Gas-Saving Moment of the Day: Drive Slower

One of the simplest ways to save fuel is to learn how your vehicle operates most efficiently. You know how when you pull up to a light on a two-lane road and you have that irresistible urge to gun the engine at the first hint of green? Yeah, well, stop doing that.

Light acceleration and coasting to a stop are the keys to maximizing your car's fuel-economy potential. Jackrabbit starts and gunning the engine suck up dramatic amounts of fuel, and, trust us, saving three seconds on your trip is not going to be worth it.

Also, remember that your car is most efficient at a low speed in its top gear. For instance, driving at 40-55 mph with a five-speed transmission will get you the most bang for your buck. The faster you go after that, the more wind resistance will steal your miles back.

Let us know about your driving habits. Have you adjusted them recently due to high fuel prices? Would you consider doing so now?

Related:
Tips for Saving Fuel (Cars.com)

Comments

I have been driving 55 ever since the price went over $2.00 a gallon. What took the rest of you so long to figure that one out?????????

Remember the 73 oil embargo? With bumper stickers like "Fast is Fuelish" and my favorite. "The Faster You Drive The Richer They Get"... They are both so true and it is about time we as Americans stop being so self centered and selfish. Think of what others need before what you want...

"Light acceleration and coasting to a stop are the keys to maximizing your car's fuel-economy potential. Jackrabbit starts and gunning the engine suck up dramatic amounts of fuel, and, trust us, saving three seconds on your trip is not going to be worth it."

I've seen instances where this is actually taken to the extreme. If everyone was to feather it off the line, fewer cars get through each light and then you're left idling more often stopped at a light, burning gas. Yes I know most lights are timed so that if you do the speed limit, you'll hit all greens.

I've definitly noticed people driving 60mph more often on the interstate on their morning/evening commutes. If everyone could remember to use that right lane that would be greeeeeaat.

Common sense things like keeping off the gas before a red light, not gunning it from a stop, and keeping reasonably close to the posted speed limit, are things that everyone should learn to do regardless of gas prices.

Please don't take it to the other extreme and drive like an octogenarian on the left lanes. It's a waste of everyone's time and, in the end, for most people, those few minutes lost in traffic end up costing you more than that half a gallon of gas you might have saved. It's all about productivity in the big picture. Don't try and slow things down hoping that you'll be slowing down costs as well. Focus on producing more instead and you won't even worry about prices. Saves you some stress too :)

I'v seen alot more drivers stay in the right lane and driving the speed limit lately. It has to hit people in the wallet first then you have their attention. Mostly common sense if you ask me.

why isnt president bush asking american's to conserve? i strongly suppott the idea of dropping the speed limit down to the 55-60 range. seems like a pretty small price to pay for our large suvs

hm, where are the places that everyone seems to be slowing down on the highways? i'd like to go there, because here in the Boston area, they ARE NOT!

and btw, the lights here on busy streets in the city are also set up so you'd catch every single red light, unless you gun it like crazy, then you'd catch a couple of extra greens. i think this is one area that a hybrid makes sense cuz you're going to be stopping and starting constantly within, say, a 10-mile radius of the city

Prez. Bush doesn't want the govt. to encourage conserving gas. He and his oil friend cronies are laughing us, knowing they are making billions in profits while we are barely getting by with paying our bills. Those govt. rebate checks to stimulate the economy should have been called "oil stimulus" checks, cuz that money is likely being used to gas up our cars.

Low car weight (or mass) is the most important requirement for improvement in fuel economy. An electric car, a hybrid car, or a hydrogen car will be more fuel efficient if they are lighter. Light weight is dangerous in collisions unless crumple zones for the rear and side of a vehicle are provided.
I have invented a way to make small cars much safer in collisions.
Please see my website safersmallcars.com
If you like the idea, please tell the car companies who have rejected my idea.

There was actually a speech that Bush gave shortly before the checks came out and he made a joke about using the the checks to buy gas.

Derby,

Welcome to the world of 55mph right side riders.

Dave,
Is there anyway we can find out specificly at what speed does our different vehicle achieve maximum mileage?

J,
Any car will gets its best mileage when it's going as slow as possible while staying in its highest gear.

But wouldn't the lower torque produced to move the vehicle becomes a bigger load on the engine?
There should be some math (Calculus) involved.

J, you might be on to something. Gas engines are typically less efficient at lower RPMs than say diesel engines. What this means is how much energy you are getting out of a given, I guess, fluid amount. You get less efficiency at lower RPMS. Be that as a may, its all going to depend on how much gas those injector nozzles are spraying in the cylinders at a given RPM and load. So even if you are getting less energy at lower RPM, you're still using more gas overall.

@Spanky -- I wish it worked that way all over, instead just parts of, Denver WRT signal timing. Even on some of our major arterial surface streets, I'm pretty sure the sequencing was done by Mel Tillis.

Two observations:

I notice in my 2000 Safari that the average fuel economy going 55 is approximately the same as going 75. The difference is the swings while going up/downhill. The swings are greater while going faster. Other cars I have owned seemed to do the same.

Also, for those of you who advocate going back down to 55: that should be left up to the individual to decide, based on their vehicle. Sometimes, the cost of having to drive longer over long distances is greater than the purported cost of driving faster.

For instance, I can drive from Louisville to Boston in 16 hours at 75MPH. I can do that in one day. It takes about 5 hours longer to do the same trip at 55MPH. 21 hours is too long for me to do in one day, so I would have to get a hotel. In this case, even if I saved the $15 over the course of the trip by driving at 55, having to buy a hotel would negate the savings. In other words, the law of diminishing returns applies. There was a reason they did away with the Federal 55MPH limit: they found it didn't work.

I find using cruise control even in town increases my mpg by about 1.

A FEW YEARS AGO I BOUGHT A CAR WITH A NEAT LITTLE GADGET. IT DISPLAYS YOUR AVERAGE OR INSTANT MPG. SINCE THAT TIME I FOUND THAT I OFTEN PLAY GAMES WITH IT. LIKE HOW MANY MPG CAN I GET ON A TRIP. ON ONE TRIP FROM MIAMI TO FORT MYERS, FL I AVERAGED TWENTY EIGHT MILES PER GALLON BY KEEPING TO THE SPEED LIMIT. BY THE WAY THE CAR IS A LINCOLN MARK VIII. NOT BAD MPG FOR A LUXURY SPORTY CAR.

I forgot to say that I think this neat little gadget should be mandantory in all new vehicles sold in the U.S.