Save $2 Per Gallon!

North Star Writers Group ^ | June 16, 2008 | Herman Cain

[Dukes Travels]

Now that I have your attention, here’s how.

Slow down. Stop the jack rabbit starts. Don’t slam the brakes. Dump the junk in the trunk. Use the cruise. Ride on air. And sweat on the way home.

A properly maintained vehicle, plus changing your driving behavior can actually increase your gas mileage by 50 percent, which saves you $2 per gallon on your next gallon of gas. And I have the listeners who have done it to prove it. Here’s the math.

The pain at the pump is now averaging $4 a gallon. If you are currently getting 20 miles per gallon in the hot wheels of your choice and you increase the mileage by 50 percent, then you will be getting 30 miles per gallon. That’s 10 extra miles for which you will not have to buy gas. Therefore, you save $2, since you are paying $4 per 20 miles driven.

[antiRepublicrat]

Use the cruise

Cruise control is good for a level survace since the minute changes in the pressure on the gas pedal by your foot waste gas. But it's a waste in the case of hills, where a person might use the potential energy of the car to speed up the downhill, saving gas on the uphill.

[wbill]

Some good ideas in this article, some not-so-good ones.

I put my comfort over the mpg or 2 that I use by leaving the AC turned on, for instance.

[antiRepublicrat]

For highway speeds, turning the AC off and rolling the windows down actually creates more drag and uses more fuel than the windows up and the AC running.

That depends on the car, its aerodynamics, drivetrain, etc., the speed you choose to drive and other factors.

[Charles Martel]

I think a motorcycle (I’m just not into scooters) would save me a bunch of money, but I’m afraid I’d be a hood ornament in less than a month. People just don’t pay attention.

That pretty much sums up my feelings on motorcycles and tiny sub-sub-compact cars as well. In a more rural area with less congested roads, I might be more tempted to risk life and limb in a quest for better fuel economy, but not on I-35.

WAY too many, er.. *third world* (read: unskilled and uninsured) drivers out there.

[ChiefE9]

The folling policy changes would take care of the problem also.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031708/posts

[Red_Devil 232]

I might be stupid, have known to be on occasion. But is not this guys math off a bit? In my mind (if you could actually increase your mileage by 50%) driving 20 miles on a gallon of gas at $4 per gal. would require you to drive 40 mile on that same gal. of gas to seemingly reduce its cost to $2.

[Ticonderoga34]

Second, rolling the windows down will only help during stop and start driving. For highway speeds, turning the AC off and rolling the windows down actually creates more drag and uses more fuel than the windows up and the AC running. For those of us in the muggy southeast, running the car with the AC off simply isn’t an option.

I use the AC with the windows up on the freeway and turned the AC off and roll down the windows in city traffic and have noticed a increase in gas mileage using that strategy. But like you said, sometimes it is just too hot not to use the AC all of the time.

[Arkansas Toothpick]

I had toyed with the idea of getting a motorcycle but I passed by two separate accident scenes involving motorcycles PLUS lost an uncle this past week to a motorcycle crash. I don’t think I’ll be trading my 4 wheeler for a 2 wheeler just yet.

[Banjoguy]

you increase the mileage by 50 percent,

...in your dreams, nitwit!

[George from New England]

I’m a bit concerned.

The city folk have alternate transportation means available to them. i.e. trains, buses, subways, etc. Even bicycles for short hops.

The folks who live in the country ARE SCREWED. We have to travel dozens of miles to live. Country folk are a minority and when it comes down to votes, country folk lose.

So I expect the solution to involve city folk and leave country residents bankrupt.

[WayneS]

Why would you hit a rock?

[WayneS]

The insanity of boredom, right?

[SumProVita]

I haven’t SEEN any of these bumper stickers on vehicles where I live yet. ;-/

[nikos1121]

I do this now, even turning off the engine when at a stop light. I rotate and balance my tires and keep them inflated, I drive the speed limit and even buy a better octane gas...At the most I’m getting maybe 2 or 3 more MPG. Increasing to 50 % is a fantasy.

[taildragger]

I am waiting for Bajaj out of India to start producing what they are supposedly working on which could be their trump card.

They are an Orbital Licensee and they are working on the following.

A Direct Injected 2 stroke burning Gaseous Fuel(s).

Which If I am not mistaken are about $1.00 a gallon cheaper than gasoline.

So if it was to go in a scooter it would be the following:

100 mpg, the snap of a 2 stroke (for 50cc's anyway :-) ) and clean burning.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

[nikos1121]

Forget ANWR, there’s ample fuel and gas right hear in the Continental USA and off shore.

[HundredDollars]

If you are currently getting 20 miles per gallon in the hot wheels of your choice and you increase the mileage by 50 percent, then you will be getting 30 miles per gallon. That’s 10 extra miles for which you will not have to buy gas. Therefore, you save $2, since you are paying $4 per 20 miles driven.

This clown can't even do simple math and we're supposed to listen to his opinion. In order to save $2 you have to double your mileage from 20mpg to 40mpg. With his given scenario you save the equivalent of $1.33 per gallon.

Check it:

@20mpg it takes 3 gallons ($12) to travel 60 miles. This is $4 per 20 miles driven.

@30mpg it takes 2 gallons ($8) to travel 60 miles. This is $2.67 per 20 miles driven.

$4.00-$2.67 = $1.33

I didn't even bother to follow the link.

[nikos1121]

I do this now, even turning off the engine when at a stop light. I rotate and balance my tires and keep them inflated, I drive the speed limit and even buy a better octane gas...At the most I’m getting maybe 2 or 3 more MPG. Increasing to 50 % is a fantasy.