Nenpimania: Japanese for “mileage maniacs”
Actually it’s Japanese for “mileage” and English for “mania”. Japanese Prius hackers are getting 116 mpg, through a series of techniques that make hypermilers look like sissies. According to the Chicago Tribune:
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.
The shoelessness sort of caught me by surprise. It has nothing to do with crooked baseball — Toya needs to pulse the engine delicately, with his big toe, for maximum efficiency. The technique is called “pulsing and gliding.”
Via Treehugger.
