Fuel Economy - Saving Gasoline Redux
Okay, so I missed a few of the biggies in my last article on saving gas. Here they are.
First, slow down. Remember the old 55 mph speed limit on freeways that started back in the 70's and went the way of the Pinto? Turns out that wasn't (just) about "55 saves lives" but actually was about "55 saves gas."I know, it doesn't rhyme, but it can save you some cash. For example, in its July 2008 issue Consumer Reports found that one car increased its gas mileage 5 mpg when it dropped the speed 10 mph. So the car went from 30 mpg to 35 mpg when its speed dropped from 75 to 65 mph. It went up again to 40 mpg at 55 mph.
 Next, don't accelerate when climbing a hill. The engine works harder then, so apparently it eats up the gas. Think about how much more energy it takes you to run up a hill versus just walking. Great for using up calories and losing weight; not so great for saving gas.
Keep down the wind resistance. When you leave the carrier on the top of your car, or decorate your antenna with a flag or ping-pong ball in a hat (what is up with those things?), you cause extra drag on your car that the engine has to work harder to overcome. Guess where it gets the extra energy to do that. Right--directly from your wallet via the gas tank. You can improve your fuel efficiency by about 6 miles per gallon on the highway by taking off the carrier when you don't really need it. Seems worth the extra effort to me, anyway.
NEW: To Turn Off The Engine Or Not. That Is The Question
| 
