MY TIPS - to INCREASE your GAS MILAGE

[Gregozedobe]

Seeing as no one else has specifically mentioned it (or if they did I missed it - sorry), here's one more fuel saving tip:

Reduce the number of trips you make by doing as many thing as is practical on the one trip (yes it does take some planning) eg call in and do your shopping on your way home from work (or gym or whatever meeting), and collect your mail from your P.O box too.

We have a notebook that we write down things that we need to buy/collect/drop off that aren't urgent, and when we are going near the relevant location for some other (usually more pressing reason) we do that as well. Today we polished off 4 different tasks in the one trip

 

[jellydonut]

jellydonut: neat, i have been chucking around with 300td. how many miles/kilometers in your odometer? mine just passed 530 000km (about 330 000miles). but now as diesel prices are climbing close to petrol these days over here (goverment adding taxes on top of taxes) i am thinking about changing back to "normal" car next year maybe.

diesel used to be lot cheaper per gallon than petrol. but then car companies and their cohorts started to persuade people to swap to new diesel cars that get great mileage and offer decent acceleration and torque (most new diesels sold here are with turbo) goverment looked over and chuckled when they realised people had bought tons of new cars with loanmoney.. and by now they are used to the convinience of the turbodiesel econoboxes.. people are hooked! so the goverment decided to raise the price of diesel a lot. easy money! (btw here diesel about 7.20$/gal and petrol about 1$more. in past 7 or so years that i have had a diesel car, the price of diesel has risen about 50%)

Mine has done a little over 630000 km's, so 100k+ more. Of course, I've only driven a few of those myself. This is a relatively new acquisition.

It is unfortunate that diesel cars still emit so many particles and nitrogen oxides (NOx) compared to a gasoline vehicle. I would still say that a diesel is cleaner for the local environment and the air because of the very low emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and VOCs/petroleum gases compared to a gasoline engine. These poisons are emitted because of the composition of gasoline vs. diesel which is nominally a very 'clean' form of oil in terms of toxicity, carcinogens, etc.

If they could just get the NOx and particle emissions down, the politicians would have no decent reasoning to place additional taxes on the cars and the fuel. Unfortunately they seem content to perform bits-and-pieces fixes like attaching SCRs that require diesel exhaust fluid, and particle filters, instead of attempting to enhance combustion or develop new combustion and intake technologies, solving the problem in-cylinder instead of trying to fix it afterwards.

 

[davyro]

I drive a diesel van for work & i have a diesel toyota 7 seater for everything else,the toyota is really quiet & very clean,my work van isnt so quiet but i get great mileage from my van i make sure i'm carrying as little weight as possible
& it seems to do the trick,its now completed 120,000 miles & its still going great.I do use a really good additive to keep everything clean & running well & i'm sure this helps quite a lot.

 

[ev13wt]

Current gas prices in Germany come in at 1,70 Euros per liter. So that's around 9,49 dollars per gallon give or take.

People still blast 120 mph all day long, me included.


Fawk it, use it while it lasts.

 

[NonSenCe]

ev13.. thats in british gallons i think.. (us gallon is abt 3.8liters, brits 4.6l) the price of fuel about the same here in finland.

 

[PCC]

Part of the reason that diesel prices in the US (for sure in California) is so high is because of the Road Usage tax. So few people drive diesel passenger cars in the US that they figured that it's only used by the big trucks and big trucks account for a majority of the damage and maintenance needed on the roads so diesel passenger car owners pay the price. The money saved due to better economy is offset by this higher price so it'll take longer to recoup the difference. The only real advantage that I had when I drove my TDI was that I could go an extra day or two between fill ups. On the road, the car was great up to about 60 MPH, but, beyond that it accelerated like a freight train. My car had larger injector nozzles, chip, tons of tweaks, etc, done to it and it was still a dog on the freeway. My current car has the 2.0T in it, weighs more, and accelerates from 50 to 80 in top highly overdriven gear than my TDI did 30-70.

One tip for saving fuel: adjust your entire seat back one notch so that you have to reach a bit more to get to it. You'll have to try harder to drive faster and this should help you save fuel.

 

[ev13wt]

ev13.. thats in british gallons i think.. (us gallon is abt 3.8liters, brits 4.6l) the price of fuel about the same here in finland.

1,70 Euros = 2,24876 U.S. dollars
1 US gallon = 3,78541178 liter

2,24876 * 3,78541178 = 8,51248259 dollars per gallon


Not sure but I screwed up originally somewhere.

 

[JemR]

One tip for saving fuel: adjust your entire seat back one notch so that you have to reach a bit more to get to it. You'll have to try harder to drive faster and this should help you save fuel.

Love this idea PCC! Also wearing shoes with thin soles, not thick work boots etc, may also assist in stopping the "lead foot"!!

 

[Cataract]

Love this idea PCC! Also wearing shoes with thin soles, not thick work boots etc, may also assist in stopping the "lead foot"!!

Definitely right. I sometimes have to drive with my steel toed shoes and man do I drive faster than normal... Sometimes when it's really hot in the summer I take my sandals off while driving and I definitely feel how much pressure my foot is really exerting on the pedal... that makes me drive like an old lady.

 

[Lite_me]

Along the same line.. drive like there's an egg between your foot and the gas pedal.

 

[Monocrom]

. . . I always bring a towel to clean up the mess afterwards. :thumbsup:

 

[NonSenCe]

tip. put the egg into a ziplok bag before putting it under the pedal. (bonus tip: hardboiled egg makes even less of a mess)

----
moving the seat back: no. that screws up the ergonomics, you shouldnt need to reach to the steering wheel and other stuff to use them properly. one needs to have adjusted the seat and the distances correctly to be a safe driver.
----
saving electricity does help with mileage.. turn off the radio (and amplifier) if you are not really listening it or need to listen it. and turning the AC off has been mentioned right?

 

[JemR]

moving the seat back: no. that screws up the ergonomics, you shouldnt need to reach to the steering wheel and other stuff to use them properly. one needs to have adjusted the seat and the distances correctly to be a safe driver.

Second thoughts, I do agree moving the seat back too much is a bad idea. But some people do sit to close the wheel. There is a correct driving position for everyone, finding it is often hard if more than one person uses a car so moving seats around all the time. I stand by my suggestion on footwear. I see many ladies driving in shoes they can barely walk in. How can they control the pedals?. Some men too!. Race car drivers wear fairly thin flat grippy soled shoes. They need to know exactly where the pedals are all the time. "Feel" for the pedal is the important thing I think. My thoughts were wearing heavy work steel toe cap type boots means you may not be able to feel the pedals at all or flex your ankle much. Meaning you can't help but push the pedals too hard.

 

[ElectronGuru]

Very important to saving money on gas, if not fuel itself; don't drive during these times:

trouble in the middle east
summer
election year

*multiply effect for any combination of above

 

[Helmut.G]

you can add winter to that list, you need a lot more fuel in the winter due to cold engines and the need to often go slower than ideal.

 

[orbital]

+

Saw my brothers Passat TDI SEL for the first time today.

Couple things:
Nice overall lines
Its not a little tiny car, good size, large back seat area.
Excellent looking gauges! 80mph essentially straight up on needle,,,well done here
Clean logical interior

>>>My brother was saying, with the cruise control set at 75mph,,he gets nearly 45mpg
@ 55mph, way over 50mpg highway

Those are truly fantastic numbers for such a good looking car {it needs the little duck tail & matt black wheels though}:naughty:

 

[StarHalo]

Saw my brothers Passat TDI SEL for the first time today.

The Passat is a hard package to beat; you can tell there was an Audi engineer in there somewhere when they did the interior, and nobody in the class comes close to that near-stretch body backseat. It's the logical evolution of the old Accord and Camry, now that those two models have lost their way..

 

[Lite_me]

and turning the AC off has been mentioned right?

This is ok so long as you leave the windows up. With the windows down you actually cause more drag, requiring more energy than what the AC would use. At highway speeds would be the worst.

 

[jasonck08]

A couple tips I use to save gas:

1) If you're in a parking lot of a shopping center or anywhere else, don't start the car until your all buckled in, and you've checked out the rear window that it is a good time to backup. Many times people start their cars then have to wait till its clear to backup.

2) If you're going to be stopped for more than about 1 minute, shut off the engine.

3) For city driving if you see a red light, just coast as far as you can. There is a good chance the light will turn green as you near the light. I see so many people driving full speed then slamming on their brakes at the red light like morons. Look ahead and anticipate the lights.

4) If time and traffic allow, drive ~60mph on the highway. You'll save about 10% vs going 70-75mph.

 

[Monocrom]

Very important to saving money on gas, if not fuel itself; don't drive during these times:

trouble in the middle east . . .

No offense, but that would mean no one would ever drive during their lifetime.