list of gas saving tips from best to worst

[Curt8888]

my page lists some government sites and cool tools to help people save gas:
http://www.online-auto.net/gas-mileage.htm

[james131x]

Originally Posted by bzipitidoo

Reposting and adding to what I put in cleanmpg.

So far, I have gathered that this is what you should do to save gas, in order from the quickest, easiest, and cheapest ideas, to the more expensive, inconvenient, uncomfortable, dubious, and/or difficult ones.

1. inflate tires (to at least the maximum recommended on the tire walls)
2. throw out extra weight: clean out the beer (root beer of course, officer) cans and bottles, etc
3. change your driving habits: drive slower, accelerate more slowly, try to do acceleration on downhill slopes and avoid accelerating on uphill, coast up to stop lights, shut engine off when stopped.
4. change to lighter weight oil
5. install a gas mileage indicator (to help with #3)
6. Maintenance: Keep engine tuned. pay special attention to the O2 sensors

Those are the easiest and best. From here on it gets worse with respect to sacrifices, significant expenses, dubious benefits, or decreased safety.

7. Limit power use: no A/C, no loud radio, drive in daytime so won't have to use headlights. change incandescent bulbs to LEDs.
8. upgrade to low rolling resistance tires.
9. More radical changes in driving technique: Shut engine off while coasting (not always legal, is that?) and master technique of restarting engine with clutch rather than starter, make high G turns rather than touch those brakes,
10. more serious weight reduction: dump the spare tire and jack and carry a cell phone and an emergency number instead, trade out steel rims for lightweight aluminum, replace steel hood and fenders with carbon fiber (if available for your vehicle), maybe trade out glass side and rear windows for some sort of plastic, toss out the passenger and back seats
11. trade up to a more efficient car (if what you have is nothing special)
12. aftermarket engine upgrades: headers instead of stock exhaust manifold, camshafts specially tuned for FE . Hotter thermostat, electric fan for radiator (well, most cars do that nowadays), chips.
13. do it yourself aerodynamics: make skirts for the wheel wells, spoilers, build up back so it's more like a teardrop shape, do something about the side mirrors, and do what you can to smooth the underside.
14. add solar cells to lighten the load on the alternator.
15. Or dump the alternator and change to a deep cycle battery, and get a charger. recharge often.

And now, to boldly go where no one has gone before. Or very few have gone, because it's so uncertain and heart stoppingly expensive.

16. Radical body: Acquire a body made entirely from lightweight material, be that aluminum, magnesium, or other alloys, or composites. How one keeps it street legal, I don't know.
17. Radical engine work: make something that can burn methanol, and dispense with the radiator and water pump (Scientific American article from some 10 years ago), go with a dry sump (Hey Smokey column in Motor Trend from years ago), and where oh where is the 42V standard will all the cool gas saving features like electrically actuated valves with whatever timing was desired and no losses from camshafts, a single winding for both alternator and starter integrated with the flywheel and the wonderful ability to instantly start, etc. Still all ICE tho.


No doubt I missed plenty of ideas. And please discuss the ordering. I'd like to see something like the above list somewhere, perhaps as a FAQ. Or is there already such a list?

i recently heard california has worst gas for good mpg's because of legislation for a variety of mandated efficiency killing additives in all the different blends, so where do i find which are the best states?

[dorota79]

Dear folks check out this volkswagon website and the gas milage their cars get. Why do we not have these cars in the US? Emission controls may cut into gas mileage a little. Click on an engine and go to more info. http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/#/new/po...-transmission/

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by dorota79

Why do we not have these cars in the US?

Bad timing. Back in the 80s and when gas prices were very low in the early 90s, we had loads of small slow cars, and loads of people drove them and got tired of them. They collectively bought SUVs starting in the late 90s and got comfortable driving them.

However, I just looked at the specs on the car you linked...it's pretty slow. That would be tough to sell in the US.

[GasSavers_SD26]

Originally Posted by james131x

i recently heard california has worst gas for good mpg's because of legislation for a variety of mandated efficiency killing additives in all the different blends, so where do i find which are the best states?

There are many areas that are mandated to have boutique fuels around the country. I don't know where a specific list is, but I'd bet that one could use Google for some help.

Counties around Chicago and Milwaukee also have similar fuels. I try to get gas out of those areas if possible.

[Nerys]

Originally Posted by theholycow

However, I just looked at the specs on the car you linked...it's pretty slow. That would be tough to sell in the US.

The 1.4 Diesel gets over 70mpg potentially!! and it can do 102 mph ?

Where exactly are you outside of a race track of the salt flats that you are even allowed to go 102mph?

If it can hit 65 I am game :-) (there are some roads where its suicidal to go less than 65 mph :-)

Drafting is NOT DANGEROUS!! Drafting Dangerously is dangerous.

You start to receive GAINS in FE up to 100+ feet away from semi's! (10% reduction in aero drag at 100feet)

Close in drafting? Darwinism anyone? but sitting 60-70 feet back (over 3 car lengths) is quite safe and will not upset the trucker (they just want you far enough back that YOU can SEE his side mirror. If you can see his mirror he can see you) any closer and your invisible to him and a threat.

I am far enough back that a concern is people "filling" that space in. SO you can safely draft and gain some FE bonuses.

I got over 30mpg in my 31" lifted Skidded Mudding Cherokee doing this. Tagged a truck for over 400 miles non stop. I will never be able to duplicate that again :-) hehe

Ethanol sucks where can you get non ethanol gas? its all 10% here my Clubwagon lost 14.5% of its mpg economy when we switched. My Voyager lost almost 30% of its economy!! (I am thinking there must be something else wrong than just the ethanol with the voyager)

The clubwagon is documented loss. I religiously take notes on my driving with that on. One trip it dropped from around 15mpg to 12.5mpg or so. I was freaking the net tank it went away back to 15mpg. I eventually found at at X gas station I got the lousy econ and at Y gas station I got the normal econ.

I was able to create these results on demand just by going to a station that did or did not have the 10% ethanol. Alas now ALL of them have 10% ethanol so no more 15mpg in the club :-(

Acetone "seems" to work. My voyager went from 18mpg to 22mpg by adding it (I used to get 26mpg) The club got almost all of it back from 12.5 to 14.5-14.8 mpg not quite as good as its top 15.5-16.0mpg though. I only put 2oz in the tank (3oz in the club since its a 35gallon tank)

When I stop using it within 2 tanks the econ is back in the crapper again. The people who decided ethanol was a good idea should be put in prison as traitors since I DID the math. On the club I use 14.5% MORE fuel now. since 10% of that is ethanol I am now buying over 4% MORE foreign oil than I was PRE ethanol!! Grrrrrrr :-(

A little nitpick (not a big deal) using the brakes does not cost fuel. Technically you have already SPENT the fuel. What it does do is waste the potential energy you acquired by using that fuel :-)

Beating lights is easy. The trick is to LEARN your route. There are many kins of lights. You have fixed lights and then you have dynamic lights. You also have Dynamic traffic sensing lights and you have static traffic sensing lights and many are mixed mode depending on conditions and time of day.

Learn how your lights work and drive accordingly. If the roads are light and cooperative its possible to go my entire route to work stopping at only 1 or 2 lights. (its a 53mile commute so lots of potential lights)

Many of the lights are priority lights. IE one direction of travel has priority. SO what you might see as a stale green I know is a good solid green IF there are no cars at the intersection waiting for the opposing light. If I see no cars I know I can cruise on through. If I am a mile back and I see a car pull up I know that lights gonna change before I get there I cut the accelerator and coast. If I catch it early enough I might only lose 20mph before it cycles back to green for me :-)

The worst are static lights. They stay red (BOTH directions) all the time and do not change until someone pulls up. Since they do this at night you ALWAYS end up being the only car so you WILL be stopping at that light no matter what. SUCKS :-) hehe

Be careful trading up to a more efficient car unless your going dirt cheap used. Many times the extra cost of the more efficient car is greater than the LIFETIME fuel savings over the existing car. Don't forget that FINANCE charges and Insurance charges must be factored in. Unless your rich enough that cost of fuel is already irrelevant a $24,000 Prius is actually closer to a $35,000 to $40,000 car once you pay the interest on that and that does not include the mandatory full coverage insurance which is a $1000 or MORE per year extra.

A $10,000 35mpg econobox might be $15,000 with finance charges or NO finance charges if you can sell your current car and have a little saved up.

thats potentially a $30,000 price difference between the cars. with the prius saving you only $48 a month in gas over the 35mpg car (assuming 1600 miles a month like I do FAR less savings if you drive less than that) it would take the prius 52 years to break even in fuel savings. NO WAY the cars going to last that long!

Even if we assume you can pay up front cash for both cars thats still a $14,000 price difference which would take 24 years to break even !!! Almost half a million miles of driving JUST to break even IE you have not saved a penny yet. How long is that battery packed rated to last?

NOW if your going to buy a $20-$24 thousand dollar car no matter what OK the prius makes sense.

IF however your objective is is PURELY to save money above all else your far far better off buying a $10,000 econo model car that gets 35mpg or better.

If you can deal used you can nab a VW TDI for under $9k and net BETTER fuel economy than a prius (52-55mpg)

Alas I can not even afford the $9k for the used TDI :-)

Solar Panels. In a car environment they would likely never produce enough energy to offset both there initial purchase price and the cost to install in mass and added aerodrag.

BUT its a good concept especially if you get a sweet deal on them. I have one in each car just for keeping the batteries topped up when the car is not in use. They pay for themselves just in extending the life of the starter battery. I keep it inside on the dash. One of the little 1.5watt jobbies. Got them at harbor freight for $11 a pop on sale :-)

Chris Taylor
Levittown PA USA

[theholycow]

Welcome to the forum, new user.

Originally Posted by Nerys

The 1.4 Diesel gets over 70mpg potentially!! and it can do 102 mph ?

Where exactly are you outside of a race track of the salt flats that you are even allowed to go 102mph?

I'll assume that's humor. It's not about top speed, it's about acceleration. We should definitely get more deisel cars, though.

Drafting is NOT DANGEROUS!! Drafting Dangerously is dangerous.

See the "To draft or to slow down?" thread:
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=7219
There's multiple reports of different peoples experiences. Effective drafting distance varies by vehicle, but everyone for whom it helps stays back a safe distance, and those who followed too close lost or did not gain any FE.

Be careful trading up to a more efficient car unless your going dirt cheap used. Many times the extra cost of the more efficient car is greater than the LIFETIME fuel savings over the existing car. Don't forget that FINANCE charges and Insurance charges must be factored in.

There's more variables, and the more variables you figure in, the more accurate your math will be. The numbers you presented will vary widely for others. In my case, I drive a lot of miles, my truck required lots of repairs and maintenance on a regular basis, and in a few years would require replacement with an expensive new truck if I didn't stop piling up the miles. When I figured all that in it became a no-brainer to lease a brand new car.

I used a spreadsheet and figured in (among others) these variables:
Actual total gas savings for the life of the lease
Maintenance/expected repair savings
Monthly fixed costs for the car (lease payments, insurance)
The car almost paid for itself. Then when I thought about time lost getting the truck to the shop for repairs, occasional towing, and getting to work without it, the remaining extra cost didn't seem so bad. Then when I figured in the cost to replace the truck in a few years from piling on the miles it became a no-brainer.

Had I been interested in replacing the truck instead of keeping it, I could have bought (instead of leased) a much more expensive vehicle or one that gets less MPG and still come out ahead, but I need the truck.

[HHO4ME]

Has any one tried gas formula > 3oz each of xylene & acetone per gal of gas. If I have this right the xylene increases octane and the acetone increases the gas's ability to vaporize more efficiently. A scan gauge works well and gives a wealth of info

[Nerys]

theholycow. I guess if you can afford a newer car this can make sense. a $200 to $400 a month car payment is beyond my means. I buy used cars. My voyager cost me $2000 (plus $100 for registration tagging) I have since put 90,000 miles on it and counting. I have put less than $500 in repairs into it not counting the normal stuff (brakes tires) that any car would have required. I used to average 26mpg before ethanol but since I started driving it again post ethanol I max at 22-24mpg.

That means it cost me 2.8cents a mile to own this van and its still going strong with no sign of stopping.

I have used 3461 gallons of gas in it. Can not figure the cost since the per gallon price over the life of this van has varied sooo much. lets figure $2 a gallon average. so $7000 in gas or 49.5cents a mile in gas for a total cost of ownership of around 52cents a mile including fuel.

BY FAR the cheapest way to go is used. My most expensive car was my first car. My 88 Cherokee. I paid $4500 for it. I put 452,000 miles on it ! (ok it came with 80k on the clock :-) I just finished putting a new engine in it. $900 for the donor car $550 to install the motor (I helped) and I will get lots of other parts from the donor car too.

The trick is not buying a money pit :-) and being able to do some DIY. I pay less in lifetime ownership for some of my cars than some people pay in there "down payment"

There is just no sense in buying a new car to me. its money out the window to me.


If you HAVE the money. Thats great use it wisely. If you can write it off even better :-) hehe

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by Nerys

I guess if you can afford a newer car this can make sense. a $200 to $400 a month car payment is beyond my means. I buy used cars. My voyager cost me $2000 (plus $100 for registration tagging) I have since put 90,000 miles on it and counting. I have put less than $500 in repairs into it not counting the normal stuff (brakes tires) that any car would have required.

That means it cost me 2.8cents a mile to own this van and its still going strong with no sign of stopping.

BY FAR the cheapest way to go is used.

There is just no sense in buying a new car to me. its money out the window to me.

welcome!

you bring up some good points. those "stuck" in a vehicle, not being able to afford something else(more efficient or not), is a great argument to pass legislation for lower gas prices.

next time, unless you require a van or SUV, buy something more fuel efficient instead of financing a major repair(motor, tranny, etc).

i did so and took a hit in the wallet. but, my investment is paying off!