This piece by Eric Peters on the National Motorist Assoc. website tries to de-bunk a few of the the tips that are out there now that people are worried about fuel consumption. Peters discusses frequent tune-ups vs. regular maintenance, warming-up vs. just driving off, turning off the engine when stopped for more than 30 seconds, Air-con vs. windows down, clean cars vs. dirty cars and whether lower octange (cheaper gas) can save you money and improve mileage. See if you agree.
Photo: Dave Pilibosian/Istock
Blah blah blah. Just drive your car and stop overthinking how to save 10-cents! Skip that expensive morning Starbucks coffee, and organize your day to minimize the number of miles driven. Windows up or down isn’t the issue when Mom is driving her kid around town to get him to fall asleep for his nap.
I’ve been kind of a nut about gas milage since I bought my new Neon back in 2000 and I’m happy to say I consistantly get between 41-44 mpg. My tips,
1. Keep it at a reasonable speed on the freeway, I rarely go over 70mph, I usually keep it around 65.
2. No jackrabbit starts when the light goes green, just accelerate up to speed again in a reasonable manner.
3. Change your air filter every few months to keep clean air going in.
4. My car is a manual transmition so when coming up to an intersection or red light I always take it out of gear when I’m about a half a block away and just coast up to the intersection, over time that coasting saves a lot of gas.
5. Finally, if I’m doing my just normal day to day driving I always keep my gas tank half full or less. Gasoline weighs 6 lbs per gallon so there is no need to constantly carry around say 6 or 7 gallons of gas in the gas tank that I’m not going to need. The less weight in the car the better.
P.S. I swear by STP gas products too. I’ve been using them to clean out my engine and fuel injectors since I bought the car and I’ve never had a problem with the engine. My little Neon has 251,000 miles on it too!
@Gary
4. not a very sensible idea running out of gear and not advisable. It may save you fuel but you are not in control of the car!
K
@kitkat
Huh? When I take it out of gear I don’t turn the engine off, so the engine is still running and I still have the power steering and brakes so I’m still in control. I do the same when going down a hill, I just take it out of gear and coast and when the time comes I just put it back in gear and away I go.
@gary
yes I understand what you are saying but you are not able to acelerate away from any trouble if you are not in gear (I realise you can put the car into gear should something happen but you may not have time to do so), so you are not fully in control of the car. For the minimal amount of fuel you are saving it is not worth the risk or maybe your roads are quieter than here in the UK?
K
Actually gary, if you’re coasting whilst in gear a modern engine will require no fuel whatsoever, its motion will be maintained by the momentum of the car itself, whereas whilst coasting out of gear the engine requires a small amount of fuel to keep itself running…
Basically, you aren’t saving anything, in fact you’re probably using MORE fuel your way.
@kitkat
Ahh, I see where you’re coming from now, you make a good point. I didn’t know you are in the UK, things are probably more hectic there, I’m out here in Utah farm country where things move pretty slow so I’ve never had a problem before. Cheers.
@Chris
Interesting info there about modern engines not using any gas when coasting but still in gear, I didn’t know that. I’m going to take that into consideration and do a new round of fuel saving experiments I thinks. Thanks.
@gary
I think you’d save more money filling your tank when gas prices are rising and not filling when the price is falling, than try to shed 50lbs in gas weight off your car by not filling up the tank.
Secondly, since you claim to never fill your gas tank, I’m curious how you are able to accurate calculate your MPG
Thirdly, I think you’re spending more on air filters than you’re saving in gas.
Soft acceleration and minimizing starts and stops is really the key. I think that’s where you’re saving the most gas.
Also, since you’ve taken care of your car, you’re saving tens of thousands of dollars over most people who finance new cars every 3 years. Congratulations on that. Hope she gets to a half million miles for you!