How to Reduce Your Fuel Mileage in 20 Minutes!

How to Reduce Your Fuel Mileage in 20 Minutes! Reduce Your Fuel Mileage in 20 Minutes! As the gas and oil prices continue to rise all across the world, more and more people are looking for ways to save money on gas. For most people, this would be horrible news, right? Well, there is good news for you since you are reading this report! It is already established that you want to save money on gas, right? I mean, who doesn’t want to save money at a time when gas prices are at a record high and there is no end in sight. With the rise of gas prices around the world, it has also taken a toll on the global economy and has really taken a toll on the average family. Many people are starting to shift towards the ideals that we need to downsize and drive smaller vehicles that have great gas mileage. While in theory this is a great thing, it will not work in the real world. Here are some of the reasons why that we can not shift our focus to a small car world. Why Change? People are now being forced to change their entire lives due to these high gas prices. In May of 2008, Americans alone cut their driving miles by over 2 billion miles due to the high prices. May is a time when people start to travel and children start to get out of school, so normally the miles go higher. But not anymore! Also, people are going out less due to this fact as well. Normal errands are being carefully planned out in order to maximize the amount of driving. While this may be good for the environment that we are driving less, it is severely hurting our quality of life. Trucks, vans, SUVs and even sports cars are popular and purchased for a reason in mind. People enjoy driving these vehicles and the last thing that we should do is sacrifice our quality of life in order to feed our families. Quality of life is something people hold very high, so we need to do whatever we can to preserve it. I mean, how will you be able to tow your boat on the weekend with your subcompact vehicle? You simply can’t and you don’t need to! So, since we also established that you don’t want to change or inhibit your quality of life, how do you get around these outrageous gas prices? Do you just give up and go along with it and maybe work a second job? Again, that would be a large lifestyle change! Almost any way you look at it, you are stuck. Well, there are a few options… Purchase a New Vehicle The immediate response nowadays is the knee jerk response to go out and purchase a new vehicle or at least one that is more fuel efficient then the one that you are already driving. While in some cases this may make sense, for the most part this will not make sense financially. Here is how it could make sense for you. If you own a vehicle currently that is getting poor gas mileage, such as a 6 or 8 cylinder vehicle, and you trade it in for a 4 cylinder and you can keep the payments the same, it would make sense to trade that vehicle in as long as they are similar vehicles. What I am saying is that if you own a 6 cylinder Ford Taurus and you purchase a 4 cylinder Ford Five Hundred, it would not be a huge change. Sure, you may lose a little space, but in the long run, it makes sense for your pocketbook. Now, if you own a Chevrolet Tahoe and trade it in for a Honda Civic, that does not make sense at all. Sure, you will save a ton of gas and probably a good amount of money in payments every month. But you obviously had that Tahoe for a reason, whether it is for hauling your family or boat around. The smarter purchase may be to purchase an older used vehicle that gets great gas mileage and use that for the majority of your driving. Sure, you are losing the comfort of your nice Tahoe, but if you are hurting that bad and the numbers make sense, a sacrifice on your commuting car is not a huge one. Is a Hybrid the Smart Choice? When thinking about a new vehicle, a growing trend of people are moving towards purchasing a hybrid vehicle. Since hybrids come in all forms now except for vans, it can fit virtually any lifestyle. But, even though you will be getting great gas mileage, is buying a hybrid really worth the money? If you are looking to purchase a hybrid purely because of environmental reasons, a hybrid will be your best choice. They emit the lowest amount of emissions and use the least amount of gas. However, if you are looking at it from a financial standpoint, you will need to do a lot of driving before you can even break even on the purchase. Before talking about the differences between a gasoline only engine and a hybrid engine, it is important to note that we will not being using any tax credits to calculate the savings. The reason we are doing this is two-fold. The tax credits being given as incentives to hybrid buyers are being phased out by the government and some are not even available anymore. It all depends on the manufacturer now, and they are all different. Also, each person’s tax situation is different, so what one person may save won’t be the same as another person. Now, let us get into raw numbers and facts. We are going to compare the popular Toyota Prius, which is a hybrid, to the comparably-sized Toyota Corolla. The Prius base model is priced at $22,160 while a comparably equipped Corolla will cost you $17,570. The base model price of a Corolla equates to $15,865, but the Prius has a few more standard options. Anyways, the difference in the price of the two comes out to $4,590, which is a good amount of money. Now, let us compare the gas mileage of the two vehicles. The Prius gets a combined city/highway mileage of 46 miles per gallon, or MPG. The Corolla gets a combined city/highway mileage of 29 MPG, a difference of 17 gallons. Now, how about we break down the numbers and see the savings that the Prius will get you. Let us assume that you drive just 10,000 miles a year, which is on the lower side in today’s world. In the Prius, you would need 217 gallons of gas in order to drive 10,000 miles, which would cost you $868 if gas was $4/gallon. In the Corolla, you would need 345 gallons of gas to drive the same 10,000 miles. That would cost you $1,380 if you were driving the Corolla. So, in conclusion, the Prius would save you $512/year if you drove just 10,000 miles a year. Next, we will break down a driver who drives 15,000 miles a year. In the Prius, you would need 326 gallons of gas, which would cost about $1,304. In the Corolla, you would need 517 gallons of gas and it would cost you around $2,068 in gas for the year. The savings by driving the Prius would be $764/year. Finally, we will look at the stats for a driver who drives 20,000 miles a year. The Prius will use about 435 gallons of gas in the year, which will be at a cost of $1,740. In contrast, the Corolla would use 690 gallons of gas at a cost of $2,760. The Prius would save you about $1,020 a year. So, now that we have a look at the numbers, is buying a hybrid really worth it? The cost to keep up with the Prius is a little bit higher due to the complex hybrid system, and in the best case scenario, it would take you over 4 years driving 20,000 miles a year to break even on your initial investment. In fact, it would take the 10,000 mile/year driver almost 9 years to start to break even and the 15,000 mile/year drive 6 years to break even on the initial investment. Take into account inflation and other factors, and buying a hybrid over a gasoline powered engine doesn’t seem to be the best choice anymore. Is This a No-Win Situation? Well, since purchasing a new vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is not usually the smarter choice, what exactly is there left to do? I mean, there needs to be some way to save some extra money at the gas pumps, right? The answer is of course! Most people can start to save some money on gas immediately, meaning you can start to save money the next time that you drive. There are tons of ways to save money on gas and proven techniques, but most people have ignored them and they have gone by the wayside as long as gas was not expensive. Now that the price of gas is so expensive, people started researching and developing ways to save on gas from their current vehicle. Saving money on the vehicle you own is the best way to save money at the pump, and we will show you the ways to do this here shortly. Using these techniques immediately will not only allow you to save more money at the pump, but it will allow you to keep driving that vehicle that you love. The Newest Trend! There are thousands of people out there who currently who techniques driving their vehicle that allow them to constantly exceed the EPA estimate on their vehicle’s mileage. These people are called hypermilers and the technique is known as hypermiling. So what exactly is hypermiling? Well, the dictionary term of hypermiling is the constant exceeding of the EPA or fuel efficiency on their vehicle by modif ying their driving habits. The term originated from groups of hybrid vehicle owners who gathered to compare mileage and driving information. When they started to notice differences in their mileages, they started to pool their techniques together in order to maximize their gas, thus coining the term hypermiling. As said before, these same techniques have been used in the past, but as gas and oil become abundant again, people drifted away from these techniques and went back to their old ways quickly and the techniques never really gained popularity. Hypermilers are known for getting huge MPG out of their vehicles and sometimes even will go to extreme measures. There is even a term for these types of drivers, called nempimania, or nenpimania, and their obsession sometimes can be out of control or dangerous. Basic Hypermiling Tips So, now that you know a little bit about what hypermiling is and how it was started, how about we get started on some of the ways that you can start saving gas as soon as the next time you take a drive? The first major step that is needed to get the best mileage out of your vehicle is to make sure your vehicle is out to date on your maintenance, specifically in 5 major areas. The first maintenance item that needs to be checked is your tire pressure. Not only is your tire pressure vital to getting the best gas mileage, but improperly inflated tires can also cost you more money by letting them wear unevenly and causing premature tire damage. The reason a properly inflated tire can get you better gas mileage is that the tire loses less energy when in motion, which means less stress overall. To ensure proper tire efficiency, you need to check your tires at least weekly to make sure that they are inflated to their maximum recommended capacity from the manufacturer. Gas mileage is affected by 1.4% for every 1 psi that the tires are below the factory guideline. A car that usually gets 30 MPG will only get 28 MPG if their tires are just 5 psi under inflated, which is easy to not even notice on your vehicle. To check your tire pressure, it is really quite simple. Just take an air gauge, which can be purchased at any auto store for a buck or two, and check the tires. To get the manufacturer recommended tire pressure, just look on the sidewall and it will tell you the specifications of the tire. Make sure to fill the tire to the exact specs, or you will be hurting your gas mileage and tire life. The next two major maintenance items go hand in hand, and they can again affect just more than your gas mileage. Those two maintenance items involve your tire balance and wheel alignment. Tire balance and wheel alignment can cause lower gas mileage and poor tire wear, so these are just as important as keeping the proper pressure in your tires as well. The reason that you will lose mileage is the same reason you need to keep your tires properly inflated. If your tires are out of line, the car will pull offline and you will need to use extra energy in order to keep it on track, while you lose gas mileage in the process. This will also put extra stress on the engine, making it work harder and thus losing gas mileage as well. Another major maintenance item that you need to attend to is the oil in your engine. Sure, we try and change it as often as possible, but how strict are you on the recommended intervals? The factory has a set amount that is recommended, whether it is every 3,000 or 5,000 miles. Make sure to follow that schedule exactly and do not stray from it, as not having fresh oil in your engine can make the engine work harder and cause engine damage as well. Also, make sure that you are using low-kinematic viscosity oil in your engine to help reduce the amount that your engine is working. The last major maintenance item that you need to keep tabs on is the Engine Control Module, but more specifically, the oxygen sensor. The Engine Control Module controls the entire engine management system, including the operation of all the sensors. The sensors monitor the vital stats of the engine, so it is very important that they are kept in optimum running condition. If your check engine light is on, you are wasting a lot of gas! When the check engine light is on, the computer and engine go into a safe mode. When an oxygen sensor is not working properly, the computer thinks the engine could be running too lean and in order to make sure nothing goes wrong, it starts to pump extra gas into the mixture to make sure it is not running lean anymore. When you pump extra gas into the mixture, you are of course using more gas and wasting it as well. Just make sure the light is not on and if it is, get it taken care of immediately so you don’t do damage to your engine and so you don’t waste any more gas. Next, you would want to take a look at the interior of your vehicle. Are you carrying around excess weight, such as a bowling ball, tools or golf clubs? Do you have a backseat full of junk that you don’t even know how it got there? If so, you are wasting gas! Take a few minutes and clean your car out at all times and this will help you save a little bit on your gas bill as well. Also, the less the car weighs the better gas mileage you get from that aspect. Some hypermilers have even taken weight reduction to an extreme, such as taking out the spare tire, removing the trunk liner and other non-essential liners and parts. Just a word of caution, though, that if you remove your spare tire, just make sure you have some sort of Fix-A-Flat available so that you won’t be stranded on the side of the road. How Do You Drive? Driving habits have a huge influence on your vehicle’s gas mileage. Studies have shown that gas mileage is affected from 10%-50%, all depending on how extreme the measures tested were. However, simply saying, just take it easy is the main lesson and theme, but we will go into specifics on how and why you need to do certain things. First off, you need to find what the optimal speed of your vehicle is. It is quite simple really, as the range is usually from 35 to 50 miles per hour, or MPH. To figure out what the optimal speed of your vehicle is, just cruise along an open, flat road. Once you get to the top gear and are cruising with very minimal throttle, you have found your optimum speed. This is the place where you will get the absolute best mileage while driving. This is the speed and setting that you would like to have at all times and should try hard to keep it right around this speed if you are looking for the best use of your gas. Always try to drive with the least pressure on the throttle, as this will ensure you are not wasting any gas. The biggest pitfall drivers fall into is when they are accelerating and decelerating. These are the two biggest areas where people waste gas, and it is a very easy thing to do. Here is how you can start to save money in big ways! Simple Driving Tips First, we will start off with accelerating. Accelerating is the single biggest cause of gas mileage waste, so this is the most important thing you can be conscious of when you are driving. Smashing the throttle to the floor at every stop sign and stop light will not get you good gas mileage whatsoever. In fact, it will greatly reduce your gas mileage from the EPA estimate, so it is not recommended to do this every time or if possible, at all. When accelerating, try to do so in a gentle manner so that you gradually pick up speed and not as fast as you can. Also, a technique that is used by many who use the hypermiling techniques is the cruise control method. Most cruise controls have an accelerate button, and these buttons are programmed to slowly reach the speed desired, thus making it easier for you not to smash down on the gas pedal. If you own a vehicle with a manual or stick shift, saving money by accelerating is even easier. Since you control when you shift, you just have to make sure that you are shifting at the lowest possible point. When you keep the RPMs low, you are making sure that you are not wasting gas by keeping the throttle in check as well. A manual shift vehicle is easier to control and drive for maximum mileage due to the fact that you have pure control over the situation. Now, braking and slowing down is also another fine art that hypermilers work hard on to refine. Sometimes you will need to stop abruptly, as you cannot control the other drivers on the road and other situations. However, you can minimize the amount of braking and stopping by being aware of the road in front of you. If you travel a certain route on a regular basis and know how long a traffic light will stay red, you can start to time the lights so that you can just coast in and not ever stop. Stopping is a killer to gas mileage, so even if you are only coasting at 5 to 10 miles per hour, it is much better then coming to a complete stop. Being totally aware at all times is the best way to maximize your gas mileage. As soon as you see a light turn red or someone braking, you should let off the gas and go into coast mode. Coasting is the best thing you can do to slow the vehicle down naturally, and while it will still burn gas, it will be the least amount of gas possible without turning the engine off, which we will discuss later on. Does Fuel Really Matter? Another topic that people get confused on when talking about gas mileage is about the type of fuel that they should be using. Most people believe that a higher octane gas is more efficient and will improve both performance and gas mileage. While in many cases it will improve performance, it very rarely will help the gas mileage of a vehicle, and the cost of higher octane fuel offsets any minimal gain that you may experience. An octane rating is just used to measure whether or not an engine will ping, or not be getting the correct mixture of gas and oxygen, among other things. Most computers nowadays can determine when an engine reaches this point and will adjust the fuel settings accordingly, so that is not much of a worry. If an engine normally uses high-octane gas and you put in a lower grade, the computers again will help adjust the settings so you do not cause engine damage. Thus, using a lower grade gas then normal probably won’t cause any major damage, if any, so if you are looking to save, you can immediately save 10 to 30 cents a gallon by looking into a different grade of gas. However, make sure your engine is not pinging with the lower gas, because if it is subject to pinging for an extended period of time, it can cause major problems with your engine. If you are experiencing these problems, you should take it to your mechanic. Usually, the problem is somewhere other then your computer and should be fixed immediately to avoid a costly repair somewhere down the road. One last pointer that can be brought up about driving habits is the use of a computer of some kind, or a trip computer. Many new vehicles are already equipped with these, especially the hybrids. What these computers do is monitor your vital stats, such as MPG, in a real-time situation. So what this means is that you can literally watch and see how efficient you are being and adjust your style accordingly if you are being too aggressive. Most vehicles made after 1996, however, will allow you to hook up a third party device in order to monitor these vital stats. However, we must note that the device is only able to monitor the stats, and it is the sole responsibility of the driver to make proper use of the device and use it to maximize your fuel mileage. Advanced Hypermiling Now that you have a firm grasp of what exactly hypermiling is, how about we look at some of the techniques that the pros like to use. We must note that these are purely for educational purposes only and are to be used at your own risk. We do not take responsibility for any of these techniques and are to be used are your own discretion The Pulse and Glide The first technique that we are going to talk about is called the pulse and glide. The pulse and glide is a fairly simple technique to master and it is accomplished by simply accelerating to a certain speed (pulse) and then coasting (glide). This process is then repeated over and over again, and thus you have the pulse and glide technique. Depending on the type of vehicle you have, the glide should be done in different ways. If you have a manual transmission, the glide is normally accomplished by shutting the engine off completely, leaving just the electronics on so that you do not engage the wheel lock on the steering wheel. With an automatic transmissions, the starter usually shoots extra fuel into the engine, so that is why it is really only efficient to turn the vehicle off if you have a manual transmission. However, coasting in neutral in an automatic transmission is also very effective, so that is how the glide should be utilized in those types of vehicles. If you own a hybrid, it can be treated like the manual transmission, as their setups are similar and will not waste gas. Auto-stop or forced stop and draft-assisted forced stop First off, we will look at what the auto-stop technique is. This technique is to be done at your own discretion, as this may hurt some of the newer automatic transmission and could cause them not to perform properly. To perform an auto-stop, shift the vehicle into neutral, let the RPMs stabilize and then turned the vehicle off completely, including all of the electronic devices. Once you do that, and then turn the key to position where only the electronics are engaged. This will make sure that your wheel does not lock and make you lose control of your vehicle. To re-enter normal driving mode, just simply turn the vehicle back on and before shifting it into drive, press the accelerator pedal to match the RPMs and that is all. It also must be noted that you will experience loss of control when doing this, so it is recommended that you only do it where visibility is high and on a fairly flat and straight road. Power steering and power brake assist will be comprised quickly, thus the reason for the loss of control. The best place to turn your vehicle off would be a stoplight, as they are often easy to time and idling is not efficient when trying to save gas. The draft-assisted forced stop is similar to the auto or forced stop, but this utilizes a larger vehicle as well. After a forced stop is performed, you would then coast or tailgate a larger vehicle in order to take advantage of the reduced wind resistance. Be careful, though, as tailgating is extremely dangerous and drafting is actually illegal in many areas due to increased danger. While the auto-stop is a tricky and tough process to continually use, if you can master it, you will save a bunch of gas. Think of it this way. Whenever you are coasting and you do an auto-stop, you are using no gas whatsoever, as compared to the gas you would use just coasting in neutral or accelerating. Hypermilers have perfected this method, and you should too if you are looking for a great increase in your gas mileage. Other Useful Tips There are many myths about how you can save gas. So, how do you know if they are true or not? Well, the only true way that you can tell is if you do the testing yourself. However, we can also help to steer your in the right direction as well. As said before, using cruise control when accelerating will help you gradually gain speed. It can also help maintain a constant cruising speed and help prevent speed creeping. Tests have proven that setting your cruise control at a set speed like 70 MPH will save you significant then if you drive between 65 and 75 MPH yourself. Another myth is that the air conditioning will rob you of your mileage. While this is true in stop-and-go traffic, there is a no real difference between using the air conditioning and rolling down the windows, so go ahead and use that A/C when cruising down the highway. When accelerating, try to use the 20 second rule. The goal here is to accelerate to your desired speed in 20 seconds instead of as fast as possible. This will help keep you conscious of how hard you are pressing on the gas pedal and will save you a ton of gas mileage in the process. How to Calculate Your Miles Per Gallon Make sure that you keep track of your overall miles per gallon at every fill-up. Here is the best method to track your MPG: 1. Fill your gas tank to the top and write down the mileage on your odometer (ex. 45,240 miles). 2. When you get gas again, fill the tank completely and write down the odometer reading (ex 45,545 miles) again plus the gallons of gas (ex. 12.5 gallons) it took to fill up. Now you can do your math! 3. Next, subtract the two odometer readings to get your miles driven between fill-ups (ex. 305 miles). 4. Finally, take the miles driven (ex. 305 miles) and divide them by the gallons (ex. 12.5 gallons) you put into the vehicle. The end result will be the MPG that you got between fill-ups (ex. 24.4 MPG). Doing this religiously will help make you accountable and you can adjust your driving style accordingly as well. Also, if you believe you are driving in a good manner, it can also help you spot any potential performance problems in your vehicle as well. This point has been beat to death, but don’t sit still! If you have to sit still for any period of time, consider turning your vehicle off. The best way to not sit still is to anticipate when you are going to stop or hit a red light and minimize the time sitting still. Remember, if you are sitting still, you are getting 0 MPG! Conclusion The world right now is dependent on oil and it is not getting any cheaper. Sure, we may find short-term solutions to our problems and gas prices may drop slightly. However, in the long run, supply will go down while demand will continue to go up. This will keep the price of gas high and make it harder for the average person to drive in general. Hypermiling is here to stay, unlike at other times in the past where it went away. Gas shortages are going to be a real problem until we find a good alternative that is not expensive. Until then, we need to be careful about how we use our fuel and conserve as much as possible. This will not only help our pockets, but also the environment as we learn more and more about the effects of global warming. So, in short, learn the techniques and actually apply them to your driving habits. Also, don’t just do it short-term; actually make it a part of your life and driving!