What is Digg?68 Comments
- 0hffs, on 10/23/2007, -1/+22Yep was fun in the mustang while it lasted :)
I was recently enlightened to see in my hometown that one of my local car dealers finally went against the grain and completely, and I mean completely -replaced his inventory with non-import 3 wheel electrics and hybrids... He is selling like crazy too.. - dukeeeey, on 10/23/2007, -1/+20ride a bike
- yaygrr, on 10/23/2007, -4/+16#2 "...if you find yourself stuck at a stoplight or know that it’s going to be a minute or two before you get moving again, TURN OFF YOUR CAR"
what?? are you kidding?? - allaboutdatiki, on 10/23/2007, -1/+12I've made it a habit to shut off the engine when I pull up to the bank drive-up. Those stops can easily take five minutes ... at least at my bank. I also stopped eating fast food ... no more burning gas in their lines or my ass ... :)
- WestonP, on 10/23/2007, -1/+12Why waste just gas when you can wear out your starter and battery too! When you realize how much energy goes to the starter, not to mention the increased wear on the parts, it's not such a "green" idea. It also takes alot more than those "10 seconds" for your alternator to recharge the power you drained from the battery.
- ikamos, on 10/23/2007, -2/+11Use public transport whenever you can. That way you can spend that time reading a book. Holy Crap!!!
- BassCadet, on 10/23/2007, -0/+9Hope you people who turn your cars off at stoplights have a good alternator and battery in your car.
Also, I wonder how many people are going to follow all of these rules yet still drive around in their 7 passenger SUV? - calinazaret, on 10/23/2007, -0/+611. Consider buying a manual transmission. It's more fun anyway (not if you live in San Fransisco, though.)
- FalseAlarm, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6The only time I remember doing this was at a long ass train stop on a road trip. I turned off the car, put my keys in my pocket, then walked over to at tree and took a piss.
- KLowD9x, on 10/23/2007, -1/+7Stopping the engine in a vehicle that has OBDII (1996 and newer) is NOT good.
1. The OBD II system waits about 30 seconds before going into closed loop (meaning, the ECU is running on a set configuration that has a major effect on injector pulse width and ignition timing). During this first 30 seconds, your engine is exhausting more pollutants than your little catalyst can break down.
2. Some catalysts are quite far back from the engine (on the other hand, some are in the exhaust manifold). For the ones that are very far back, they run much cooler, meaning if you turn off your engine, they will cool off below the "light off" point. (Light off is where the catalyst is operating at maximum efficiency). Cool catalyst and open loop is making your car puke out some pretty bad things into the air!
3. You are wearing out components! Starter motors are not deigned to start an engine over and over and over in short succession, they need to cool off! IMAs (like those found in Honda Hybrids) ARE designed to do this. Just because a Honda can, doesn't mean your car can too.
So, save your wallet, save the environment, just leave the damn thing running! - NJank, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5"leaving NO resistance"
care to do the drag calculation on that one? You will have a different coefficient of resistance, but the fact that it passes through does not mean zero resistance. It might mean less.
Turns out that turning on the AC drops your fuel economy. No questions there. However, since aerodynamic drag is a function of the Velocity squared, an increase in the coefficient of drag will produce an increase in drag as you drive faster. depending on the percent drag increase, at some velocity it is possible for the increase in drag from the windows being open to produce the same fuel economy drop at running the AC. Beyond that point, further speed will affect drag losses more than the AC losses.
Here's a 2nd hand quote: from http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/auto/20050804a1.a ...
"Consumer Reports' auto-test department reports that the air conditioner reduces your car's fuel efficiency by up to 10 percent. So to achieve maximum fuel efficiency, motorists should avoid using the air conditioner at speeds below 40 mph and travel with their windows down, explains Gabe Shenhar, senior auto test engineer at Consumer Report's auto-test department.
"But as your speed increases to 45 mph, or highway speeds," says Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com, "wind drag becomes an issue. Driving with the windows down increases the drag on your vehicle, resulting in decreased fuel economy by up to 10 percent. Drive at speeds over 55 mph with windows down and you'll decrease fuel economy by up to 20 percent or greater." - dbalaski, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5Yeah, a lot of people are lazy (or stupid)
but when gasoline prices rise high enough and it hits them in the wallet, that might inspire them - Buelldozer, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5That episode was so flawed they should have never aired it. They didn't prove anything with that "test" one way or the other.
- ascguy, on 10/23/2007, -3/+8Great tips, but people are so lazy and set in their ways that I doubt anyone is going to follow through.
- faiox, on 10/23/2007, -1/+5I was going to say... that should be number 1.
- dbalaski, on 10/23/2007, -1/+5
I don't agree with shutting off the car at a traffic light --A train crossing with a long running train, a draw bridge ....yeah -- but most traffic lights aren't that long and its more of a safety issue ...
Better one -- stop using drive thru windows -- I read somewhere that the average time spent in drive thru is 4 to 6 minutes and you move apx 75 feet. - EXreaction, on 10/23/2007, -0/+4You wouldn't imagine how many people were driving lifted ultra heavy duty trucks in Florida (in the city!) when I went there on a visit last time.
- EXreaction, on 10/23/2007, -0/+4I hope whoever you do that to has a good lawyer, or a ***** car than you and don't have a problem slamming it into reverse on you.
- lead2thehead, on 10/23/2007, -0/+4Wow... so "purchasing a fuel efficient car" didn't make the list?
- ivantalboys, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Putting your car in neutral (or dropping the clutch) will require your engine to idle so as not to stall, this uses fuel. Selecting an appropriate gear and costing down the hill in a modern car will use no fuel at all as the drivetrain will keep the engine turning.
- clgonsal, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3It *was* number 1: "Don’t drive if you don’t have to... why not walk or ride your bike?"
- dbalaski, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Pretty good list -- I pretty much follow all of them (though I don't have any long traffic lights on my route)..
Glad to see them reference http://www.fueleconomy.gov good tips there...
Would like to add the following:
1) Stop using drive-thru windows -- I said this previously, that I had read the average wait is 4 to 6 minutes and the average distance moved is only 75 feet. Not too good fuel savings there. $$$ wise, at current prices, you are better off going inside.
2) This is an extension of point #10 -- get the junk out of your car to reduce weight.
My extension would be -- don't always try to top off your fuel tank when you see a good price.
Each Gallon of Gasoline weighs around 6 to 6.5 lbs - and every pound of weight reduced your MPG (estimated -1% to -2% per 100 LB weight), you the penny or 2 you save is eaten up by the weight of the fuel. Plus the fact that you have to stop and get your car up to speed again after you fill up (i.e. minimize the stops!! )
My Rule of thumb -- don't run your tank dry, filling it up is okay, but don't bother filling it up until you are under 1/3 or 1/4 of a tank. you will find you get better all-around MPG (I've tested this- its pretty true, this rule of thumb got me 1.25% more MPG )
3) In addition to the car weight, it might be a good time for people to drop a few pounds. The weight effecting MPG applies to people too. A bit of walking might help that ;)
4) Lets add: Ride-Share -or- Commute with a friend -- one car with 2 people going 20 miles (round trip) to work is a lot better than 2 cars with one person in each doing the same. Sure the weight of the person does lower MPG -- but it is a lot less than 2000+LB car, and your passenger can share the cost -- you both are ahead!. - QuorumCall, on 10/24/2007, -0/+3Checking your car's tire pressure should really be number one.
- bbcountach, on 10/23/2007, -6/+9didn't mythbusters already prove that it's more fuel efficient to drive with your windows down than your a/c on? some inside force is telling me to trust the mustache...
- gummih, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2The Prius thing works better up to a certain degree, you should never floor it though. And although it gains energy when breaking it's still more efficient to coast if you can.
- armnpsycho, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2It is a law in Germany to turn off your engine when ever your stopped for more than 60 seconds, and they do not replace alternators any more than we do in the US.
- DontGiveADamn, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2The problem is that the prices haven't risen high enough yet to make any change in peoples habits. $3.00 gas doesn't change a thing. Some experts say it will need to get to $5.00 before will see a change.
- Bukowsky, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2damn, how long is the light?
- wdoyle0447, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2They should add change over to a vehicle that meets your needs. I live in Texas and its amazing to see how many Ford F250/350s, Chevy Heavy/Duty trucks, and Doges jacked up with Nobby tires that look like they've never been off road before. They just have the big chrome bling wheels and ride your bumper. Anyways since when does a double cab/quad cab/long bed (aka long wheel base) make sense for 4x4ing. In the rest of the world the simple 4 cylinder turbo diesels seem to get the compact Nissans/Toyotas anywhere they need. If you need and use a big truck for practical reasons, great, otherwise what a money pit.
- grumpyrain, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2No, the real world is a bit more complex than simplified car manuals and driving schools.
The A/C drains your engines power, no question, but it drains it by a fixed amount based on the work the compressor needs to do (and the alternator to a much lesser extent). Open windows cause drag inefficiencies, but the inefficiency is proportional to the difference between wind speed and vehicle speed. At a certain speed (quoted at 35mph but in reality is different for every vehicle out there), the inefficiency caused by the open window will be larger than the inefficiency caused by the A/C. At highway speeds, most if not all vehicles will use less fuel with the windows closed and the A/C on than you would with the windows open and the A/C off. Of course having the windows closed and A/C off is more efficient still, but not fainting in the heat can be kind of important too. - joegibes, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Yeah, compare trying to start an engine filled with dirty oil on a below zero day to an already warmed-up, lubricated one in traffic.
Also, modern cars (for the last few decades) use much less fuel if you turn off the engine and start it up again (as opposed to letting it idle).
And shift into neutral (or drop the clutch) down hills (keep a close eye out though in case you need to shift quick and move). - darkhero, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Site is down. Here is the list.
1. Don’t drive if you don’t have to (see, I told you these were pretty common sense). Think about it, how many small, wasted trips do you take each week where you drive less than a mile or two? If you’re going to the grocery store to do some major shopping it’s certainly understandable to bring your car, but if you’re just going to pick up a couple items, why not walk or ride your bike? Same can be said for trips to friends’ houses, driving the kids to school, etc., etc. Moral of the story: if you don’t drive you don’t use gas.
2. If you do have to drive, minimize the amount of time you sit in idle. Here’s a pretty easy general rule of thumb to remember: if you’re car’s running and you’re not moving, your gas mileage has dropped to zero mpg. I know for many of this, this is probably easier said than done, especially considering it’s pretty tough to avoid the daily rush hour traffic. However, if you find yourself stuck at a stoplight or know that it’s going to be a minute or two before you get moving again, turn off your car (assuming it’s safe to do so). Essentially, it takes about ten seconds worth of idling to use as much gasoline as it would to restart your car; this means if you’re going to be sitting at a stoplight for a minute or two, it’s best to shut the car off and save gasoline.
3. When you finally get the car moving, make sure to use a nice, steady and moderate acceleration. A heavy foot means you’re going to get pretty bad gas mileage. Essentially, you’re making the car’s engine work much harder than necessary, and in order to get the required energy to quickly get up to speed, it’s going to need to burn more gasoline. However, you also don’t want to accelerate so slowly that you bog down the engine, as this will reduce your gas mileage as well. Nice and steady wins the race.
4. Now that you’re up to cruising speed, try to stay at or near the speed limit. While the optimal speed for gas mileage is going to vary by make and model, it’s a pretty good rule of thumb that the fast you go, especially at highway speeds, the worse gas mileage you’re going to get. According to FuelEconomy.gov, driving over the speed limit at highway speeds will reduce your vehicle’s gas mileage by between seven and 23 percent. When it’s all said and done, that adds up to a lot of wasted gasoline and a lot of wasted money.
5. When driving, keep your eyes down the road and coast whenever possible. By constantly tapping your brakes or accelerating up to stoplights or stop signs, all you’re doing is needlessly burning fuel. By being on and off the brakes, you’re wasting the energy (i.e. burned fuel) it took to get up to speed and then you’ll need to burn more fuel to get back up to speed. By accelerating up to stoplights and stop signs, again, you’re using energy that you know you really don’t need. If you give yourself plenty of room between the cars in front of you, you should have no problem seeing what the conditions are like ahead of you, which will allow you to do plenty of coasting and help you avoid brake tapping and needless accelerating.
6. Keep your car as aerodynamic as possible; the more aerodynamic your car is (meaning the less drag that’s put on it) the better your gas mileage is going to be. This means you should drive with the windows up (more on that in a second), the sunroof closed and keep any extemporaneous items (car top carrier, sports team flags, etc.) in the vehicle.
7. Obviously, there are going to be times when it’s warm in the car, you need some air flow and the vent alone just isn’t going to cut it. Now you’ve got to make the choice between rolling down the windows or turning on the air conditioning. If you’re traveling less than 35 mph, you should probably go ahead and just roll down the windows, as there shouldn’t be too much drag on your car. However, once you start traveling above 35 mpg and approach highway speeds, you should keep the windows up and turn on the AC. Regardless of which one you chose, you’re going to reduce your vehicle’s gas mileage, but by following this rule of thumb you can help minimize the effects.
8. Before you get out on the road, make sure that your car’s tires are properly inflated. Think of it this way; have you ever tried to ride a bike that had under inflated tires? It took a lot more work to get up to and maintain speed, didn’t it? Same thing goes for your car; under inflated tires will essentially reduce your car’s gas mileage by two to three percent. While that may not seem like much, this might - if every driver in the United States improved their vehicle’s gas mileage by 2%, we would save nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline each year.
9. Replace your car’s dirty air filter. Driving around with a dirty or clogged air filter can reduce your vehicle’s gas mileage by up to ten percent, which at today’s prices, is the equivalent of adding about 28 cents to each gallon of gasoline you buy. It probably takes less than ten minutes to change the filter and will probably set you back less than 20 dollars, so there’s really no excuse to not get this done.
10. Get all of the useless and needless items out of your car. As a general rule of thumb, for every extra 100 pounds you carry around in your car, you reduce its gas mileage by one to two percent; and if you want to get into the minutiae of it, for every extra pound you carry around in your car, you reduce its gas mileage by 1/100th to 1/50th of a percent. So, now that it’s fall, get the golf clubs out of the trunk of your car and maybe with the money you’ll save on gas, you can splurge and buy the big bucket of balls at the driving range. - BrandonKS, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1good story, we try to follow a few of those already.
- griffeycom, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2If you drive a Hyrbid, a lot of these rules don't matter. My dads Civic Hybrid turns off automatically when you come to a stop, and turns on soon as you let off the brake. Using the AC instead of rolling windows down DOES use more gas, (we've tested this multiple times). And with the Prius, because of the way the electric engine works its BETTER to accelerate fast rather than slow.
- dvsbastard, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1One major one is drive a manual vehicle (and control your revs accordingly)... Although modern auto transmissions are much better now, manual transmissions still have the edge over their auto counterparts...
- EXreaction, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Neutral is probably the best...heck, I throw my car into neutral a couple hundred feet before the stop signs (on a country road or highway).
- diggmeplease, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Oh yeah....thanks for repeating every top 10 list on fuel mileage since 1992..../sarcasm...
- rdelcueto, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2Nope. The proof was totally the opposite... having your windows down is one of the worst thing you can do while driving above 30 mph.
Actually they conclude having the A/C on and off didn't make that much of a difference in fuel efficiency. - gregdogum, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1I clicked the link knowing what I read wasn't going to contain anything I already didn't know. But I'll digg it because it's all on one page and listed clearly for those who don't know any of these tips.
- Bensch, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1It sure should. Ride a bike, take a train, and if you can't - move! If you "can't move" and "can't afford gas" as it gets more expensive, you're really screwed.
- kenben, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1you, sir, are an idiot
- armnpsycho, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Your alternator is always attached to the belt so it is draining kinetic energy from the motor whether or not it is recharging the battery.
- 69Liters, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1If only there were some way to fit a brick inside the gas tank of your car...
- 13B1303, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1... uhhh nerd maybe but not ignorant, how do you think changing your fuel filter will increase gas mileage, please enlighten me.
- chrisbarr, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1well at least you know it would be coming when you hear the engine crank.
- dbalaski, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Naw -- Automatic transmissions aren't bad these days
My VW Passat automatic transmission is really good and Trip-Tronic allows me to override when i feel it necessary (mostly in hilly areas) ... I would say that I would be hard pressed to do better with a manual transmission. - Devin, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1I can't speak for the Civic Hybrid but depending on the temperature, the Prius benefits from having the A/C on instead of rolling down the windows. This is because the battery compartment cooling is linked to the cabin temperature (that's what that vent on the rear passenger side is for). The battery works better when it's kept cool, so sweating it out in a Prius on a hot day is actually more likely to reduce your fuel efficiency. Also, the air conditioner on the Prius is a very efficient unit, powered from the traction battery, so running it would have less impact on your fuel efficiency than a normal ICE-only car.
Some of the other tips in the article, however, are more applicable to a car like the Prius. For instance, increasing your tire pressure on a Prius (and likely the same on a Civic Hybrid or any high-MPG car) is going to have a greater effect than doing so on an ICE-only car since the improvements are percentage based and you're MPG will show a more dramatic jump. Think 40 miles per tank, and air is free!
The article also failed to mention how using a synthetic oil can improve fuel efficiency, as well as the life of the car. The number one thing in common with the highest mileage cars in existence is the use of synthetic oil. I'm also of the opinion that if you have a hybrid, you should be using synthetic because of the stop-start nature of the engine. I use Mobil1 in my Prius and it has worked well although I can't say exactly how much more MPG I get because of it since I switched right when I bought the car. - gummih, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Yes, my bike tires are at 100psi and I coast forever (they can handle 110psi but I need a better pump :o)
- Wolfboy, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1I didn't know that over-inflating the tires on a bicycle would make it easier to sell the bike.
But it would make it easier to pedal. - Porch, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2It's the same list that's been around for years.
Oh, and doing that turning off your car at every light, and expect to buy a new starter every year. That will eat any money saved.
Want to really save money, buy a motorcycle. A cheap Ninja250 will get 70-80mpg. -
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