Hold it! Before you start dismantling the brakes on your vehicle - please read this carefully: You do not need to disable or dismantle the brakes on your vehicle in any way to apply DWB in hypermiling. DWB or driving without brakes is a driving technique - not a vehicle mod.

So what is DWB? Driving without breaks is actually driving as if you did not have brakes. Meaning its a mental shift into thinking that you do not have the means to stop your car on a dime.

So what does that mean?

• You scan the road further ahead for possible events and obstructions that will affect your driving
• You slow down by letting go of the gas pedal and shifting the transmission to neutral
• You observe very safe following distances (4 seconds away from the vehicle in front of you)
• You observe speed limits (both minimum and maximum ends of the spectrum)
• You slow down farther away than normal so you can glide to a stop naturally
• You slow down waaaay before a traffic light red, because “you don’t have brakes”

Hmmmm. How does that affect my fuel economy? I don’t see how it helps me achieve the best mpg for my car.

It helps in several ways.

1. Driving slowly (because “you don’t have brakes”) will help you achieve better mileage.
2. Braking uses energy to stop the car. This is energy that you pay for in terms of fuel. On top of that, the energy you counter (the forward motion of the vehicle) was also paid for in terms of fuel. That means you use up fuel to stop the vehicle that you used fuel on to move in the first place.
3. Accelerating after braking to a standstill uses up more fuel than accelerating from a coast.
4. Slowing down before a red light, will lessen the time you spend idling at that stop.

That’s all for now, safe hypermiling everyone!