With gas prices hovering around four dollars a gallon, everybody is looking for ways to save money while driving.  The latest trend that's catching on is something called "hypermiling."

Valerie Loudenback drove the family van, forever. 

"I have the same problem as everyone else and that is gas keeps going up and up," said Loudenbach. 

But because she drives 90 miles a day for work round trip, she wanted better gas mileage, so she bought this 2007 Hyundai. 

The manufacturer says it'll get 33 miles to the gallon, but Loudenback wants it to do better by hypermiling. It's a set of driving tricks and techniques designed to give a car better gas mileage, both in the city and on the highway. 

It requires a person to do a lot of coasting and very little braking. 

"That person is gassing and braking. We're not gassing, we're not braking, we're just going,"
Loudenback admits at times, she does drive slow, 

"I don't know if it's old lady driving," said Loudenback. 

Old or not, she says hypermiling saves her on gas, and makes her a more safe driver. 

"You're much more courteous, aware of who is around you and aware of how fast your driving," she said.

She does slow up traffic. 

"They are a little annoyed when I'm going 55 or 30," said Loudenback.
Loudenback is so emphatic about getting better gas mileage, she keeps a daily log of how many miles to the gallon she gets with each tank of gas. 

"My goal is 50," she said.

To prove hypermiling will save you gas, one man drove all the way from Chicago to New York City, 800 miles on one tank of gas. It's that kind of inspiration that motivates Loudenback. 

"If you shift it into neutral that will save gas too, you can watch your revolutions per minute go," said Loudenback. 

Loudenback has gotten pretty good at hypermiling. 

"Now I can actually coast all the way in from my neighborhood all the way into my driveway without stopping," she said.

And when you're driving 90 miles every day, any way to save gas is worth it. 

"It takes me 15 more minutes, but its sort of a trade off would I like to get another half hour of my day, yes, but I'm actually more calm and relaxes me not having to get there so fast," said Loudenback.  "And if I annoy anyone on the streets going slowly I'll just wave and keep on going." 

Loudenback told KELOLAND News her last tank of gas averaged over 43 miles per gallon. Also to save on gas, Loudenback doesn't use the drive through at fast food restaurants anymore. And she never parks where she has to pull into a parking spot if it's going to require her to back up.