Posted on 06/02/2008 3:29:32 PM PDT by chaos_5
Are you letting your car creep closer to empty because of rising gas prices?
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yeah. That’ll fix the problem.
That’s the best way to burn up your fuel pump. Once it sucks air, the motor over speeds.
It is not really just because I expect gas prices to be higher the next time that I top off often , I just like being ready to go . One of these days I might be caught with a full tank and gas down to 19.9 cents like it was when I was a kid . Silly me , I’ll take my chances .
Nope - that’s just stupid.
But what I am doing, is changing the way I drive. I drive slower (never going over 55), accelerating slowly (not gunning it), slowing down to stop sooner (coasting more)...things that help lower gas mileage that I wasn’t doing before.
Naw, I just fill up now when it hit’s the 3/4 mark. Only costs me $50 bucks to fill up that way :)
No difference to my wife, she always drives with the needle bouncing off “E”.
No difference to me, I always fill up when it gets down to about 1/3 of a tank.
Absolutely not. The last thing I need is to be stranded on the side of the road with my 4 squabbling children.
I usually only put $20 to $25 in my regular car as I can’t stand seeing the pump ring up a $40 plus fill up. It’s just psychological. As for my SUV, we’ve recently moved to Pennsylvania and my wife’s commute in it has been drastically reduced.
I have a nuclear powered car, the next fillup is scheduled for sometime in the year 2235.
No, because for the past several weeks the gas prices have steadily gone up and waiting only costs me more.
I keep the tank topped up because I remember gas rationing and the Carter Era.
Y'know, it's funny. On my mail route, my Explorer gets about 12-ish mpg. I go around 87 miles. If I HUSTLE, like chewing-gum-panting-rushing between mailboxes, I can shave off a half hour from my route. You'd think I'd trash my MPG. Nope. I get home with MORE gas if I drive like that. If I take my time, I use almost 1/8th tank MORE fuel to go the same distance.
WAY more damaging to the vehicle to drive like that, though. Brakes, suspension, etc. take a knockin'. Gas is cheaper.
“No difference to my wife, she always drives with the needle bouncing off “E”.”
Same with my wife. I sometimes wonder if she thinks F=finished and E=enough gas.
The longer you go between refills, the more you shell out on the spot. First because the price is a function of time (the longer you wait the higher the price goes) and secondly, the emptier tank just takes more to fill it up.
There is a technique of driving that is called “hypermileage” - shifting into neutral and coasting to a stop, feathering only lightly on the brakes, while trying to still be moving when the light changes, getting the vehicle into the highest gear at the lowest speed practical (watch the tachometer and speedometer to determine the shift points on the automatic transmission), and use little tricks like filling up when the air is cool, commencing your trip before the day warms up so very much.
Out on the highway, the cruise control is WAY smarter than you are, especially coupled with the computer engine controls. Again watching the tachometer, try to keep the engine speed below a point around 2,000 rpm, more important actually than the speed.
And if you have an “instantaneous” mileage readout, try to keep it up in the higher ranges. Neat little psychological trick right there.
Vacuum gauges used to be a fairly good guide, but nobody uses them any more.
I enjoy getting next to some wimpmobile (like the toileta prius) and blasting off the line. I seldom light up the tires anymore but make sure they hear the roar of the American V8. That way they can know that the gas they are saving for the planet is being used for some good old-fashioned high HP 0-60 fun.
When I ride my Harley, which is nearly every day, I make it a point to make more noise while passing a Prius. Sometimes I'll even drop a gear and ride in front of them for a while. The irony is I'm probably betting better MPG than they are. LOL
I try to let the tank get pretty low if I have some discounts racked up from the grocery store rewards card. My Civic gets pretty good mileage, and I can usually get at least another 30 miles out of it when the needle looks like it’s on E.
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