Hypermiling (Gas Mileage Feats!)

TheWeatherman

These people are my favorite. It takes them about 30 minutes to go on a drive that would take other people 10. When they think a light is going to turn red, they shut off their engine and coast to the stop like 4 blocks ahead. What I laugh about is the stress they put on the componentry by turning on and off the car the whole time. What they saved in gas, they will make up by buying new parts (eg. starter motor). If you want a car that was designed to do that, you buy a hybrid. If you are hypermiling in a Z, you are required, as per the370z.com, to paint your car a bright shade of green with leaf patterns all over it. You are also required to grow dreads, and wear an apron without ever bathing.

mkaresh

Beyond hypermiling in a Z, I don't get concepts for hybrid and/or diesel sports cars. Sports car owners tend to drive them fewer miles per year than the owners of other cars.

TrueDelta's Car Reliability Survey generates average odometer data. The 2003 350Zs in the survey currently average just over 50,000 miles because many of them are second cars. The average 2003 Honda Accord has an odometer reading in the low 80s. The average 2003 VW TDI: about 135k miles. Why put a high-efficiency powertrain in a car that probably won't be driven all that much?

That said, if you're clocking 18k+ miles a year in your Z, go ahead and hypermile it from time to time--as long as you drive it the way a sports car should be driven when the roads are suitable

Our fuel economy survey asks about driving style, so once 370Z owners start responding to it we'll get some sense of how much impact a heavy foot has.

Real-world fuel economy survey