Slow down save gas.

[GasSavers_ALS]

Drivers Slowing Down

Some truckers are slowing down anyway as the average price of diesel heads toward $4.50 a gallon.

"I'm saving between $100 and $200 a week by cutting back from 72-73 mph to 60-65 mph," said Dennis Sheridan, who owns an 18-wheeler and hauls freight on a contract basis throughout the Northeast.

Sheridan is an owner-operator, paying for his own fuel and other expenses and getting paid for each load delivered. And so far, slowing down hasn't hindered his ability to make deliveries on time.

"If you're going from say, New York to California, you might lose an hour over the run," he said. "But on the East Coast, what are you going to lose, 10 minutes? You know as soon as you step on it you're going to hit traffic anyway."

[Three6Eight]

Slowing down is the best thing anyone can do.

My truck can get as low as 11 mpg if I go over 70 but under 65 it pulls off almost 22 mpg

[Hateful]

I knew a guy back in the 80's that worked as a team driver for the owner/operator of a big rig. He told me that the owner would be in the back with the curtain drawn, but still say "slow down!!" if he drove over 60mph. The reason was that it got 8mpg under 60 and 5mpg over 60.

[shanelabs]

Yeah, this really works. For those that don't believe, check out http://www.slowdowntosavegas.com/ It has a calculator that will show you exactly how much you can save.

[civic_matic_00]

slowing down gave me the most mpg savings so far. used to drive 70 to 85, sometimes even 90 on the chicago interstates and my mpgs were barely 30 to 32...slowing down 60 to 65 boosted my mpg to 35 when I started watching my speed.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by shanelabs

Yeah, this really works. For those that don't believe, check out http://www.slowdowntosavegas.com/ It has a calculator that will show you exactly how much you can save.

Originally Posted by shanelabs

Yeah, it's crazy how much speed affects your mileage. For those that don't believe, check out http://www.mpgforspeed.com/ It has a calculator that will show you exactly how much you can save.

Funny how both those sites have the same IP address.

[EH3]

Originally Posted by civic_matic_00

slowing down 60 to 65

i've driven through downtown Chicago 80/90/94 a couple times. traffic speeds were no less than 80mph. 60-65 is a death wish.


anyway:
yes, i too have recently seen significant gains from slowing down. 10mpg increase from reducing my speed from 75 to 60mph and accelerating slowly to/from lights.

[fumesucker]

You may or may not gain mileage by slowing down..

My daughter has a 97 Expedition with the 4.6 and a towing package along with a real time MPG readout.

Literally no difference in mpg between 65 mph and 55 mph.. Both at 22 mpg. It's clear that the engine rpm gets too low to be in an efficient part of the BSFC map when speeds drop below 60 mph.

And at a constant 35 mph the damn thing gets about 17 mpg or even less..

The auto tranny drops out of overdrive/lockup at 44 mph and fuel efficiency plummets..

[civic_matic_00]

Originally Posted by EH3

i've driven through downtown Chicago 80/90/94 a couple times. traffic speeds were no less than 80mph. 60-65 is a death wish.


anyway:
yes, i too have recently seen significant gains from slowing down. 10mpg increase from reducing my speed from 75 to 60mph and accelerating slowly to/from lights.

I work in downtown chicago and live in the suburbs. I drive between 60 to 65....I'm still alive....must not be that much of a death wish eh?

you've driven it what? once? I drive it every single day. I-55 all the way and back. those who get into accidents are the ones who were going HIGHER than 65....I know, since there's an accident on I-55 almost every day, winter, spring, summer, and fall.

[EH3]

no, i've driven thru a dozen times at least. none were during peak driving times, tho. so, i'm sure traffic was "thin" compared to what it usually is.