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This is a little old but from a us government energy agency.
“While vehicles reach optimal fuel economy at different speeds, gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 50 miles per hour (mph). For light-duty vehicles, for example, every 5 mph you drive over 50 mph is like paying $0.18 more per gallon of gas (based on the price of gas at $2.63 per gallon).”.
I also see a lot of vehicles which are in dire need of a tuneup. Spen $50 now to get it running right and get 30% higher mpg. It'll pay back your $50 in a month.
our rates for a mechanic here are 100-130 an hour. I guess if you know how to do plugs yourself. I'm not messing with diesel injectors myself.
I can't believe the number of drivers I see in a hurry to go no where like charging a stop or red light rather than coast in and save some gas and brake wear. Or tail gate or charge towards heavy traffic even though one can see all the brake lights hundreds of feet away. I also see people turn the key and drive with no warm up at all. Don't need a couple of minutes but should at least wait 15-30 secs for the idle to drop and oil circulate.
Besides driving less has anyone changed driving habits to save gas?
Save gas?
I couldn’t be bothered, if I HAVE to drive somewhere, I get in, start up, engage D, stroke the gas pedal and go.
I’ll go as fast as I can so that I can get there and get back quickly, but keep my eyes peeled for cops.
If gas is going to go up due to world events there’s nothing that I can do about it, I’m not about to start coasting down hills in neutral to save a couple of cents, life’s too short, it ain’t a rehearsal.
I also see a lot of vehicles which are in dire need of a tuneup. Spen $50 now to get it running right and get 30% higher mpg. It'll pay back your $50 in a month.
As a young guy I was an aggressive driver, but then gas was $0.75 to $0.85 per gallon. Using math I proved to myself that my fast driving wasn’t worth the limited gains in time. Better to leave a little early and drive softer on the gas and brakes. What I don’t want is a return to a federal national speed limit of 55 mph. I also don’t worry about how others are driving except close family members. I do still accelerate hard when merging into higher speed traffic. I absolutely hate when someone pulls out into traffic at a crawling speed forcing those behind them to hard brake to avoid a rearend collision. You going to pull out into traffic then accelerate to match traffic speeds or wait for a longer gap between vehicles to pull out.
You're watching "lots" of people start their cars for the first time in the morning and drive off without warming it up? I wish I had that kind of spare time.
Cars do not need to be warmed up for more than a few seconds. Read the manual, it says just that.
As a young guy I was an aggressive driver, but then gas was $0.75 to $0.85 per gallon. Using math I proved to myself that my fast driving wasn’t worth the limited gains in time. Better to leave a little early and drive softer on the gas and brakes. What I don’t want is a return to a federal national speed limit of 55 mph. I also don’t worry about how others are driving except close family members. I do still accelerate hard when merging into higher speed traffic. I absolutely hate when someone pulls out into traffic at a crawling speed forcing those behind them to hard brake to avoid a rearend collision. You going to pull out into traffic then accelerate to match traffic speeds or wait for a longer gap between vehicles to pull out.
I agree with you that the little bit of time saved isn’t worth the stress of driving aggressive. I often see people flying up to red lights, slamming on the brakes then flooring it when it turns green….makes me wonder if years and years of driving like that reduces the lifespan of parts on the car. I’ve known a few people that drive this way and their cars would feel “clapped out” around 150k miles. I know brakes can wear out faster but I would think also that an engine constantly revved higher would reduce its lifespan. I’ve heard people say an engine has so many revs in it before it blows. For this reason I accelerate up to speed say 35 or 45 or 55 while keeping the revs down…gas pedal around 1/4 of the way. I’ve never had a car longer than my current car that I bought new in 2009, but so far 215k miles and no engine problems (knock on wood). Perhaps some of that longevity is due to me not dogging the car.
I also think overly aggressive driving can cause accidents. People should realize that not everyone on the road is in prime condition — plenty of 70-80+ drivers on the road. Just yesterday I pulled out of a restaurant onto a 3 lane road and made my way to the far left lane to turn — as I do this a jacked up truck that was at a red light comes barreling up behind me. The guy was flooring it from the light and laid on the horn because I had to slow down a little to get into the turning lane. The speed limit was 45 but apparently I impeded his mad dash up to what looked like 60+.
Last edited by GoAmericaGo; 03-06-2022 at 11:58 PM..
I can't believe the number of drivers I see in a hurry to go no where like charging a stop or red light rather than coast in and save some gas and brake wear. Or tail gate or charge towards heavy traffic even though one can see all the brake lights hundreds of feet away. I also see people turn the key and drive with no warm up at all. Don't need a couple of minutes but should at least wait 15-30 secs for the idle to drop and oil circulate.
Besides driving less has anyone changed driving habits to save gas?
Odd message here - concerned about other people who waste gas by driving differently than himself but then promotes wasting gas by unnecessary idling before driving away.
You’ll be surprised how many people do not understand that driving hard and fast uses more gas.
Most drivers around me gun it even if the light ahead is red. I’ve come to realize that most people are simply too stupid to even realize that all they’re doing is wasting gas. That plus people today are generally impatient. Just the feeling of going faster, even to a red light or a stop sign ahead makes them feel like they are going somewhere sooner.
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