Fuel Saving Tips

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Rotch
  • 55 comments
  • 1,449 views
Well, I can get my corolla auto 1.6 up to 60km/h without going over 2000rpm.
Although its a bit slow.

Guess what, I get 50km/L with my 100cc moped even when I trash it hard. :)
Hard means full throttle, top speed when there is a chance. BTW, its top speed is only 90KM/h.
 
TheCracker
Fuel saving tips? - simple, buy a car that gets better milage.
Click to expand...
That's the epitome of false economy.:lol:
If I buy a used TDI Volkswagen for $12,000 because it gets 46 MPG, I still have to run thru about 6,000 gallons of fuel to recoup what I spent on the car.
If my math is holding up, that's somewhere in the region of 300,000 miles or about 15 years of driving.

Buy a car because you like the car. Factor in gas mileage, but don't let it rule your decision. Unless you're looking at something that gets single digit mileage figures.
 
Gil
That's the epitome of false economy.:lol:
If I buy a used TDI Volkswagen for $12,000 because it gets 46 MPG, I still have to run thru about 6,000 gallons of fuel to recoup what I spent on the car.
If my math is holding up, that's somewhere in the region of 300,000 miles or about 15 years of driving.
Click to expand...

But then you get more of your money back when you come to sell your VW, diesels are always popular in the used car markets because of their ecconomy and the fact that the engines are generaly much longer lasting than their petrol counterparts.

Gil
Buy a car because you like the car. Factor in gas mileage, but don't let it rule your decision. Unless you're looking at something that gets single digit mileage figures.
Click to expand...

Thats easy to say when your fuel is so cheep- when you are paying $7-8 per US Gallon as we do in the UK and europe, you have to factor ecconomy into it. After having my last car stolen and written-off i replaced it with the petrol version of the same model - i now go through 30% more fuel per week for no added performance and a lesser re-sale value.
 
Wider gears help fuel economy. Some of the simplest things to remember are that when you push the throttle more, more fuel and air is added to the combustion cycle. The other thing is that higher RPMs means more combustion cycles in the same amount of time vs. lower RPMs. So in other words try not to let the engine rev out more than it needs to, and of course be easy on the gas. With fewer cylinders you can afford to rev it a little higher (a good idea for normal acceleration) because it has fewer combustion cycles per rotation. So in other words, if an 8-cylinder motor is cruisin along at 1,200 RPMs, a 4-cylinder engine would have to do 2,400 RPMs to have the same number of combustion cycles in any amount of time. That's mostly why fewer cylinders get better gas mileage.
 
Here's a good tip that I don't think anyone's mentioned yet...

When you're going to fill you tank with fuel, do it early in the morning or late at nite, when the air is coolest.

I don't know the science behind it - but aparently you can squeeze more fuel in because it's denser or something... :)
 
Another topic that is well covered by BBC's Top Gear :D
Jeremy Clarkson drove from London to Glasgow, and back on a single tank of petrol. Also he went about 20 miles with the car telling him he had no petrol.
Jeremy has gone all green! Diesel cars are well known for their brilliant fuel economy, that's why the Americans refuse to drive them. So we wondered just how good is a diesel engine? Could Jeremy drive an Audi A8 all the way to Edinburgh and back on just one tank of fuel. It sounds absolutely insane, doesn't it? Even Audi laughed at us when we told them what we were going to do. "Zis car can't go 800 miles on one tank of ze petrol," they said.
Click to expand...
I think it was the 4litre TDi engine.

When you're going to fill you tank with fuel, do it early in the morning or late at nite, when the air is coolest.

I don't know the science behind it - but aparently you can squeeze more fuel in because it's denser or something...
Click to expand...
the cooler a liquid or gas is the denser it is. So while the pump is counting so much you are actually pumping in slightly more.
 
RacyBacy
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.
Click to expand...

That was my point. If your brakes can lock up the tires, then you don't even use 100% of the brakes. Throwing engine braking on top of that isn't going to make the car stop faster.
 
Whoa...we have a Toyota (Tercel, thank you very much) and yes it's an automatic (mom made the call, not me) and it still gets around 35mpg in the city and nearly 43mpg on highway. its great on fuel, only about $20 a month! we really should get it out tho, take it for a run...i heard somewhere that if you have a gasoline with low or no lead it also gets better mileage...true?
 
PublicSecrecy
...i heard somewhere that if you have a gasoline with low or no lead it also gets better mileage...
Click to expand...

I think they have unleaded gasoline because leaded gasoline will clog the catalytic converter. You would probably get the same mileage from either unleaded or leaded.
 
TheCracker
But then you get more of your money back when you come to sell your VW, diesels are always popular in the used car markets because of their ecconomy and the fact that the engines are generaly much longer lasting than their petrol counterparts.



Thats easy to say when your fuel is so cheep- when you are paying $7-8 per US Gallon as we do in the UK and europe, you have to factor ecconomy into it. After having my last car stolen and written-off i replaced it with the petrol version of the same model - i now go through 30% more fuel per week for no added performance and a lesser re-sale value.
Click to expand...

Granted, I was thinking only of the US. I will concede that where gas is truly outrageous in cost, that fuel consumption is much more of a consideration.
 
Thanks...so does it just build up in the catalytic converter and then eventually start hindering your horsepower or does it just coat it and kind of screw up your emissions?
 
I don't know what the consequences would be. All I know is that you're not supposed to put leaded gasoline in a car with a catalytic converter.
 
And.. Just to let you know..

Most gas stations correct their fuel temperature (to 15 degress C), so unless your station doesn't do that, don't bother with the at night//in the morning refilling strategy)
 
This doesn't really a question about saving fuel, it is about using it, but I once heard that every time you start or turn off your car you use fuel equivalent to the fuel you would use if you let the car sit and idle for 10 minutes. Is this true?
 
not so much when you turn off your car, but when you turn it on it does use a lot more fuel than just idling. i dont know if there is a specific time ascribed to it though.

i know its not true of the hybrids. :)

and definitely not so true of the newer ULEV cars whose fuel mapping is very concise , vs some carburetted beast from the sixties thats running a lumpy cam.
 
Is also true that cellphone->static->gas vapour->spark->explosion thing true as well? I've head many theories about this:

You're cruising along the interstate for about a day now and occasionally you stop for a bite to eat and then you come to a gas station. From the long trip static electricity has built up form the air passing over the car and the body shell is now electro-statically charged. As you move out of your seat (shifting ur ass across the fabric) you build up a little more static electricity. You calmly walk over to the pump, stick in the nozzle and...

#1. the static electricity jumps from your hand to the nozzle to the body paneling creating a small spark that then ignites the vapours form the gas tank and kills you nice and painfully slow....
OR

#2. You keep talking on your cellphone and close the door, charging the body paneling full of electricity. You go to the pump and stick the nozzle in while continueing to chat away. As you pull the nozzle out you break the circuit forcing the current to jump thru the air creating a tiny spark that then ignites the gas-vapours.

-Is any of this true?
If not, then which do you think is the more likely to happen? I heard one of these by my science teacher who said that #1 has happened more than once. Stupid Gas-vapours.
 
When you get out the car, don't you touch the door or any part of the body? That would release all of the static electricity and you would get the shock, no?
 
I heard after getting out of your car @ a gas station you're supposed to touch a metal part of it to transfer the static electricity form the car to you body to the ground, thus defusing it of any static electricity build-up. The back of my subwoofer has these thingies that are suppose to shoot electrons off it in the event of static buildup. It supposed to reduce fire hazards or something. I also heard thats why those fins on the bottom of the Dodge Viper GTS-R are there, to expell any static build up, and to also provide high-speed stabilitah.
 
PublicSecrecy
I heard after getting out of your car @ a gas station you're supposed to touch a metal part of it to transfer the static electricity form the car to you body to the ground, thus defusing it of any static electricity build-up. The back of my subwoofer has these thingies that are suppose to shoot electrons off it in the event of static buildup. It supposed to reduce fire hazards or something. I also heard thats why those fins on the bottom of the Dodge Viper GTS-R are there, to expell any static build up, and to also provide high-speed stabilitah.
Click to expand...
If there are fins on your sub, I would expect that they would be there to expel heat, not static electricity. Generating a couple hundred watts at 14 V requires a lot of current, and all those busy electrons are bound to generate quite a bit of heat.

Actually, I dont think metal can hold a static charge. Arent the metal electrons free to move every-which-way, which kind of precludes any static buildup? When you are shocked by the car, it is acutally you shocking the car, with the static built up on your clothes.
 
Yeah. You can start your vehicle on fire if the static sparks at the gas pump. Several cars here in this area go up in flames every year because of this. The static built up from sliding on the seat and they touch the gas pump and they shock it causing a spark. They tell you to touch the car before the pump right on the gas pump nozzle.
 
cardude2004
Yeah. You can start your vehicle on fire if the static sparks at the gas pump. Several cars here in this area go up in flames every year because of this. The static built up from sliding on the seat and they touch the gas pump and they shock it causing a spark. They tell you to touch the car before the pump right on the gas pump nozzle.
Click to expand...

Thats to de-electrify/ground yourself tho. As for the fins/diffusers i heard they were for aerodynamic (ND4SPD) purposes and i also heard that it serves as a place for electrons to be expelled from as air passes over the car body generating static electricity (science teacher). Think it could be both, or that neither are true?
 

Latest Posts

Back