Fuel Saving Tips

[Mike Rotch]

Well, with crude oil prices seemingly unstoppable, here are some fuel conservation tips that I found in a recent AA magazine.

Use 👍, or dont

• Close all windows when driving. An open window can increase drag on a car by up to 20%.
• Use the correct octane for your car. Using a higher octane than your car was designed for simply means you are paying more for fuel, and it it being burned at a higher rate then lower octanes.
• Where possible, only use the first 25% of the accelerator. This allows for a consistant acceleration, rather than throttle jockeying. Also avoid using 100% of the throttle, as this (depending on engine sophistication) simply means more fuel is being dumped into the combustion chamber, with only marginal increase in forward movement compared to a more modest thottle opening.
• Where possible, learn the traffic patterns. This will allow you to take into account movement flows; instead of racing to the next set of lights, knowing they will be red, why not coast up to them or proceed at a pace whereby they are green when you arrive.
• Avoid throttle jockeying in traffic. Rather modulate the throttle than accelerate hard and than have to brake. It saves the brake pads too 👍
• Dont ride the clutch to keep the car on a hill. This reduces the life of the clutch and involves unnecessary fuel consumption.
• A large percentage of high fuel consumption is atributable to cold starts. Rather than make numerous short trips, plan your excursions in advance.

👍

 

[Race Idiot]

I always make sure to drive at 4000rpm, is that a good idea for fuel consumption?

Bah.

You forgot about overloading the car and correct tyre pressure.

 

[Mike Rotch]

I think the optimum fuel consumption is obtained between 100kph and 110kph.

Overinflation of tyres > Underinflation from a wear-rate and fuel saving point of view. Obviously the correct pressure is the best solution though.

 

[Jay]

I think the optimum fuel consumption is obtained between 100kph and 110kph.

I thought it was alittle lower? like 80-90kph.

 

[MazKid]

But, but! It's more fun to floor it up to speed than just sit there. Gah!

Guess this means you don't do spirited driving...

 

[TheCracker]

Fuel saving tips? - simple, buy a car that gets better milage.

 

[Race Idiot]

I think the optimum fuel consumption is obtained between 100kph and 110kph.

Overinflation of tyres > Underinflation from a wear-rate and fuel saving point of view. Obviously the correct pressure is the best solution though.

The majority of my driving is sat around 60-65 in 5th gear, rarely i'll go any faster than that. And I never said overinflate your tyres, although you are more than welcome to do that if you want.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Fuel saving tips? - simple, buy a car that gets better milage.

Thanks Einstein. I am sure people buying cars more than 8 months ago all saw that oil prices were going to rise by 50% and adjusted their purchases accordingly.

But, but! It's more fun to floor it up to speed than just sit there. Gah!

Ay, it is. I drive like that when necessary - I have to. Otherwise I will get dropped by busses and people on push bikes

And I never said overinflate your tyres, although you are more than welcome to do that if you want

I never said you said overinflate your tyres. I said it is better to overinflate rather than underinflate, but better still to get it right the first time.

I thought it was alittle lower? like 80-90kph.

Could be, but I think on most cars 80kph is too low to sustain 4th gear driving, whereas 110kph is pretty much ideal 4th gear driving on flat roads.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

The best fuel saving tip since I like muscle cars was for me was to install a 6 speed into my old gas guzzling car instead of its original 4 speed.
Here is the best alternative:

By TheCracker: Fuel saving tips? - simple, buy a car that gets better milage.

👍

 

[TheCracker]

A manual box instead of auto may also help.

when you pay $7.11 per gallon as we do here in the UK buying a car that does better milage is important!

 

[Quick_Nick]

What I like to do is floor it & get up to 80mph. Then I can coast for 5 minutes strait with my foot on the clutch.

 

[retsmah]

I thought it was alittle lower? like 80-90kph.

Depends on the car, there's no single speed that will give the best fuel mileage for all cars. Depends on aerodynamics, the engine, gearing, etc. My Civic did best at around 65mph, while my parent's Accord does best at around 75mph.

I drive pretty much without worrying about fuel economy... even if you drive the MR2 hard it won't drop too much below 30mpg.

 

[87chevy]

I found out real quick that my GT-S will eat up gas if i have fun with it. My first tank was 18mpg. But my next tank a made an effort to drive conservatively and got 25.8mpg. This is all city driving.

 

[daan]

My normal driving fuel consumption is 26mpg.

When I go on a motorway run at 75-80mph, I get 33mpg.

Therefore, driving faster saves fuel 👍

EDIT: Apart from that, my consumption stays at about 26mpg no matter what I do. I get the odd 25 or 27, but it's remarkably consistent.

 

[Event]

I get about 17mpg while doing very little aggressive driveing, and get as low as 14mpg when doing a lot of aggresive driving. This car was supposed to get decent mileage. I have put about 120 highway miles on it this past week, and have driven conservatively so I might be able to get to 18MPG! These are V8 feul consumption numbers... I have a V6.

 

[87chevy]

^ sucks. is it suped up?

did anyone mention a K&N air filter?? Cheap and easy mpg upgrade right there. Also, would rolling with windows down and A/C off be better than windows up w/ A/C??? and i though the windows down thing doesn't have a great affect until 55+ mph???

 

[Firebird]

Something most spirited drivers with manual transmissions overlook:

Don't engine brake. Use your brakes to slow you down, not your powertrain. It's what the brakes are for.

 

[skip0110]

I once got 11 mpg out of a carb'ed Honda 1.5 L four. It was in the winter.

My car now usually gives me 23-30 mpg, depending on how I drive.

 

[Famine]

A good one for anyone with an EFi engine (it may apply to other types too - I'm unsure).

When decelerating, leave the car in gear for as long as possible. While the car is in motion and your foot is not on the accelerator, the wheels drive the engine and the engine uses NO FUEL AT ALL. If you depress the clutch pedal, the engine requires fuel to drive it to idle speed.

I get 22mpg on short hops to work. I can scrape a 40mpg on a long motorway schlepp.

 

[RacyBacy]

What I like to do is floor it & get up to 80mph. Then I can coast for 5 minutes strait with my foot on the clutch.

You should always have the car in gear when driving since you will have more control. Having to do an emergency stop with the car out of gear means an increased stopping distance since you have disabled engine braking. Dipping the clutch means you are free wheeling.

Or do you mean that you rest your foot on the clutch pedal? That's riding the clutch and isn't too bright either. That's why most cars have a foot rest. Use it!

 

[Sage]

What I like to do is floor it & get up to 80mph. Then I can coast for 5 minutes strait with my foot on the clutch.

Doesn't make much sense – I don't know about you, but I find it infinitely easier to hold down the gas pedal for 5 minutes than the clutch, because clutch pedals are supposed to be heavy. You can easily see this by trying to brake with your left foot (don't try that with any traffic around – you'll be surprised).

I've heard that leaving the cruise control on when on the freeway helps a bit in gas mileage, since you're feeding the gas at a constant rate. I'd imagine the most significant thing you can do to help mileage is to avoid slamming the gas after stopping – for every car, there's a physical limit that they can accelerate at, so there's no point in feeding more gas than necessary (and of course, nobody needs to accelerate at the highest rate possible in normal driving).

 

[Quick_Nick]

When decelerating, leave the car in gear for as long as possible. While the car is in motion and your foot is not on the accelerator, the wheels drive the engine and the engine uses NO FUEL AT ALL. If you depress the clutch pedal, the engine requires fuel to drive it to idle speed.

I honestly never knew that. I guess it would work going downhill at the right steepness you could keep going without using any gas or accelerate. If you were on level ground you would slow down quickly though.

You should always have the car in gear when driving since you will have more control. Having to do an emergency stop with the car out of gear means an increased stopping distance since you have disabled engine braking. Dipping the clutch means you are free wheeling.

If the car is in gear & you slam on the brakes you might kill the engine if the wheels lock up. This will happen even if the car is still moving. I guess you might get a slightly shorter distance though.

Doesn't make much sense – I don't know about you, but I find it infinitely easier to hold down the gas pedal for 5 minutes than the clutch, because clutch pedals are supposed to be heavy.

I never said it was easier. I just said it’s a good way to save gas. Does it really matter any way? The clutch pedal is only about 45 lbs of resistance.

Another tip: if you drive a truck you should get a bed cover or open the tailgate.

 

[Event]

^ sucks. is it suped up?

suped-down would be more accurate. 0-60 in 12s. It has less torque than my parent's MINIVAN! Our lawnmower probably has more...

 

[retsmah]

You should always have the car in gear when driving since you will have more control. Having to do an emergency stop with the car out of gear means an increased stopping distance since you have disabled engine braking. Dipping the clutch means you are free wheeling.

In my car, you can lock up the wheels using just the brakes... so you can get maximum stopping without even using all of the brakes, you don't have to throw any engine braking on top. maybe all cars aren't this way, but I'd be kinda nervous driving a car that doesn't have good enough brakes to lock up the tires (or activate the ABS).

 

[neanderthal]

tune up your car
add pressure to the tires but do not exceed the maximum pressure listed on the sidewall
remove all unnecessary junk from your trunk/ boot
turn off AC and use just the fan
keep the windows closed and the sunroof too
when driving, avoid harsh acceleration
from a stop try to get to cruising speed as expeditiously as possible. this does not mean drag race to cruising speed
anticipate the ebb and flow of traffic and take your foot off the accelerator as soon as you can see you will be slowing down/ stopping.
use freeways/ motorways as much as possible. acceleration uses more fuel than constant speed driving
do not attempt to keep to a set limit. rather, set yourself a range (between sixty and seventy) use gentle throttle input to keep your speed in that range rather than harsh accelaration.
let the car slow down on uphills and speed up on downhills
use the brakes as little as possible

by doing this i can make a tank last two weeks vs 3 days (if im late everyday and drive hard.)

 

[RacyBacy]

In my car, you can lock up the wheels using just the brakes... so you can get maximum stopping without even using all of the brakes, you don't have to throw any engine braking on top.

The minimum stopping distance isn't achieved when you lock the brakes. Brakes are most effective at slowing a car just before wheel lock up.

Why do you think ABS was introduced? As well as helping you steer when braking it also cuts stopping distances (in most cases).

*Disclaimer: Don't think that you can drive faster if you have ABS!*

 

[Firebird]

Why do you think ABS was introduced? As well as helping you steer when braking it also cuts stopping distances (in most cases).

Actually, ABS increases stopping distances. When the sensors detect imminent lock-up they release pressure, then apply more, then release, apply, release, apply, release... You end up travelling a longer distance if you were to threshold brake.

Most people aren't proficient enough to threshold brake, or are too panicky.

 

[daan]

Actually, ABS increases stopping distances.

For a racing driver who knows what he's doing.

You can argue it both ways. We all know what we should do in an emergency situation, but how many of us will actually do it? Most of us would just panic and press the brake as hard as we could.

So for a normal driver, ABS decreases stopping distance in an emergency situation and still gives us steering control.

For a racing driver, ABS increases stopping distances.

 

[Firebird]

You don't have to be Mario Andretti to threshold brake.

And you shouldn't panic while driving, ever.


Driving should be taught on icy roads. You learn to never panic, and you learn to modulate your brakes.

 

[daan]

And you shouldn't panic while driving, ever.

No, you shouldn't, but that's not to say you won't

But I'm not neccessarily saying that we are normal drivers. I would say that 80-90% of drivers drive because they have to. Most of us here are enthusiasts and drive because we want to, and because of that we should be better drivers. We know to steer into skids. We know not to just stand on the brakes. We know what understeer/oversteer is. Normal people who drive because they have to don't know about any of that.

Driving should be taught on icy roads. You learn to never panic, and you learn to modulate your brakes.

Yup. At the very least everyone should be forced to have a few lessons on a skid pan.

Anyway, back on topic. Why do people who drive trucks/pickups with the aerodynamic properties of a brick, with another smaller brick on top, care about having their window open/tailgate down?