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Step 1
When you go above 38 mph in most cars, you lose mileage. For every 5 mph above 55, he says you can lose as much as 10 percent of your fuel economy. So slowing down can save you gas. Drive the speed limit.
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Step 2
Driving without brakes or in hypermiling lingo,d.w.b. is all about coasting. You need to maintain a constant speed and not let it get ahead of you when you are driving in traffic, so that when traffic starts to slow back down you'll catch up. This can be tricky as in a lot of cases when ever you allow distance between you and another car, another car will take advantage of it and cut in front of you.
Do it when possible -- but be careful. -
Step 3
The forced-auto stop is when you turn off your car and coast. In hybrids, the internal combustion engine shuts off at stops to conserve fuel; the electric batteries keep the car running. To save even more fuel when decelerating, some hypermilers shift to neutral and turn off the engine while coasting to a stop.
Expert's say that this is highly dangerous. -
Step 4
Avoid big hills and stop-and-go traffic by trying different route because a longer route may have better driving conditions and less traffic which uses less gas. Also, changing your work schedule 30 minutes to half an hour can mean less traffic. Try working out at a gym next to your job and then driving home. Test different routes to see which is the smoothest ride.
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Step 5
Scheduled oil changes result in better fuel economy because as the oil gets older thus thicker it is harder to push through the engine.
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Step 6
Traffic lights are the biggest cause of you using gas while idling. If you see a red light in front of you, take your foot off the gas and let your car coast up to it. Hypermilers practice riding the "waves and jams" caused by congestion to minimize time accelerating, decelerating, and sitting stopped. When you can turn off your car, like when you are waiting to pick up someone, or in your car in line, like at the bank or drive through, turn off your engine to save gas.
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Step 7
Accelerate slowly. The longer your take to achieve a speed, the less fuel it will require to get there. In many cars, using cruise control to slowly approach the desired speed will help regulate accelerations. A rule of thumb is to press down the accelerator an inch at a time.
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Step 8
Using cruise control on the highway, though, really does have a noticeable effect on fuel economy. In Edmunds.com's test using a Land Rover LR3 and a Ford Mustang, the Land Rover got almost 14 percent better mileage using cruise control set at 70 miles per hour rather than cruising at driver-controlled speeds between 65 and 75 miles per hour. The Mustang got 4.5 percent better mileage.
Using cruise control cuts down on unnecessary speed changes which can eat up gas and it prevents "speed creep." the tendency for a driver's average speed to gradually increase with time spent on the road.
If you want the biggest gain in fuel mileage, you need to lay off the pedals when driving around town. Accelerating more slowly away from green lights and stopping more gradually for red lights cut fuel consumption in Edmunds.com's tests by 35.4 percent for the Land Rover and 27.1 percent for the Mustang.
Slamming down the gas pedal pushes more fuel into the engine while it also keeps the engine running faster.
Comments
4abtrlife said
on 5/7/2008 Most of the above tips are not the safest ones I've heard. Here's another such non-safe tip. If you drive a car with manual transmission, shift gears to neutral when you reach a good speed and you will be able to go a fair distance before there's considerable loss of speed. Once you've slowed down, shift back to 4th/5th whatever, accelerate, neutral, coast...and so the cycle goes. But if you're that desperate to get your mileage up, I'd rather go for something like http://www.water4gas-scam.com