Gas Saving Myths

[KeepsWhatHappens]

These days everyone wants to save gas. Here's an article on which gas-saving methods are myths.

And another good article on how slowing down a bit saves alot of money.

[ericfoltz]

If anyone remembers the fuel crisis of the late '70s, one of the first things they did was lower the speed limit to 55mph. Made a huge dent in demand.

[duke777]

Driving slow on open highway is soooo.....difficult!

My car get's only 1mpg better at 80 compare to 65 or 26 vs. 25mpg.

[BFloFoxRider.]

now they may raise the speed limit to 70..
they did it in Iowa and crash rates did not go up, so supposedly CA is considering it
Theyre really trying to screw us into spending lots of Dough on Gas money

[EJ_92606]

I've started looking far ahead on city streets and if the light is red, I drop the car in neutral and coast up to it...its amazing how far you can coast in neutral. It seems to have added about 1-2mpg on my car and I get to my destination at the same time as I would have.

[Elisheva]

Thanks for both of those articles. I will be slowing down on the freeway for sure.

Happy to hear that if I'm filling my tank during the heat of the day, I'm not being short-changed on my gas!

[ghixon]

Can we add the tail gate down story for P/U truck drivers. I was always fooled by this one.

http://www.trucktrend.com/features/c...yth/index.html

[EJ_92606]

Originally Posted by ghixon

Can we add the tail gate down story for P/U truck drivers. I was always fooled by this one.

http://www.trucktrend.com/features/c...yth/index.html

Interesting..I love myth busting!

[DISCO]

There is an easy way to lower your gas expenses without even working on your car

Step one: get yourself about a four foot length of some 3/8 inch goodyear fuel rated hose.

Step two: Find a bucket with a spout or even better a five gallon jerry can with a nozzle.

Step three: Wait for the sun to go down, pull on a dark hooded sweatshirt and gloves.

Step Four: Prowl your neighborhood for any vehicle without a locking fuel cap (police cars are good choices, since your tax dollars topped them off anyway)

Step five: Insert your gas card (hose) and first blow then suck the liquid gold out of the pipe.

Step six: Drain hose into your resivior of choice and thank your donor for helping you out with the high price of fuel.

Step seven (final): Have yourself a mint, but wait a few minutes before smoking.

[ryandood]

Glad to see other people are talking about slowing down to get better mileage. It seems like a lot of people complain about high gas prices and then go racing around town and can't figure out why their car gets bad mpg? .... one of life's mysteries I guess.......

[ghixon]

Originally Posted by EJ_92606

Interesting..I love myth busting!

Me too. I'm addicted to Mythbusters on TLC.

[OldDogDan]

That same original post links to some diesel myth-busting.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/27/auto...ion=2008031111

I've really been enjoying the torque and 42-44mpg I get in my '04 Jetta diesel. Yeah, diesel costs more, but for 10-15% more cost I get 25-35% better mileage than similar gas engine vehicles.

[silverspot]

Here's an idea for driving down the price of crude oil...

OPEC sells oil for $136.00 a barrel.
OPEC nations buy U.S. grain at $7.00 a bushel.
Solution: Sell grain for $136.00 a bushel.
Can't buy it? Tough! Eat your oil!
Ought to go well with a nice thick grilled filet of camel butt!!!

One of my favorite episodes of MythBusters is the one where they 'tailgated' semi trucks... and the gas mileage improved dramatically - even at ~10 car lengths back. I find myself slowing just a bit and ducking behind a semi that's doing around 65mph just to pick up a few mpg when I can.

[2wheel_lee]

Originally Posted by ryandood

Glad to see other people are talking about slowing down to get better mileage. It seems like a lot of people complain about high gas prices and then go racing around town and can't figure out why their car gets bad mpg? .... one of life's mysteries I guess.......

Although I complain a lot more about those damn Prius drivers who drive 55 mph in the carpool lane when the normal lanes are going faster (and the posted speed limit is 65 mph).

[tkblazer]

Originally Posted by 2wheel_lee

Although I complain a lot more about those damn Prius drivers who drive 55 mph in the carpool lane when the normal lanes are going faster (and the posted speed limit is 65 mph).

you just complain a lot Lee

[2wheel_lee]

Originally Posted by tkblazer

you just complain a lot Lee

I just call it as I see it.

[freekengo]

Originally Posted by duke777

Driving slow on open highway is soooo.....difficult!

My car get's only 1mpg better at 80 compare to 65 or 26 vs. 25mpg.

That's because the Elements has the aerodynamic efficiency of a barn!

[duke777]

Originally Posted by EJ_92606

I've started looking far ahead on city streets and if the light is red, I drop the car in neutral and coast up to it...its amazing how far you can coast in neutral. It seems to have added about 1-2mpg on my car and I get to my destination at the same time as I would have.

As far as I know that's illegal. I've tried on couple cars and some worked but one actually cut the engine out. Depends on the car I guess.

Originally Posted by freekengo

That's because the Elements has the aerodynamic efficiency of a barn!

Soooo......I need to slow down to 35?

[freekengo]

Originally Posted by duke777

Soooo......I need to slow down to 35?

I don't know..... I found the Element to be not the most efficient vehicle..... Fantastic everywhere else but just not as efficient as I woule like it to be. This is comming from an 04' EX 4WD owner. LEE! When is the Element TDI comming out! I would buy one now! maybe 2!