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Saving Gas Money
Hakkekage
Space Whore Academysumma cum laudeRegistered User regular
Space Whore Academysumma cum laudeRegistered User regular
Usually when the tank is near empty I get about $20 of regular and go on my merry way. Of course, since the gas prices are skyrocketing nowadays, I get less gas for my money and must return more often with another $20 in hand to get even less gas than I got the last time, which is getting to be quite infuriating.
I'm in the suburb so there's a lot of stop-and-go driving involved. I'm not sure how many miles are driven a day since I drive either my mom or dad's car when they're not using them, and really I'm not sure about the gas mileage but one car is a Honda Odyssey and the other is an old, old Volvo sedan (don't know the model.)
My question is this; would it be cheaper in the long run to fill the tank every time we're out, or keep filling it with set $20 increments?
We're really tight on money here but we also really need our cars. Filling the tanks of the cars takes ~$60-$70 each, and the price just keeps on rising. Advice much appreciated
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I'm in the suburb so there's a lot of stop-and-go driving involved. I'm not sure how many miles are driven a day since I drive either my mom or dad's car when they're not using them, and really I'm not sure about the gas mileage but one car is a Honda Odyssey and the other is an old, old Volvo sedan (don't know the model.)
My question is this; would it be cheaper in the long run to fill the tank every time we're out, or keep filling it with set $20 increments?
We're really tight on money here but we also really need our cars. Filling the tanks of the cars takes ~$60-$70 each, and the price just keeps on rising. Advice much appreciated
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NNID: Hakkekage
NNID: Hakkekage
Hakkekage on
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Driving local is not going to be fun on your wallet with all the traffic lights. I try to look further ahead at the light to judge whether I should speed up or down. If the light's already yellow, take your foot off the pedal and just cruise to the light, if you're lucky, the light will turn green just as you approach.
Which shouldn't be a lot, unless your "car" is an SR-71.
lordswing: yeah, I already try to keep my foot off the pedal/brake as much as possible.
NNID: Hakkekage
Both of these are insanely easy to do as well, a bottle of injector cleaner is probably 5 bucks at Wal-Mart and you just squeeze it in your gas tank. The filter should be about the same price there to and you just pop the old out and the new in, I do mine in the parking lot I got it at even.
A simple tune up can do wonders.
Almost forgot, I swear I heard somewhere once that up to 33% of your gas mileage is dependent on the way you drive. You mentioned taking your foot off the gas? Try more so to watch your revs. That's really what can eat up your gas. If it's an automatic, usually when you take your foot off the gas a little bit you should get an up shift. When I deliver pizzas I give myself a "driving like an ass hole line" at 3,000 RPMs.
5% might not sound like much, but with gas prices these days, that's at least 15 cents off a gallon. With BP, I just go online and once I get $25 in rebates, they'll send me a $25 check.
The holding tanks at gas stations are underground and are pretty thick. While the temperature of the gas does change a bit, I wouldn't really revolve my purchasing schedule around it.
Cocks: Ooh, good idea. I'll confront my dad about tuning up the cars.
NNID: Hakkekage
I'm pretty sure I read that this was a myth; the evaporation was barely measurable and didn't affect the mileage at all.
Driving smarter:
Stop driving aggressively.
Stop accelerating towards red lights. Time it so you can roll through red lights after they change, reducing the amount of acceleration you need to do.
Stop using your AC, or at least reduce your usage. Crack your windows instead. There is no conclusive evidence that windows being down effects fuel efficiency by much more than 1%. Take what you hear about this with a grain of salt. Some people say it reduce efficiency by as much as 33%, but I find it hard to believe.
Maintaining Your Car:
Wow, what a fucking shock! Keeping your car in tip top shape improves fuel economy?
Keep your tires inflated to their specification (ususally 28-42 psi depending on the tire, weight of your vehicle and vehicle make).
Keep your spark plugs, filters, oxygen sensors, and belts in good shape. This will make a huge difference.
This will help you save more money than filling up earlier in the morning, or keeping the gas from 'evaporating'.
It feels like it's holing you back, but that's just less torque/HP, your not necessarily using all that more gas.
Because, well, it's energy from one place to the other. Now if having your AC on didn't slow your car down, then yes you'd be using more. :P
Actually mythbusters did a show on it. Its based on the aerodynamics of the vehicle, the speed you're going, and how much windows are being opened vs the amount of ac being used.
But if you want to argue about this more, feel free to PM me, instead of using this thread.
This is incorrect; while gas is sold by volume, when gas is sold, it is sold at 21 degrees celsius. Even when gas stations buy it, it's automatically corrected to 21 degrees celsius. Infact, some gas stations even post on their pumps "Corrected to 21 degrees celsius". Time of day will not affect the volume of gas you get per dollar.
The best thing to do to save gas is coast to stops instead of speeding to stops. If you have a standard, drive in the highest gear (when applicable). If you're driving in town, use windows; if you're on the highway, use AC(I don't know if this is correct, don't quote me on it, but it's my personal belief). And take good care of your car. This includes (I know it's been said) air filter, and fuel injector. Another big one is exhaust, but that's much more expencive to get looked at or fixed.
Someone also said to not fill the tank, this all depends on the vechicle. My car has a 50 liter tank, I don't think for a second that will have anything to do with my fuel economy. However my trucks are a different story. One of them has a 150 liter tank with another secondary tank. His other argument was evaporation; although I don't know this for sure, but I thought the gas system was a closed system(again, I don't know for sure), so I don't know how evaporation would come into play.
Exactly, which lowers fuel efficiency.
Yes, racecar drivers would be great for a thread about fuel efficiency in city/suburb stop and go driving.
In relation to the driver's situation, in stop and go traffic, it is more fuel efficient to drive without the AC. Drag will not be nearly as strong at slower speeds as seen in the Mythbusters highway tests. I never said drag isn't going to effect a car. Perhaps I worded it poorly.
So I concede, you're right about drag and fuel efficiency, but the mythbusters' experiment is moot in this situation, especially at such a low speed.
Check what your cars mileage, should be online, and then check yours.
Make sure it's tuned up and don't have anything modded on your car (IE lift kits, bigger tires, rims etc.) as those would throw those numbers off. New exhaust, new intakes will improve your mileage a bit and give you more power. But your still pretty limited to whatever car you have.
I love my little 1.9 litter 5 speed Saturn. :P
Oh, and keep your car clean on the inside. Sure the weight is probably negligible but who doesn't mind a clean car anyway?
Especially when they're pretty much building and racing the car themselves. And getting more power out of your car typically comes with getting better MPG.
Honestly I'm not a car buff, a lot of this is going over my head. You can make a thread in D&D about fuel efficiency though if you need to talk about it, but I can't keep up here. :oops:
NNID: Hakkekage
Huh! That's interesting. I've never noticed that on pumps before. Is that common everywhere? I've read about filling up during cooler temperatures in several articles, including some consumer ratings mags. I wonder where that info came from originally.
AAA says the cut-off speed is 40mph. Below that speed, it's more efficient to drive with the windows open and the AC off. Above that, at highway speeds, the AC is better because open windows create drag.
http://energyhawk.com/gasoline/gas3.php
Their tests actually show, although theres was around 50mph, that windows down were better the slower you go and ac on the faster. So it really isn't a moot point.
Relevant article. Mentions most myths already exposed here. Says A/C not that big a factor.
Well this part, as far as hills go, is actually generally illegal, coasting in neutral that is.
I still do it, to an extent, like when I don't have a bunch of cars around me and I'm getting to be within 200 feet of a stop.
Yeah if Inspector Gadget was on the prowl and he stuck his extendo-neck into the cabin and figured out what gear I was in I suppose I would be screwed. Does the law says it's illegal to go down a hill(forward) in neutral? That's actually pretty interesting to know, but aside from the aforementioned cybernetic agent of law enforcement I'm not sure how they could possibly detect that.
1) Keep your car tuned up - replace the spark plugs and air filter regularly at the very least (anyone can change these in a few minutes)
2) Drive smoothly - slow acceleration and slow braking will drastically increase your mileage. Add in smooth steering just to be a better driver.
Those two steps will do far more for fuel economy than all the other random tips combined.
If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to message me. Yes, that includes you.
This varies from state to state. Also, remember that fully depressing the clutch pedal is essentially the same as neutral.
Make sure the clutch is all the way to the floor, though, or else it'll be partially engaged and you'll wear it out faster.
And for a four-cylinder engine, the efficiency you lose by rolling down the windows is, while certainly present, still way better than the massive drop you'll get from turning on the AC.