July Challenge - Summary

After 1226.9 miles from Tampa to Chicago in a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am, it's time to pull the details together for easy reference.

There was flatlands at sea level, mountain climbs of almost 2000 ft, traffic jams at rush hour, and heavy rains - all making the trip very exciting. At the end, you can see in the chart below that the 2000 Pontiac Grand Am produced 38.31 mpg total for the trip. By my calculations, that is 174% of the combined EPA rating for this car.

Here are the links to the various days and planning that went into the trip:

Planning

Setup

Day #1

Day #2

Day #3

July Challenge - Day 3

This is the final leg of the trip and time to bring it all together. The drive was completed on Wednesday but I haven't had a chance to log the details until now.

Starting in Nashville, TN, I decided not to begin the day with a full tank of gas and instead drove on to Louisville for lunch time. This was still fairly mountainous terrain, but not nearly as bad as the day before. The first picture on the right shows the ScanGauge suggesting the leg (CTM) ended with 42.1 mpg. I filled the car with fuel and the total miles travelled was 297.2 miles with 7.781 gallons added back to the tank, resulting in 38.19 mpg (basically from Chattanooga to Louisville). Obviously the ScanGauge wasn't giving perfect results.

I then drove the length of Indiana, one of the flattest states in the country, before arriving in Chicago. I drove through Indianapolis during local rush hour traffic at 5:00pm, and I had stop and go traffic in Chicago around I-80/I-294 around 7:00pm. The final ScanGauge reading is shown on the right for this leg. The total miles travelled this time was 296.1 miles with 7.679 gallons added back to the tank - resulting in 38.56 mpg for the tank.

July Challenge - Day 2

Before departing for Day 2, I filled the tank in Gainesville to correlate the ScanGauge to actual consumption. The total miles travelled was 163.9 miles with 4.062 gallons added back to the tank - resulting in 40.35 mpg for the day.

After leaving the sunshine state, the trip started well. I stopped in Macon, GA for lunch and the facilities and had the first gauge reading shown to the right - 42.1 mpg for this leg of 267.3 miles. I was really getting familiar with the car and the results showed. Then the bottom fell out when I arrived in Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, I didn't get there until almost 3:30pm local time and there was an accident on I75 about 10 miles south of the I285 loop - leaving stop and go traffic for a few miles. That delay had me driving through downtown in the middle of rush hour, with 2 more spots of congestion that I had to wait through. A great afternoon for no air conditioning!!

For anybody that thought this was not going to be real life enough, you can see the affects of the stop and go (idling) traffic. I stopped to fill the tank just outside of Chattanooga,TN (before the mountains). The total miles travelled was 469.7 miles with 12.505 gallons added back to the tank - resulting in 37.56 mpg for the tank. Miserable considering the first half results to Macon, GA.

To make things a little more interesting, there was a heavy downpour of rain from Chattanooga to Nashville, TN. For safety, this limited my downhill coasting speeds dramatically in the mountains unfortunately. The roads were in good condition with fairly new blacktop so puddles of water weren't a big problem, but it was now after dark and the rain made it very difficult to judge road inclines. As real life as you can get!

When I pulled into Nashville, you can see the results for the final leg of 40.2 mpg. Not bad considering the mountains. Now on to Chicago.

Day 3 will take me through Louisville, Indianapolis, and finally Chicago.

July Challenge - Day 1

The day did not begin until about 5:15 pm, due to the packing of the moving truck. It made for a very long day and worse yet got us started just in time for rush hour in Tampa. Luckily there were no backups.


You'll remember from the planning post that the first leg of this trip was fairly flat, with hills only topping about 200 feet. With that said I'm pretty pleased with the first day's results. This picture was taken with the engine off at the end of the day. The top right gage on the ScanGauge labeled CTM is Current Trip Mileage - 40.2mpg for this leg. You'll notice on the car dash just below the service engine soon light (on the tach) is the distance travelled today of 163.4 miles. The official results will come tomorrow when I fill up the tank for Day 2, but I'm very close to the what I expected.

Some key obstacles that I'll be fighting throughout this Challenge:

1) No cruise control. Especially in the flat lands it would be nice to have, but I'm driving with a very sensitive foot. Slight variations make a huge difference, so I'm hoping today's experience will prepare me for a better day tomorrow.

2) I'm actually loaded down with boxes from the moving van that did not fit. I was expecting a relatively empty car, but instead the entire backseat is full as well as the trunk. I'd estimate an extra couple hundred pounds of weight.

3) No power windows. The temperatures in Florida today were in the 90's and I'm not using air conditioning. That means that the windows are down. The only problem is the occasional Florida rain shower!! Today I only had a sprinkle - just enough to get my arm wet (as if I wasn't already soaked from the heat)! If it really starts to pour, I'll have to pull over to close the windows...


Tomorrow I'll be driving through Atlanta in the early afternoon - hoping to time it around traffic. The day will end in Nashville, barring any problems.


More updates to come.

July Challenge - Setup

I've been away from the computer for a full week, enjoying a relaxing vacation in the smokey mountains. What a great way to unwind and see our country's natural beauty. Wow!

I'm now in Tampa setting up the final details of the Challenge route back to Chicago in the 2000 Pontiac Grand Am. I got my first and only test drive tonight as I drove it down the road 1 mile each way to pick up pizza - not exactly a full optimization of the car before the trip. The ScanGauge is hooked up though, and working like a champ. Tire pressures will be increased to max sidewall pressure (44 psi) and will be checked each morning before departure.

We will be packing the moving truck tomorrow morning (which is the main objective, despite my trip ambitions) and then starting the drive in the afternoon. Day 1 will begin just outside of Bradenton, FL and end in Gainesville, FL - approximately 160 miles. It'll be a short day to allow for loading the truck, but allows us to get a jump on the trip. Day 2 (Tuesday) will then drive North on I-75 from Gainesville to Nashville, TN which will knock off another 580 miles. Day 3 (Wednesday) will then take us North from Nashville on I-65 to Chicago for the final 470 miles or so. The others in my party are driving completely separate so that I am not attached to them in any way during the drive. The only connection is the starting and ending points throughout.

I will begin each day by filling the gas tank full of fuel (14.3 gals). Pictures will also be taken of the odometer and fuel receipts at each stop for proof of the fuel economy. At the completion of each day I will provide updates of the results on the blog.

Keep checking in and wish me luck!

Air Conditioning - Part I

I've listened to all the other gurus who have said that air conditioning is terrible for fuel economy, and for the most part never use it (I must admit an occasional foray when the temps exceed about 90 deg F). But the beauty of the instantaneous feedback available from a device like the Scangauage is that you can test just how bad your habits affect you. I'd liken this to testing your cholesterol after eating a fried steak and eggs for breakfast.

My first test is the "steady state" use of air conditioning. That would be cruising at highway speeds without any accelerations or decelerations - just smooth and steady driving. For the test, I used a relatively flat 2-lane road with very little traffic and I drove the course in both directions to even any irregularities. A benchmark drive was done with the air conditioning turned off, and compared to the same drive with the air conditioning turned on (with recirculation and medium fan speed - ahhhhh!). Trip mileage recording was started when the car reached a speed of 55mph and stopped after a consistent distance approximating 1 mile.

The result is a penalty of 3.6% just for the steady state use of air conditioning. Now add it up and this would be equivalent to another 15.5 gallons of fuel for a person driving 15,000 miles per year at 35mpg.

For me that's within the threshold of acceptable losses for those 100 deg days in July and August. But understand that we aren't representing the whole picture until we analyze the losses during acceleration. Next up, we will include that factor in the study to get a better understanding on the effect for city drivers. Stay Tuned.

Rain Barrels

Ever thought about using rain barrels to capture the water runoff? I just came across a very unique twist to the design, so I had to share it. I've got nothing at stake here so don't think I'm selling you on this, but I think its truly innovative. Judge for yourself...

Thanks to groovygreen blog for the heads up.
http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=3836

When you hear the words “rain collector”, the first thing that probably comes to mind are of barrels next to gutters. A company called Second Rain, however, thought that there might be a more aesthetic way to capture water — and as they say on their site “No offense to rain barrels, but they’re not easy to sit on.”

Hence, their multi-use rainwater collection system was born. Each “box of rain” holds about 40 gallons of water and is made from durable, 98% recycled premium grade HDPE plastic (2% is UV & color additive). They are also modular (so you can easily connect another unit) and include liner, fittings, adapters, valve, and tubing needed to connect to a garden hose.

Obviously, the greatest benefit to using a second rain system is that you can easily hide it within a patio. The demonstration design on their homepage shows that such a setup can store 495 gallons of water.

Driving Etiquette

When people find out that I hypermile my cars they automatically think I'm the guy who was driving in the fast lane of the interstate holding up the flow of traffic. The fact is that as a hypermiler, I'm rarely (if ever) in the left lane - more than content to let the rest of the world pass me by.

On the other hand, I do want to address bad driving. Last night I was driving on a 2-lane road with a median, approaching an entrance to the interstate. A semi-tractor was approaching from the opposite direction and apparently he had missed the entrance to the interstate. Instead of continuing another 100 yards to the next stop light to turn around, he decided to do a u-turn in the middle of the road. It was a stupid decision that backed up traffic on my side for a couple minutes.

The point to this rant is that bad drivers come in all shapes and sizes. From those that have commercial licenses and drive "professionally" to the Sunday drivers that are clueless where they want to go. Please do not mistake these people for hypermilers - they are the furthest thing from it.

July Challenge - Planning Update #1

I was able to get elevation information for the trip - handy website you might find useful (http://www.heywhatsthat.com/profiler.html). There is a gradual incline from Tampa to Atlanta, then a decent climb just past Chattanooga, followed by moderately stable terrain to Chicago. Based on this the first half of the trip looks to be much more challenging with no relief to counteract the incline. At least on the second half, what goes up must come down...

Currently the stopover will take place at the midpoint around Chattanooga, TN - approximately 600 miles on either side.

Cruise Control

Since speed is such a major factor in managing fuel consumption [previous post], it should come as no surprise that cruise control is one of the best tools for drivers to use. I use my cruise control one the highway like everyone else, but also in the city when I'm driving 40mph on the way to the store.

There are two points to consider:

1) Your mind tends to wander when you drive and you lose track of the speed of the car - leading many people to maintain the speed of the pack of cars around them, or worse yet weaving in and out to get a better position. Especially in the city, this phenomenon will increase your costs dramatically. Keep in mind as well that the aggressive driving will only marginally save you time. For a 10 mile trip, the difference between driving 40mph and 45mph is less than 2 minutes!

2) The cruise control allows your car to maintain speed according to the terrain you're driving. It is a computer controlled method to automatically give the engine the least fuel possible to maintain the target speed. When it's not used, your foot control is not as efficient and will instead yield mini accelerations in the trip. Instead of staying at 40mph, the driver will actually fluctuate around the target and waste gas during the accelerations. It is admittedly a smaller contribution to overall fuel economy, but why not take advantage of every tool you can?

The bottom line is simple - manage your accelerations, stay at a low speed, and use cruise control whenever possible.

Fuel Log Tool

As mentioned in previous posts (Track Your Results, Calculating MPG), tracking is one of the best ways to know if you're doing things right. There are multiple tools online that can help you log this data, but some people might be intimidated or prefer to keep their records private. So to make sure you at least have the basics, I've published the log I use regularly for my results.


http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=t6H0icZFBBkpW3RTSJPFcdw&hl=en

Also be aware of the online tools at CleanMPG and EcoModder that are also available.

Back to Our Old Ways

Prices will return those levels - inflation is coming. - Tim

So much for fuel efficiency!

A year ago, with gasoline selling for more than $4 a gallon, drivers abandoned their gas-guzzling trucks and large SUVs for high-mileage compacts. Now, with prices in the $2.50 range, they're going back to the big guys, at least in the used-car market.


http://www.northjersey.com/business/Back_to_our_old_ways.html

No whip.: One Less Prius

What's wrong with driving a prius? They get great gas mileage!
Yes, they do. When I need to rent a car for a trip I always try to get one. But buying a prius and making no other changes in how one travels every day in a city is not a paradigm shift. Cars are environmentally and socially damaging in many ways beyond fuel use. The energy and resources required to build and ship them, the destruction the space created for automobiles does, the separation of being in a 2,000 pound box, etc. And many hybrids drivers use it as an excuse to just drive more often!
To a cyclist, a prius is just a small hummer.
No whip.: One Less Prius

GM's Plug-In SUV on Track for 2011

GM's Plug-In SUV on Track for 2011 - Auto - FOXNews.com

Coming soon to a dealership near you!

Track your results!!

This really can’t be understated. You need some feedback to tell you if these techniques are being used correctly on your car. There are two ways to get the feedback: instantaneous gages or calculating the fuel economy at each fill-up. I've already discussed how to calculate the fuel economy at each fill-up [click this link to read], so this time, I'll discuss the better way.

The instantaneous gages are obviously going to give the best results here because they provide the driver real time answers. As you press down on the accelerator, you see a change in mpg in real time. Some modern vehicles come with the gage built into the dashboard next to the odometer, but most cars that don't come with it built into the dash have the ability to get the information through a device called ScanGauge. It's a portable gage that connects to the vehicle computer and attachs to the dashboard with velcro.



“Calculating the fuel economy at every fill up is like going on a weight reduction plan but only weighing yourself at your annual medical checkup.” That quote is from Linear Logic – who makes the Scan Gauge. It provides a digital screen with 4 readouts available and includes trip computers that give total fuel used and fuel economy.


The beauty of the tool comes from the fact that you can constantly test new ideas. Think about your daily commute - is it better to drive that hill at a constant 50mph or accelerate to 60mph in the flat and let it decelerate up the hill under less load? Which route is better on fuel? How much effect does temperature have on the performance of your car (park in the garage or driveway)? All of these questions can be answered if you have the tool.


I did mention before that at a minimum you should be recording the fuel economy for each fuel stop, but at the same time include things like the type of driving you did, or new techniques you tried. For the first 6 months driving with the ScanGauge, I took notes for every trip I made - including any observation I had (temp, traffic, road construction, stoplights, time of day, etc). Each trip was a learning opportunity, and I found myself getting very competitive to beat previous records.


If the price tag of the gages keeps you from buying, just keep in mind that it can pay for itself in less than a year if you apply it. I highly recommend it.

Choosing a Route for Least Fuel

Choose the route for least fuel, which might not necessarily be the best MPG.

Take the trips you travel most frequently (like your daily commute) and map the route – software from Google.com, maps.live.com, or Mapquest.com will be very helpful here. Include any and all alternatives you can think of to make the trip from Point A to Point B. Now using the software, calculate actual distance and time for each route.

Takeaways from this exercise would include:
1) Are you driving the shortest route?
2) Using the map, how many stops lights and stop signs do you encounter for each route? Each intersection is an opportunity to for your mileage to decrease – avoid them if possible.
3) How much does the route cost? Use an estimate of your current fuel economy and the current average price per gallon of fuel.
When you realize that each time you drive to “Point X” it costs $7 for the roundtrip, you begin to question how badly you really need to be going there in the first place.

Independance Day - Really Though?

Today, many people find themselves celebrating our nation's Independence from the rule of foreign government. We gather together, praise our armed forces, eat a couple hot dogs and watch the local city fireworks (if they can afford them this year). But I want to challenge you, by asking if you really believe that our nation is independent?

Where does your electricity come from?
Where does the heat come from?
Where does the fuel for your car come from?

Energy drives our country from the factories to the roads, east coast to west coast, and we'd be crippled without it. Some economists actually believe that the fall of the Soviet Union could be attributed to the energy policies of the government. Do you believe we're immune from the stupid pit?

Remember President Richard Nixon when OPEC cut us off in 1973? "Let this be our national goal: At the end of this decade, in the year 1980, the United States will not be dependent on any other country for the energy we need to provide our jobs, to heat our homes, and to keep our transportation moving."

Remember President Jimmy Carter during the Iran-Iraq war of 1977? "Beginning this moment, this nation will never again use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 - never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation... I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade - a saving of over 4.5 barrels of imported oil per day."

Remember President George W. Bush after 9/11/2001? "What people need to hear loud and clear is that we're running out of energy in America."

We've become a lazy society, content on business as usual as long as we can - but eventually the oil will run out. The people of this country have to stop hitting the snooze button each time we get close to an energy breakthrough.

Each of us is responsible for the addiction we're currently fighting. Each of has the responsibility to make this nation great, whether you dig ditches or fly fighter jets. Whatever side of the political arena you're on, ask yourself what YOU are doing to address our energy dependence? What contributions are YOU making to this great country?

Maybe the gallon of gas I save each week isn't much. But it's in my control - and your's too!

If you agree with this post and want to make a difference, please forward this to your friends and family by clicking on the email button at the bottom.
God Bless America!

Ford High-MPG Strategy

http://www.hybridcars.com/news/mulally-prioritizes-ford%E2%80%99s-high-mpg-technologies-25885.html

Moving down what Mulally called his "road map," Ford will pursue alternative fuels and hybrids—exemplified by the E85-compatible plug-in hybrid Escape on display in San Francisco. Finally, Mulally said that the company is pursuing pure battery electric vehicles, which Ford will introduce starting with the Transit Connect small van next year, followed in 2011 by the Ford Focus EV. Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles come further in the future, Mulally said.

While Mulally did mention in the article that they are pursuing smaller vehicles in the US, they are still not competing. What do they have to compare with the Prius or Insight? Even in the future with the Chevy Volt? Maybe you and I can embrace the small cars and maximize the MPG, but the general public will pursue these other vehicles based on the perception that they are better on fuel economy.

Michelin Energy Saver A/S Tire

Website Link

Some of the claims from Michelin:

• Up to 8% more fuel efficient to save you money
• Stops 8 feet shorter for added safety
• A quiet and smooth ride for peaceful driving
• Longest tread life of any super fuel-efficient tire (lasts 16,000 miles longer)
• Saves as much CO2 as planting 40 trees

Not everyone should rush out and get a new set of tires, but its another easy change to make if you are currently ready to buy. The 8% fuel efficiency would translate into $80 less per year of fuel cost if your fuel bill is $1000/yr. Over the life of the tires, they easily pay for themselves - if the claims are valid.

Vehicle Choice

While we've been on the subject of low hanging fruit (the easy things to do), an obvious solution that many people rely upon is the vehicle choice. We'll discuss that here, but let's actually take it a step further than just the technology.

The first observation that must be noted is that each vehicle is different. No matter how many techniques you use to maximize fuel, you will not be able to get the same MPG results from an SUV as you do from a compact hybrid. For this reason, if you are truly serious about saving fuel, you should start with identifying your needs for the vehicle. If 90% of your driving is done on the highway by yourself, do you really need the benefits of seating for 8 and a towing capacity of 2000 lbs.?

Most people buy that shiny new car these days because of all the possibilities - and I admit I've been sucked into the car company's marketing before as well. But if you were to take a serious look at your needs and evaluate which cars/trucks fulfill those objectives, the answer will usually be different. Trucks and SUV's aren't all bad (except maybe the Hummer, I still can't figure that one out), they have a place in our society. It just doesn't need to be in 80% of the driveways of America, no matter what the car companies tell us.

Rental companies are another option because they now stock nearly every type of car/truck you might need – and when you only need it a few times a year, you will save money in both your monthly car payment and your gas bill by owning the “right-sized” vehicle.

Another point that seems to hang people up is the decision of whether to buy a hybrid or traditional vehicle. Technology is your friend in most cases, however be sure it matches your driving style. For example, if you drive on the highway frequently, there are many traditional vehicles (non-hybrid) that would produce better fuel economy with all other variables equal. In the city is where the hybrids will really shine and give you the best economy. Therefore be wary of paying the premium for a hybrid vehicle if a traditional vehicle would have given you similar results.

You probably didn’t expect me to tell you not to buy a hybrid did you?

Your personal situation and needs should be the deciding factor in this decision. Don’t let the marketing department of the car manufacturers tell you which one to buy!! The main points to remember are:

· Type of driving (city or highway)
· Number of miles driven (how long to pay off the premium for a hybrid)

Gadgets Can Help

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31619055/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets

Garmin's GPS, shown in a Suzuki SX4, alerts drivers to slow traffic, and lets them also avoid routes that include dirt roads, one-way streets and toll roads. It's among the newer and "smarter" generation of GPS software.

Nav systems should consider a wide variety of factors when suggesting routes, said Koslowski. If a driver is leaving home in the morning, the computer should recognize that they are commuting to work and that there is likely to be rush hour traffic. It could also consider the hours of carpool restrictions and the number of people in the car — which is already known by the car for its safety systems.

Smarter computers could also consider other factors, such as a trip that passes near a stadium on the day of a game, so that it could route the driver’s trip on a longer drive that avoids the congestion that will predictably occur on highways nearby.

If you are serious about saving fuel, the route choice should be considered every time. The number of stops, any left turns across traffic, congestion and hills should all be included in the decision.

Take the time on your next trip to study your choices. This will be critical for me on the Tampa-Chicago trip later in July.

Acceleration Hurts Fuel Economy

How fast do you accelerate from a complete stop? The testing done by the EPA prescribes an aggressive acceleration of 3.3 mph/sec. That number probably doesn’t mean much to you without a frame of reference, but let’s just say that it’s closer to the acceleration of a teenager who’s late for curfew.

Acceleration is a necessary evil (we’ll discuss mitigating this more later), but it can also be the time when your money is leaving the tailpipe the fastest. Most “experts” will tell you to accelerate like a turtle to conserve - I happen to disagree (to an extent). The acceleration style is not the problem, it’s the acceleration itself. My success has come from eliminating the stops, not from a fancy driving technique in getting from 0-50mph. The only reason I waiver on this one though, is that if you accelerate like a rabbit you are probably driving more aggressively in total – which will absolutely destroy your fuel economy.

The question that is usually on people’s mind:
Do I accelerate slowly to my cruise speed (over a long time), or should I just accelerate fast to get to my cruise speed sooner? So I decided to do a test.

The test will include repeated accelerations to a speed of 55mph over a 1 mile course, by varying amounts of gas pedal deflection. The ScanGauageII measures the gas pedal deflection in terms of the TPS (throttle position sensor) on the car. Here are the actual steps for the test.


1.) Zero the trip MPG while at a full stop.
2.) Accelerate smoothly with the TPS at a constant position (20, 25, 30).
3.) Maintain throttle position until speed reaches 55 mph and use CC to maintain speed until 1.0 mile has been reached.
4.) Record trip fuel economy.

The results would surprise you!
Now, there are other tricks available that you could use to change these numbers - but in terms of fuel economy holding everything else fairly constant the numbers are clear.

Any just for comparison sake - compare these numbers (29mpg) to steady state cruising (38mpg) I showed in previous blog entries. So I repeat my statement above. Its the acceleration itself that hurts your fuel economy, not the style.

My July Challenge

I just found out that my brother-in-law will be moving the week of July 27th – and he needs a driver for one of his vehicles. Since I was available to help, I’ve agreed to drive his 2000 Pontiac Grand Am from Tampa, Florida up to Chicago, IL. It is a great opportunity to maximize the fuel economy and see what the car can do …

According to him, the car normally gets about 20-22mpg when they drive it around Florida. The official EPA sticker says 19 mpg City and 28 mpg Highway.

The fuel tank in that car will hold 15 gallons of fuel. If I were to get 40mpg while driving, the car could drive 600 miles before stopping. A quick check of Google Maps suggests the trip will be approximately 1220 miles.

Would it be possible to make it in 2 tanks of gas??

Where to Begin?

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0906/gallery.best_advice_i_ever_got2.fortune/11.html

Best advice given to Colin Powell:
“How do I become a general?"
"Son, you've got to work like a dog. You've got to have moral and physical courage. There may be days you're tired, but you must never show fatigue. You'll be afraid, but you can never show fear. You must always be the leader."
The young officer was so excited by this advice. "Thank you, sir," he said, "so is this how I become a general?" "No," said the general, "that's how you become a first lieutenant, and then you keep doing it over and over and over."

This advice struck me – because it applies to so many areas in life. It is similar to the age old African proverb:
How Does an Ant Eat an Elephant?
One bite at a time!!

In your search for improvements you’ll be exposed to many different techniques, products, and technologies to conserve energy. The best way to begin is to start doing the easy things (speed, acceleration, idling, tire pressure, extra drag). Work hard at each new technique until you’ve mastered it – and then move on to the next one.

Eventually you too can become a Jedi warrior!

Speed is the Biggest Contributor

For any given vehicle, the #1 factor in fuel economy is the driver.

If you want to get better fuel economy, change the nut behind the wheel …

For almost every car, speed and fuel economy go hand-in-hand (hybrids can be an exception). You need to know this, but more importantly you need to know specifically how your car - performs because each one is different. I tested my vehicle using a ScanGaugeII connected to the car's computer to get the results in the picture to the right. The curve for your car will be different, but the point here is that speed matters dramatically.

Cruising speed is so important to fuel economy that the government mandated the national 55mph speed limit in 1974 to force people to conserve following the oil crisis of 1973. That national speed limit has since been lifted and each state now independently sets their limits, but keep in mind that you control the amount of fuel consumed by how hard you press the pedal. The signs on the highway will dictate the speed MAXIMUM, not the minimum.

Staying within the speed limit, or even under the limit by 5-10mph can show you some of the most dramatic gains in economy. Many people use the excuse that they’ll be late going slower, but on a short trip of 10 miles (maybe your daily commute) the impact of reducing your speed by 10mph is less than 2 minutes. On a longer trip of 30 miles, the impact is only about 5 minutes.

You'll soon find that the reduced speed will also make you more relaxed and less aggressive behind the wheel.