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November 2008 
Pulse and Glide
Posted on Apr 10th, 2007
by 
Vivek
Vivek
So I just ran into this article on Japanese mileage hackers.
Quick except: " Toya, a 56-year-old manager for a tofumaker in central Japan, puts special tires on his Prius, tapes plastic and cardboard over the engine, and blocks the grill with foam rubber. He drives without shoes and hacks into his car's computer -- all in the pursuit of maximum distance with minimum gasoline."
and "The mileage maniacs strive to perfect what they call the "pulse and glide" driving method.
Pulsing and gliding demands sensitivity when pushing or releasing the accelerator, so only his big toe touches the pedal. On a chilly Saturday in Aichi prefecture, not far from Toyota City, Toya removes his right shoe to demonstrate. Toya accelerates, or pulses, to 29 m.p.h., then glides down to 25 m.p.h. before pulsing again. The car uses no fuel when gliding."
Pulse and glide =)... I really like this. Its taking ecological sensitivity and mutating with gearhead techniques until it turns into this really cool sort of zen-hacker aesthetic. We need more of this.
Quick except: " Toya, a 56-year-old manager for a tofumaker in central Japan, puts special tires on his Prius, tapes plastic and cardboard over the engine, and blocks the grill with foam rubber. He drives without shoes and hacks into his car's computer -- all in the pursuit of maximum distance with minimum gasoline."
and "The mileage maniacs strive to perfect what they call the "pulse and glide" driving method.
Pulsing and gliding demands sensitivity when pushing or releasing the accelerator, so only his big toe touches the pedal. On a chilly Saturday in Aichi prefecture, not far from Toyota City, Toya removes his right shoe to demonstrate. Toya accelerates, or pulses, to 29 m.p.h., then glides down to 25 m.p.h. before pulsing again. The car uses no fuel when gliding."
Pulse and glide =)... I really like this. Its taking ecological sensitivity and mutating with gearhead techniques until it turns into this really cool sort of zen-hacker aesthetic. We need more of this.
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