By Dennis McCafferty

With prices at the pump squeezing budgets, some drivers are taking a new approach when it comes to what's called hypermiling, which is the implementation of simple but effective driving techniques to get the very most mileage out of your vehicle.

In trying to improve their MPG, hypermilers are turning off their ACs, coasting to stop signs and red lights, flipping on cruise and keeping speeds low (to reduce wind resistance).

Take, for example, Dan Callahan of St. Louis. He is practically taking a competitive sportsman's approach. As a result, his entire world view of driving has changed. All for the better, he says.

Clearly, hypermilers are getting great results with their efforts, says energy-efficiency expert Brian Duddy, senior program manager at the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology. Ultimately, it comes down to these fundamentals of driving: Go easy. Slow down. "The biggest way to save on fuel is reducing your speed," he says. "Many experts, including those from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have demonstrated that, for most vehicles, optimal fuel economy decreases rapidly at speeds over 60 mph. With gas at over $4 a gallon, for every 5 mph you drive over 60, you're paying an additional 30 cents per gallon for gas."

Hypermiling provides peace of mind for parents like Susan Hagen of Rochester, N.Y. That's because her daughter, Erin, 17, has become a diehard devotee of the practice, making it a point of pride to increase her MPG stats on her Prius, which comes with a fuel-efficiency calculator. "She gets between 55 and 60 miles per gallon now," Hagen says. "When we drive the car, she gets mad at us if we drive less conservatively because it brings down her car's mileage rating. We love it because we know she's driving safely. And these days, all you think about as a parent is whether your child is going to be OK in that car."

Given continued pain at the fuel pumps, demand for more insight on cost-cutting hypermiling techniques remains high, as online forums devoted to the topic are now akin to popular social networks. "Never idle!" one poster pleads on ecomodder.com, a site devoted to hypermiling. "This is quite possibly the most annoying habit I see. I'll be walking to class and walk by … cars that are just sitting there running so the owner can use the radio or AC."

There are other innovative ways to cut fuel costs including:

• Take the road less traveled. A less-busy road allows you more leeway to slow down and coast.
• Skip the fast-food drive-through window. It leads to excessive idling.
• Time your trips so you get a strong tailwind if you can.
• Drive when it's hotter. Cold tires and drivetrains face more resistance, and a cold engine is less efficient.
• Don't start the car until you and your passengers are seatbelted in and ready to go.

And there are tools out there to make it easy for hypermilers to figure out how well they're doing. Fuelclinic.com, for example, offers free calculators that help you chart your fuel-consumption efficiency. And ScanGauge makes trip computers that provide realtime feedback on current MPG being used, cost-per-mile and cost-per-trip. The ScanGaugeII currently retails for just under $170.

You don't have to convince Tony Arko of Ashburn, Va., about the value of these tools and techniques. He's just started hypermiling and has increased mileage on his BMW X5 by 3 mpg just by doing simple things, like slowing down. "It's definitely worth it," he says. "I get 70 to 80 miles more per tank. And the looks I get aren't bad because, while I'm driving slower, it's not extremely slower. I just don't gun it from stop lights and drive either the speed limit, or 5 miles above it at most. My stress level is way down now. I was aggressive before. Now, I focus on saving money instead of trying to get to my destination as quickly as I can."

For more information about hypermiling and fuel economy, consider these sites for tools, information, tips and forums:

• Fueleconomy.gov: Another site for tips and the latest news, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Ecomodder.com: Posts tips, forums and other helpful resources for hypermilers
• Fuelclinic.com: With registration, provides free fuel-usage calculators.

Bio: Dennis McCafferty is a freelance writer with extensive experience in the automotive field, as well as with NASCAR. He has written for Chrysler magazine, UAW-GM People magazine, Dodge Tomorrow magazine and Corvette Quarterly.