Improving Gas Mileage - Installment 4

Here is today's installment. You have probably heard most of these before, but these are where some of the biggest improvements can be had:

Improvement #4 – Drive More “Efficiently”

Potential savings: $26 – 525 every year (1 – 20% savings)

Cost: Changing your driving habits (some will consider this too steep a cost!)

OK, this improvement is arguably the most difficult one in the list thanks to human nature, but there might be VERY large savings here depending upon your current driving habits. You can change your driving habits in several ways to improve gas mileage:

A) Accelerate slower and decelerate slower. Accelerating and decelerating account for most of the difference between city mileage and highway mileage, which is why regenerative braking allows hybrids to get comparable mileage in the city as on the highway.

Letting off the gas so you don't push on the brake as much helps just like "feather-footing" it. Just imagine that the harder you push the accelerator or the brake, the more money you are squeezing out your tail pipe...

B) Drive slower (like the speed limit). Maximum gas mileage is achieved between 45 and 55 mph in most cars. Gas mileage drops of quickly above 55-60 mph. You can improve gas mileage 5 – 10% by going 5 mph slower on the highway. Of course that also means you get there slower. I try to go the speed limit not only because it is the right thing to do but also because it saves gas!

C) Use cruise control when possible (on the highway). Keeping speed constant gives you the best gas mileage at a given speed.

D) Turn your engine off when idling. If you have a modern, fuel-injected engine, you can save gas by turning it off if you will be idling over 10 seconds. Yes, you read that right – 10 seconds! That means if you just missed the stoplight, turn your car off to save gas. Someone pointed out that this could produce additional wear on the starter & solenoid. That is true, so I don't do it for 10 seconds, but definitely for longer stoplights, train crossings, etc.

E) Combining trips. Try not to make multiple trips if you can avoid it. We live in a fairly small town, so when we go to larger cities 30 miles away, we try to combine as many errands as possible.

F) Consider alternate transportation. Considering walking, riding a bike, electric scooter, carpooling, or a moped instead of car. My wife was a little shocked when I showed up at her work one day in dress clothes after riding my bike to church and then her work. I try and bike when I can to run errands around town. Of course, it also helps to live in a small town...

Drafting also helps with gas mileage, but it is generally unsafe. If you are close enough to get a significant mileage benefit, you are probably leaving less than 2 seconds between you and the car in front of you.

There are some really large benefits here, but it is not worth the risk. I look forward to automakers figuring out some automatic systems to allow us to someday safely take advantage of drafting.