Hypermiling

Fox News

The core of the hypermiler's philosophy is to use both the gas pedal and the brakes as little as possible.

Since every time you hit the gas, you're using fuel, and every time you brake, you're basically throwing that fuel away, the less either comes into play, the more gas you save.

"It sounds paradoxical because the accelerator and the brake are the two main features of your car," Cardona said. "But not speeding up to those red lights and not taking off like a jackrabbit at a green light can really add up at the gas pump."

So when hypermilers see a red light ahead, they'll take their foot off the gas and coast toward it. And they constantly scan far ahead for possible impediments so they don't waste gas getting to them, just to have to brake when they get close.

Hypermilers also pride themselves on driving at or below the speed limit, since the faster you drive, the more gasoline it takes to maintain momentum and get back up to speed every time you slow down. And wind resistance becomes a bigger problem the faster you go.

Some of their habits — such as driving around 50 to 55 mph on the highway and drifting up to red lights at a crawl — have earned hypermilers a few enemies on the road.

Gerdes is used to the abuse.

"If there are five or six cars behind me coming into a red light and I can save all six of those from speeding to it, I have no problem taking a finger or a horn for that action," he said. "I'm going to save everybody fuel and make them safer."

Gerdes also recommends filling tires to the maximum safe pressure listed on them by their manufacturer, and using the lowest weight oil appropriate to a certain vehicle.

And all hypermilers rave about using fuel consumption display devices. While these gauges come with hybrid vehicles, similar gadgets (a ScanGauge, for example) can be installed on most other cars and allow a driver to see instantaneous changes in miles per gallon.

"This is the single most important step that the average driver can take," Santos said. "When they press the gas pedal they will see instantaneously what fuel they're requiring at the time. That little device pays for itself in no time. It's like weight loss. If you don’t have a scale and are involved in a diet program, you really don’t have the means of gauging your progress."