How to conserve gas while driving Options

[AyeVickaye]

Gas is startin' to get a expensive again "/ I commute to school and its like a half hr drive. It usually takes $30 to fill up my 04 camry...i try to do these tips to save. lol

How to conserve gas while driving by Jim Wang

Quantifiable tips:
1. Don’t Drive Fast: The faster you drive, the greater your aerodynamic drag and thus the greater your gas consumption. The optimal speed appears to be somewhere around 65 mph and the general belief is every ten mph increase will probably reduce your consumption by around 10-15%, or 19-29 cents.

2. Close Your Windows: This is aerodynamic drag again, expect to save around 10% on the highway, or 19 cents.

3. Use Air Conditioning Sparingly: This puts more load on the engine, which makes it use about 20% more fuel, or 39 cents.

4. Properly Inflate Tires: Round tires roll more easily than square tires so make sure they’re inflated to spec. They say a single tire under inflated by 2 PSI result in increased fuel consumption by 1%, or 2 cents. (Plus it leads to uneven wear and more frequent replacement of that tire, which is going to be expensive)

5. Even Acceleration: Easy there tomcat, don’t gun it because it uses more gas, as much as 20% more or a psychologically maddening 39 cents. If you’re in a hurry, just set back your watch and you’ll be there before you left.

6. Fill Up Right: Unless your car manual says use higher octane fuel, don’t. You won’t get any benefit from using the more expensive juice, it’s just a waste of money.

7. Windows or AC Breakeven Point: The widely held breakeven point for whether you should turn on your AC or roll down your windows is 45 m.p.h. While this will vary between vehicles, the belief is at 45 degrees the additional gas needed to fight against wind resistance equals the amount of gas expended by operating the air conditioning system. I believe they did this on an episode of Mythbusters but I can’t find it.

Not-So-Quantifiable Tips:

1. Lighten Your Load: Empty the trunk and lose some weight, the more you carry the more fuel it’ll use. Lose some weight too.

2. Service Your Car: Your fuel economy will drop if you have dirty air filters, old oil, old spark plugs, old belts, or other low fluid levels. Keep it in tip top shape and save on your gas and maintenance bills.

3. Drafting: If you are on the highway and you have the guts to do so, get up close behind a truck and draft. NASCAR guys do it so you should too, just remember to brake whenever the truck does. Actually, this is a dangerous practiceas some have noted, but if you actually do wish to draft, you can do it safely by being several car lengths behind a large truck/semi.

4. Limit Braking: When you brake, you often will need to hit the gas again to get going. Try to look ahead and brake intelligently to reduce how much you need to accelerate.

5. Tighten The Gas Cap: Gasoline will evaporate, if you don’t seal up that gas tank it will leak out. The Car Care Council estimates that 147 million gallons of gas a year will be lost to evaporation… that’s absolutely ridiculous and dumb as balls.

[karmakiller]

Or don't even use it at all. Flinstones style, this will also help with America's obesity problem.

[StubbornFemme]

speeding is a hard thing for me to stay away from :P

if only, i had unlimited supply of oil in my backyard.

[SuckDickNSaveLiv...]

I admit the propane I just spit, probably just raised the gas prices.

[Maccabee]

If you have the guts to stay 5 ft behind an 18 wheeler you will save 70% gas rate or whatever.

[Tomates]

i learned the hard way not to keep overdrive on
My Overdrive said off. I didnt know that for my car it meant it was on

[Maccabee]

Whats overdrive?

[Tomates]

Um well. If you live in a very snowy place in the winter like me. It helps you from slipping on the roads when they're icy. Mainly it makes the tires hug to the ground more. However its a gas guzzler.

[Maccabee]

How is that possible? I couldnt think of any technology that would help a car grip by the flip of a switch, unless spikes flew out. haha.

[Tomates]

well, heres a better definition

It lets you cruise at higher speeds at lower RPM's.

It makes it a lot easier to drive on icy roads non the less.

[Maccabee]

That makes sense. tanks.

[kryogenix]

Or don't even use it at all. Flinstones style, this will also help with America's obesity problem.

YYYYYYYABADABADOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[dispn0ygonekrazy]

5. Tighten The Gas Cap: Gasoline will evaporate, if you don’t seal up that gas tank it will leak out. The Car Care Council estimates that 147 million gallons of gas a year will be lost to evaporation… that’s absolutely ridiculous and dumb as balls.check engine light is gonna go on if you forget to tighten that shit, also add to that your gas cap holds pressure in the car as well!
[/quote]

[Simba]

I admit the propane I just spit, probably just raised the gas prices.

click to enlarge

[AyeVickaye]

speeding is a hard thing for me to stay away from :P

if only, i had unlimited supply of oil in my backyard.

^ditto. i lose track of how fast im going. i go from 50 to 70 on the highway in a snap "/ & i usually go 70 on the freeway...

[StubbornFemme]

^ditto. i lose track of how fast im going. i go from 50 to 70 on the highway in a snap "/ & i usually go 70 on the freeway...

seriously! sometimes i dont even know that im going 50 on the streets (sometimes...lol) and 80 on the freeway...not like people actually follow 35-45 mph signs/ 60-65mph for the freeways anyways HAHA.

[rnicron]

well, heres a better definition

It makes it a lot easier to drive on icy roads non the less.

'non the less' = one word, nonetheless

so if i don't have ac and need to leave my windows down, that just cancels out, right?