Gas Saving Tips

[Magny]

I know this belongs in some other line, but I had to put it here, its part of peformance anyways :lol

> Turn off your engine if you are stopping for more than 30 seconds. Restarting your car takes less gasoline than idling.

:lol i thought starting a car consumes more gas just to get it goin again, or was that from a dead cold engine :lol

> Remove unused luggage, bicycle or ski racks and other extra weight you may have in your car. Every 200 pounds of unnecessary weight reduces mileage by one mile per gallon. (Yet another reason to go on that diet!)

Thats why fat people are complaining that they aren't getting good gas milage :lol j/k

[Cyric_accord]

hmmm, I'm 223 lbs and carry 2 5-quart and 2 1-quart oil bottles in my LXi, and I still get 32 mpg

[zero.counter]

Check and replace your spark plugs
Check your tire pressure
Replace your Air, Fuel (both), and Oil filters
Close your windows when driving on the highway and use the A/C (if you have one)

There are more...

[johndej]

put it in neutral on hills (i can glide to my house from 1/2 a mile away). umm... keep your tire pressure up to the recomended level. prob just do a full tune up.

[Coitis1]

bum rides off of friends and parents

[Magny]

Originally posted by Coitis1
bum rides off of friends and parents

LOL I did this for a while, but I got bored of it. I wanted to drive, I like driving.

[BITESIZE]

Don't drive your car like I do. Like a bat out of hell all the time!

[Justin86]

Well I just ride my bike to school and back. It is only a 2 mile ride.

[Swan]

Originally posted by BITESIZE
Don't drive your car like I do. Like a bat out of hell all the time!

I feel ya on this one! I almost never shift under 5k RPM... lol I'm gonna regret it sooner or later! in fact, I already have a couple of times! but its more fun than shifting at 3k hehhehe

[AZmike]

Originally posted by zero.counter

Close your windows when driving on the highway and use the A/C (if you have one)

There are more...

Running the air conditioner compressor uses far more fuel than the small increase in drag from the windows being down.

[Grant2k]

i'm so cheap my A/C is broken and in the summer i still drive on the highway with the windows almost all the way up.

[Magny]

want a good A/C (not a real one), just roll your driver door window all the way down keeo the front passenger closed. In the back keep the driver side closed and open the other one.
X's are the one:
x_
_x

It creates a cyclone in your car, kinda, but works to cool down.

[zero.counter]

Originally posted by AZmike
Running the air conditioner compressor uses far more fuel than the small increase in drag from the windows being down.
That's funny. Although that may or even could be understood for some cars, it is not for most.

The compressor makes the engine work a little harder by use of the associated belt, thus creating more drag on the crank. We all know that it will use up energy, but we have to apply basic physics and the ideal behind momentum to really appreciate my statement and is thoroughly explained in the following.

Assuming that your highway driving is usually over 60MPH, if would be safe to say that a drag force of wind would be pushed on the interior of the car, causing the engine to necessitate a power increase and compensate for such drag, in doing so would need to push the pedal a little further to maintain a speed consistent to that if the drag coefficient was deleted and you were driving with the windows closed rolled down.

I guess to get my point across, I would have to ask this. Is it really and absolutely untrue, my statement that is? If so, then I would care to have some documentation or citing to reprogram what I have known for years to be true. The easiest way to verify the validity of the claim, is to visit the owners manual provided with the car.

Toodles... :wave:

[zero.counter]

Here is the low-down. Like I was saying, more energy is required to run the A/C, thus wasting gas. But my original post was insinuating that if you travel on highways, it would be to your advantage to use the A/C and close the windows to reduce drag. :)

I have some more info for those interested in more gas saving tips:
1.CBSNEWS (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/05/23/earlyshow/saturday/main292951.shtml)
2.Iowa Energy Center (http://www.energy.iastate.edu/news/pr/pr-gasmileage.html)
3.Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/gasave.htm)
4.About Auto Repair (http://autorepair.about.com/library/weekly/aa022203d.htm)
5.About Couponing (http://couponing.about.com/cs/auto/ht/htsaveongas.htm)
6.Auto Education (http://www.autoeducation.com/articles/getting_ready_for_summer.htm)

If I get enough inquiries, I could put them all into one F.A.Q. in a pdf form. Just let me know.

[MIK3]

Some things I do on a normal basis...I don't know if they save on gas or not

Don't use A/C...but it's ice cold when I do

Shift into neutral about 1/5mile away from a red light.

Use cruise control alot

Car has nothing in it other than a small tool kit in the back

Use free ways when possible

Often catch that yellow light, haha, w/ out accelerating

Never rev for the hell of it while in neutral or park

Don't floor it too much

[Grant2k]

you should really downshift for emergency manuvers rather than coasting in neutral.

i also try to drive with my headlights down as much as possible, but i do turn them on. i'm not one of those people who drives around at night with only my parking lights on. and i turn my lights on in the slightest bit of rain. I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH NO HEADLIGHTS.

[toastyghost]

Originally posted by Justin86
Well I just ride my bike to school and back. It is only a 2 mile ride.
Bike? Pssshhhh... just skip. Much easier.

[k-roy]

Originally posted by Grant2k
you should really downshift for emergency manuvers rather than coasting in neutral.

i also try to drive with my headlights down as much as possible, but i do turn them on. i'm not one of those people who drives around at night with only my parking lights on. and i turn my lights on in the slightest bit of rain. I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH NO HEADLIGHTS.

Right on!:flash: