Does Your Gas Mileage Improve By "Drifting"?

Question

I saw a guy on CNN that was getting an avg. 50 mpg. from his 1999 Honda Accord with 5 spd. manual.

Of course he took it to extremes. (and really annoyed other drivers)

So I tried it a little more conventionally with all in town driving and still running the A/C. But also driving like a little old lady.

After adding a K&N air filter, I drove 200 miles between fill ups.

Anytime that I estimated a stop would take more than 30 seconds, I'd shut off the engine and "drift" in neutral to the light, etc.

I thought this was pretty smart.

Well I got about an extra mile per gallon or 200/11.5 gal.=17

My 2001 Ford Taurus 3.0 FFV drinks about as much gas (if not more) as a Crown Vic. coming in @ a revised at 16/18.

How is your gas mileage doing and are you doing anything special to improve it?

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Answer 1

thats bit of an extreme...i just do simple things like not accelerating too harsh, change into higher gear in time (between 2 and 3 k revs) stop slowly and keep a good gap from the car in front so the gap acts like a buffer hence i dont need to speed up and down and use the break pedal so often if the car infron slows down

Answer 2

Apparently in your case it did improve the mileage, though not by much.  Still, one crash will probably negate all the gas savings.  Stay safe.

Answer 3

You can but it's dangerous.

What I've tried (with a Chevy Colorado pickup:

Inflated tires to max pressure listed on side of tire, in my case it is 44psi vs the 35 or so GM recommends. It rides a little rougher but tolerable, handles just fine, maybe even better handling than before.

Watch the fast take-offs, accelerates gently and anticipate stops so you can coast more and brake less.

If I am in light traffic (no one behind me), I have started coasting down some of the steeper hills in my area. There is one spot I can coast almost 2 miles! And not lose much speed either! I am lucky my digital odometer still registers those miles even with the key off. (by coasting I mean in neutral and the engine off, biggest problem is the lack of power steering, the brakes still seem to work fine, and yes the steering wheel is NOT locked with the key off and trans in neutral, it is not even possible to lock the steering wheel unless the trans is in park).

So, on my first test of this, before I tried all this I got 19.1mpg, after the first try of all this I got 22.2, so picked up 3mpg. Not sure if it's worth it, I'll try it some more.

Answer 4

i dont believe that is true , it would use more gas because each time you start the car it consumes more fuel then idling

Answer 5

No way!!!

Answer 6

wow its funny to see all the old car myths the older generation still holds on to. in any modern car it does not cost more gas to start it then to idle it for 30 seconds, its something called direct injection, so that one is out the window. air conditioning in a modern car is also a more fuel efficient way of cooling the car down then having the windows open while cruising above 40mph. No drifting doesnt work, it seems to result in alot of insurance deductible payment and if your insurance company finds out you where pulling something like that and it caused the crash you are screwed soooo, just slow it down, keep the car maintained and you will be doing the best you can from that particular vehicle

Answer 7

no but ur crash rate increases by "drifting"