoot you when it turns on to charge the battery??? Afterall you have to start all over again and that decreases the gas mileage.....
     
  14. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(etyler88 @ May 17 2006, 12:49 PM) [snapback]257095[/snapback]</div>
    Daxx I have an air freshener that is donut sent. My brother in law the lawyer sent it to me. Would that work for me, or against me? I agree that pulling over, stopping and accelerating back to 35 would be a greater hit than just putting it in cruse control until the constabulary passes me. We had another name for them in the 60's but I guess that was then and this is now.
     
  15. OlyBob

    OlyBob New Member

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    I got pulled over on I-5 this morning heading north out of Olympia going down the big hill to the Nisqually river.

    Started at 62 at the top of the hill and started gliding down (no arrows) and hit 71 at the bottom where a motercycle cop was sitting. Tried to tell her that the car was new, that I'm still learning how to drive it right, that the speed would be burned off on the other side of the valley and that I was using no gas during this 'run'. She didn't buy it and wrote me up for 70 instead of 71 in a 60 zone.

    Think I'll try to convince the judge to show leniency. I could tell him that I've been getting 54mpg but he probably drives a guzzler and that wouldn't make him happy.
     
  16. dipper

    dipper Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(OlyBob @ May 18 2006, 11:27 AM) [snapback]257590[/snapback]</div>
    Don't tell the judge that... he might just send you for a year in jail for owning a hybrid.
     
  17. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    ya the Nisqually hill is pretty nice... gotta hit the top at about 58, then you only get to about 66 at the bottom... its the Puyallup hill you gotta watch. hit 75 on that one a few times.
     
  18. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    Yep and a know speed trap. WSHP likes to pick them off at the bottom of that hill. I would guess that the I am getting 60 mpg Gambit will not help much. The Judge drives a "here come Da Judge" ( anyone else remember that Dodge edition/) eats premium like no buddies business and he pays $60 just to get out of the parking lot. He will hate you. If you get out of there with less than life let us know. Maybe you can make him a deal, you burn the car, he gets the insurance on a "classic" and can buy a Hummer? "You in a heap 'o' trouble boy!"
     
  19. OlyBob

    OlyBob New Member

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    Sounds like I'm doomed.

    It's funny because I never got a ticket in my other cars when I drove like a maniac and was always in a hurry to get places.

    Now that I've slowed down and drive on 'Prius' time, I get a ticket for trying to maximize fuel economy and was going no faster than I used to go in the other cars.

    Well - I guess there are other advantages to being in that 'Zen' state of driving.
     
  20. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Play the "race" card.

    Tell him that the other cars were racing you because you were in a Prius. The officers must have not seen the other cars speeding.