How could you get the most out of your gas? I've heard of some ways but I'm sure there's more out there.

Question

I know driving under 70 (or something like that) saves about 25% of your fuel, adding things like an exhaust system. I've also heard that filling up in the morning or when it's cold is better than in the afternoon or when the temperature is warmer. If you could please help me out and let me know a couple of ways I would really appreciate it.

Answer 1

Only use 20% or 1/4 of your gas peddle, that's all you really need.  For best mileage, drive with traffic, keep up with the slow lane and don't cause a blockage. you'll get good mileage following traffic, you let off the gas alot.   The biggest thing you can do is your driving style, you get twice the mileage slowing down and triple going down hill, so the sooner you let off the gas the better you will do. anticipate stop signs and lights, left off the gas as soon as you can..

Always use your od, if you don't have one, put on 2 size larger tires on the drive wheels and remember to figure a correction for mileage. you can check it against a gps to find it..

it really helps if you have a car with a mileage computer so you can watch it...

Answer 2

Drive like you have an egg on the bottom of your foot, nice easy acceleration, try coasting for awhile before using your brakes. On the interstate try to drive 55 unless your getting run off the road, but never drive 70, your just lining opec's pocket when you drive 70. Try to drive 55-60. Google the term "hypermiling" there are many advanced tactics to get better fuel economy. I am a hypermiler , and get about 30% better than the EPA rating on my tacoma. Hypermiling in my fathers corolla I have obtained 53mpg, its a stick shift and I exercised many advanced hypermiling techniques and obtained almost twice the combined EPA rating.

Answer 3

i would take the gas out of your car and put in in a crotch rocket you will get much better gas milage that way  But seriously change your fuel filter once a year, air filter and make sure tires are inflated take spare tire and extras out of car, get a new president taht cares?

Answer 4

There's a plateau of decent fuel economy in just about every car.  The exact speeds at which it drops off vary from car to car, but it's usually something like 40-70ish.  

You want to fill when it's colder because things expand when they're warm.  Therefore there is more fuel in a gallon when it's cold than when it's warm.

Some stations might price accordingly, though, so it may not matter.  And they DO price for summer vs. winter.

As for things you can do:  

Drive a smaller, less powerful car.  All else equal, that gets better fuel economy.

Use cruise control on the highway

If you can do so while obeying the 2 second rule, draft behind large vehicles like trucks and motorhomes.  (This will only work on the highway)

Have a light touch on the gas and a light touch on the brake.  You don't need to accelerate really slowly, but you don't really want to go above about 1/2 to 2/3 of the redline, ever, if you can help it.  (And if you aren't trying to have some fun)  If you brake early, you may be able to avoid stopping at red lights.  This saves fuel.  Do this only as traffic allows, though.

Narrower tires (these degrade other aspects of performance, though)

Maintain proper tire inflation

Keep the engine in good working order.  

Change your transmission fluid regularly

Don't carry a lot of c**p in your car

If you have roof racks and such, take them off when not in use.  

Some cars can see fuel economy improvements from ECU reflashes, "chips" or replacement ECUs.  Notable examples include many VWs and Subarus.  

All this stuff together can amount to 25% over EPA fuel economy...pre-downward-revision EPA fuel economy, even...without taking it to extremes.  (So like 50% if you drive like most idiots)  If you're willing to drive like an a*****e (many hypermiling techniques require this), you could do better.

Answer 5

I highly suggest this site from Consumer Reports. They did a bunch of tests to see what kinds of things affect how much gas your car is using (like low tires for instance). They also talk about some things that have been said to affect your gas that aren't really measurable.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/...

Hope it helps!

Answer 6

Actually, when he says 70, it could mean 70km/h because cars in other parts of the world go by the metric system. And yes, 70km/h can give you the great savings. But it does not apply to all cars. Some car's optimal speeds are higher, some are actually lower. The car's engine capacity is a good gauge. But because every car is designed differently, it's best to try it for yourself.

Break down your speed from 60km/h onwards into 5km/h segments. Check your tachometer at every 5km/h increase. The tacho should be linear. Once your tacho jumps higher just to get to the next higher band of 5km/h, the previous speed is your optimal speed. Don't go any lower than 60km/h. You might be engaging in your 3rd gear cos some 3rd gears are really long. For example, a Rolls Royce would be cruising at 60km/h in 3rd gear and it's optimal speed is between 100km/h to 110km/h. The rpm reading at that kind of speed is around 1600rpm while a normal 2-litre saloon or less would be hitting at least 2200rpm. I hope i haven't confused you.

The other thing that helps is to  let go off your feet during long down slopes. The drop in rpm will save you fuel. Don't bother with short slopes because you will end up burning more fuel to accelerate when you climb the next knoll. I'm not sure why it's not good for the gearbox to be in neutral when it's cruising at high speeds but i have been doing that for years. Nothing's wrong so far and don't worry about your gearbox jerking when you engage back at high speeds. Dropping it to neutral on a long downslope, my rpm is basically at idling (below 800rpm) and i'm cruising thru at least 2 knolls at more than 100km/h until my speed drops to 70km/h at the end of the 2nd knoll before i slowly accelerate again. Oh, as the advise given before, easy on the foot during acceleration.

Answer 7

All answers above are good. Accelerate slowly, brake in advance. Stop as little as is legally possible (no running stop signs). I've also been told to keep windows open and air conditioning off when driving under 45, vice versa when over. I guess this helps with the arrow dinamics. Something else I've heard is that starting your car takes about the same amount of gas as idling the motor for 30ish seconds. Also, try to drive as straight as the road permits.