Monday, June 16, 2008

Gas saving tips

I am not big into 12 step programs. If I cannot remember it of the top of my head, I have trouble changing my behavior. So here are the 4 things I am doing differently to save gas by increasing the fuel economy of our vehicles. YMMV
  • Keep your engine below 3000 rpms. This typically translates to drive on or below speed limit. I rarely exceed 65mph these days. It is yet to make me late to an appointment btw :-)
  • Use cruise control as often as possible. Your vehicle is a lot more efficient at moderating gas usage than you ever will be so cruise control is your friend.
  • Avoid braking hard. Anticipate stops and watch out for red lights and slow down proactively. Hard breaking burns a lot of fuel.
  • Try to group your errands together. Cold starting your engine (been over 3hrs since you last drove the car) consumes twice as much fuel as if your engine was running recently. This might not be a big deal for us in Texas heat but nonetheless a good bit of advice to keep in mind.
Good luck :)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi goli,

This is Bharath Sundararaman. Not sure why I am showing up as javaguy.

See that you are still spouting fundas even 10 years after UofA - looks like you haven't changed much ;-) Got your blog from Nate Little. Am part of the Acton 09 class. Let's be in touch.