Performance Communications | September 12, 2014
Even the worst new cars are usually better to own and better to drive than older comparable vehicles. There are some exceptions, but it is true 99 per cent of the time.
Old cars had an advantage, however: only a decade or two ago, the roads were emptier, they weren’t adorned with speed cameras and the police were, I’ve heard, more lenient. In terms of sheer driving pleasure, this balanced things up somewhat. It was easier to have fun even though the cars were worse.
Despite the cars being a bit rubbish (generally), drivers weren’t hampered to the same degree as they are now. Regardless of the decade though, having fun usually meant driving quickly and then bragging about it.
Things have changed in the last five years; a unique set of circumstances have stirred things up considerably and the unexpected consequence of this is a new phenomenon: hypermiling, or, the art of driving extremely sensibly to the point of obsession.
The goal is to achieve the very best possible MPG figure in whatever vehicle you choose to drive. Every tweak of the accelerator or squeeze of the brakes is applied with the same delicacy of a surgeon performing open-heart surgery on the queen. Jerking, twisting or tugging on any of the car’s controls is blasphemy on Hypermiler.co.uk, a website and community dedicated to driving very slowly.
I understand why to some extent. It’s measurable; it saves money, and possibly the planet too. The MPG data is provided on a nice little screen in the corner of the dashboard and it is something that is acceptable to brag about in the pub or on social media.
It has caught on to such an extent that squeezing every last bit of efficiency from the internal combustion engine is as engaging as a spirited Sunday morning blat on a favourite road. Everybody is doing it, and talking about it, too. A straw poll conducted in our office of roughly 30 people confirmed my suspicion. When asked whether they monitored their MPG and quietly enjoyed it, two thirds said they did. Less than half said they’d had fun driving on a country road in the last month.
The problem is, hypermiling might be immensely satisfying to some, but it is another reason to ignore what’s happening on the road.
A recent study Performance Communications conducted on behalf of Accident Exchange showed that the number of rear-end collisions had increased by over seven per cent in four years, and that’s despite all the new tech in cars designed to prevent crashes of this type.
Driving nirvana might not be all about speed these days but is hypermiling, and an obsession with fuel economy, actually distracting drivers while at the wheel? Worth thinking about next time you’re battling to raise your PB to from 59.9 to 60mpg.
