Everyone likes the idea of vehicles that have good fuel economy. The more efficient a vehicle is, the less money you have to spend on gas.

There are a lot of different approaches people take to getting better mileage. On one hand, you’ve got a bunch of sub-compact cars with tiny gas engines like the Smart Car, Mini Cooper and the Fiat 500. On the other hand, you’ve got a bunch of hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius, Nissan Altima, and some Hyundais.

Still other people think the problem can be solved with pure electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S. Then there’s the Chevrolet Volt crowd preaching the plug-in hybrid. There’s also a growing community behind the idea of bio-diesel powered vehicles. Whatever the approach, the underlying idea is the same: to stretch a gallon of fuel as far as you possibly can.

One method that people use to try and increase fuel economy is a risky and stupid practice called “hypermiling.” Hypermiling is a specific style of driving that tries to maximize fuel economy. Some techniques include:
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