Tips On How To Save Money On Gas
Yes, These Tips Are Frugal, But They Work
If the only obstacle standing in your way of a fun-filled summer road trip is whether or not you can afford to pay for gas, you shouldn’t worry. There are many things you can do, aside from going out and buying a more fuel efficient car, that will help you tremendously to cut down your gasoline expenses. Many require only minor adjustments to your driving style. Here are 10 of the 29 Tips…
Brake the right way
1. A car consumes most gas as it accelerates. It’s a simply law of physics (force equals mass times acceleration). A moving car doesn’t require much gasoline to keep moving (due to the inherent inertia). In real life this means, in order to improve your mileage you need to keep the ride smooth. For instance… About 30% of the drivers seen in somewhat heavy traffic apparently cannot control their speed with the accelerator pad alone. Those guys speed up and slam on the brakes all the time. Obviously, that makes the guy following too close behind very nervous and he too needs to brake and accelerate constantly. In really heavy (but still moving) traffic about 90% of the cars do this. It is relatively easy to hold a speed in a long line of cars without stepping on the brake. Just keep a little bit more distance and try to practice this. If the traffic moves along, you rarely need to brake, unless everything slows down. If you pay attention to the cars ahead of you (not just the one right in front of your nose, but the other cars ahead of that one), you can anticipate when things will slow down and you can ease off the gas.
Hybrid drivers
2. If you own a hybrid powered car, the statement above applies even more to you. Try to avoid fast braking. Hybrid cars have the ability to convert braking power into electric energy and store them in their batteries. However this (induction) will only give you so much braking power. If you need to decelerate faster, your brakes will engage and energy will be lost. So the next time you are approaching a traffic light, start braking a lot sooner and don’t slam on the brakes the last minute. Turn off your air condition
3. This tip might be somewhat impractical in some areas in the U.S. Who would dare to switch off the air condition in Arizona or Texas in the Summer. Park your car in the shade if you can, so you won’t have to keep the AC working as hard when you go somewhere. Roll down the windows just a tiny bit, so the air can circulate through your car while you are parked (might not be a good idea in areas with a high theft rate). Turn off the AC 5 minutes before you reach your destination and don’t keep it working until the last second.4. Overall a manual transmission can be a lot more fuel efficient. If you have a manual transmission and want to save some gas, you need to shift up early and shift down late. Most people get taught that they need to shift at a certain RPM, which is BS. You need to feel the car and the load condition to figure out when you need to shift. A car that goes uphill needs to pull a lot more and should be driven at a higher RPM (or else it jumps). On the other side, if you are gliding along an empty road, you can drive at extremely low RPM (high gear). Then if you want to accelerate (you need a bit more power), you quickly shift down, get up to speed and shift up again.
Shifting Automatic
5. If you have a cruise control and there isn’t a whole lot of traffic, you probably should use it (it will keep the speed constant and hence doesn’t need to accelerate).
6. Use the overdrive gears, as this will generally keep your RPM down and your wallet happy.
7. Avoid heavy traffic and lots of traffic lights. The shortest route is not always the most fuel efficient if you have to stop a lot.
8. Coming back to the force equals mass times acceleration. You can also try to reduce the mass of your car by emptying out the trunk and removing heavy items that you don’t need (keep your spare tire and car lift, but get rid of the gardening equipment).
Turn your car off
9. When you turn on a car, it uses a bit of gas. When the car is idling, it uses a fixed amount of gas over a period of time (especially with the AC on). In most scenarios (depending on the car), the energy balance will be positive if you turn off your car for more then 20 seconds. That means you can save gas if you turn off you car while waiting at long traffic light sequences, railroad crossings or while your better half pulls money from the ATM. That’s a bit extreme! People will think you’ve got engine problems.
10. Drive Slower. It’s your choice. There is not that much difference between 60mph and 65mph in terms of fuel consumption. But there is between 65mph and 110mph.
