How to save money on gas

[jumprunner 0]

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The price of gas is pretty high ($3.20 around here) and will probably go well over $4/gallon before it starts receding (if it recedes at all.) With that in mind I thought I'd post some ways to deal with it.

(Please, no "evil gouging oil company" comments; there are plenty of threads for that)

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With your car:

1. Inflate all your tires as much as is safe. Certainly to the limits listed with the car; it is generally safe to go to the limits printed on the tire, although handling may be affected.

2. Change to synthetic oil. A bit more expensive but you could pick up a mpg or so.

3. On older cars, get a tune-up. Newer cars don't have anything to 'tune' but you can at least make sure air and fuel filters are clean.

4. If your transmission is slipping or your clutch sometimes slips, get that fixed! That can eat a lot of gas (and destroy your transmission to boot.)

5. Get your front end aligned, and tell them to go as neutral as possible. Toe-in is sometimes used to fix handling problems but increases drag.

6. Drive with the windows up. It's more efficient to roll the windows up and use A/C than drive with them down. Of course using the fan instead of A/C is the best solution of all, but not always practical when it's 108 out.

7. Drive slower. You can save 10-15% by driving at 55mph instead of 75mph.

8. On normal cars, accelerate more slowly from a start. On hybrids, accelerate as rapidly as is safe, since this uses more battery power (which is essentially free.)

9. Go to an ethanol mix. E85 (85% ethanol) in this area is around $2.20 a gallon, and is available in most of the midwest. Any new car will handle E10, so if you add a gallon of E85 to a 10 gallon tank of gas, you are good to go. Most cars will handle up to E50 (6 gallons of E85/4 gallons of regular gas.) FFV's and some regular cars will handle E85 straight. Ford sold a bunch of FFV's without telling people they were FFV's; you can tell by the little leaf symbol on the back.

Ethanol will give you more power and slightly lower fuel economy. It's also much cleaner in terms of emissions (if your car can deal with it.)

10. Carpool. Yeah, it's a pain in the butt and all that, but it can save you 50-75% on your gas bill.

11. Combine trips. Cars are most efficient after they warm up, and of course the fewer trips you make the less gas you use.

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If you are sick of your current car:

1. Get an efficient gas one. If you have a massive old truck and want a second car, get an Insight. $5600 on Ebay motors will get you a 2000 Insight with 75K on the odometer; they get 60+ mpg. If you want an SUV, Toyota and Ford both make one. If you want a regular car, the Prius is a good one. If you are looking to go cheap, old Honda CRX HF's still get around 50mpg.

2. Get a diesel. Diesel is more expensive than gas right now but a) a good diesel (like the Jetta) will get upwards of 40mph and b) biodiesel is $4 a gallon. Sounds like a lot now, but $4 a gallon may look like a very good deal in a few months.

2a. Get a diesel and run it on straight vegetable oil (SVO.) If you live in Death Valley you can use it in your car with no mods, but most people will need a fuel preheater kit. Runs about $800 for the kit. Once you install it you will be able to run your car on waste oil from deep fryers. Restaraunts generally give it away for free since it costs them $$ to haul it away.

3. Get a natural gas car. Right now there's just one (the Honda GX) but you can fill it from your house gas line with a compressor and they are much cheaper to operate than gasoline cars. There are also conversion kits to allow normal cars to run on either LP or natural gas.

4. Get a flex fuel vehicle (FFV.) Ford and GM sell a lot of these, including light trucks, minivans, SUV's and midsize cars. They can run on gasoline, ethanol or any mix in between. Generally you'll run it on E85.

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If you want car alternatives:

1. Bike for short trips. Bikes are cheap and you'll probably live longer if you ride one. I use a trailer (see picture) for trips to the store (2 miles away.)

2. Get a motorcycle. Again, used ones are cheap, and unless it's an 1100cc monster it will get better gas mileage than a car.

3. Do the bike/bus, bike/train or bike/car thing. Get in a carpool and get a $30 trunkmount bike rack. That way if they want to drop you a mile from your company it's not a big deal. You can also bike to the bus stop, get on the bus, and then bike from the end of the route. Many cities allow bikes on buses and trains. If not, folding bikes run around $300.

4. Get an electric bicycle. These are expensive ($700-$3000) but have ranges up to 20 miles, speeds up to 30mph and take almost zero money to operate. A charge costs a few cents. Plus when you get to where you're going you're not all sweaty.

5. Walk. I know, no one walks, but it doesn't take that long for short distances, and it's really really cheap.

6. Take plain ol mass transit. Most cities have some form of light rail or bus. In Portland, for example, you can get almost anywhere on the bus/light rail system, and often do it faster than you could have driven and parked.

Anyway, just a few suggestions if the price of gas seems to be putting travel out of your price range.

Get a skateboard. Think Im being funny? I used to park my car at one end of downtown and skate to the other end where I was staying. Was a lot quicker than walking.

[Hooknswoop 19]

From: http://www.mythbustersfanclub.com/html/boom_lift_catapult.html

"AC vs. Windows Down Debate
The Myth: You have more fuel efficiency if you have the AC on.

The Experts: Bob Masterson (service manager Stan Tracy Ford) helps the guys bust this one by hooking the SUV up to a computer that measures air intake of the engine.

Quotable/Memorable Moments:
Jamie: It's getting pretty chilly in here! Glad I brough my jacket! I pity the poor cameraman who doesn't have one on! (Then the cameraman shivers!)

The Action/Results: First Jamie drives fifteen laps around the track - five with the windows up and the AC off, five with the windows down and five with the windows up and the AC on full. The verdict, according to Bob Masterson, is that the car is more fuel efficient with the windows up and the AC on, due to the amount of drag that is created when the windows are down. But Adam and Jamie have another test to run. They load each car up with the same amount of people and stuff, and fill the tanks up. They want to do this like an "Average Joe" would do it. Adam has his bananas and his coffee, and Jamie has his famous 444 - the mixture of fruits, vegetables and grains that he says tastes like gazpacho.

However, it is decided that this test is too dangerous, so they decide to put only five gallons of gas in each tank and run the test that way instead. The results surprise everyone! Jamie's car runs out of gas first! They decide that the computer model isn't really measuring fuel consumption, but air intake, and that it is based on ideal conditions. In the end, this myth is BUSTED!"

So which is more fuel efficient? Are there any other 'studies' on it? Does it depend on the vehicle and temperature?

Derek

[FrEaK_aCcIdEnT 0]

ive seen them in a 4 wheeler magazine. so they do make them.

ExPeCt ThE uNeXpEcTeD!
DoNt MiNd ThE tYpOs, Im LaZy On CoRrEcTiOnS!

[Ragnarok 0]

I use a K&N air filter. From a standard paper filter you can gain up to 2 mpg by switching to a K&N filter. If you get the FIPK, you can get even more.

I have the FIPK on my Durango (also a Gibson cat-back exhaust) I got about 20 more hp along with 2-4 more mpg over stock.

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Twin Otter N203-Echo,29 July 2006
Cessna P206 N2537X, 19 April 2008
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