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Change How You Drive, Save Money
Oct 10 2007 by Sara Lacey
10/10/2007
Making the Most of the Gas We’ve Got
It’s safe to say that most people don’t like paying a lot of money for gas. It’s also safe to say that we’d all like a really easy way to make the most of the gas we’ve got. We all know there are all kinds of hybrids, diesels and other fuel-efficient vehicles out there to choose from if you’re in the market for a new car, but what if you can’t afford a new car? What if you want to keep driving the car you have now, but would also like to increase your gas mileage?
My friend Ellen From England (you’ve met her before) got a Ford Expedition last year, and I think she’s feeling a little guilty that she didn’t get something a bit more economical. See, Ellen lives out in the boonies. She has a barn and a horse and everything, but that means she has to drive to get anywhere — hence the guilt. Yet she’s been averaging 17 mpg, and this in an SUV the EPA rates at 12/18 mpg city/highway. I begged her for her secret.
As it turns out, all Ellen From England did was look up “fuel efficiency tips” online — there’s a gold mine out there, she said. Turns out, one of the best ways to boost your mileage is just to drive more carefully. Don’t speed, don’t floor it (or, as I like to say, put the hammer down). According to the EPA’s fueleconomy.gov, you can improve your mileage from 5 to 33 percent depending on your car, how crazy you currently drive and how much you modify said crazy driving. Ellen From England’s tip is to never exceed 2,000 rpm in city driving. Going the speed limit also helps, as mileage drops rapidly at speeds above 60 mph — you can boost your fuel economy from 7 to 23 percent by following that nugget of information. Smaller improvements can come in the form of removing excess weight (dump that Pampered Chef inventory you tote around), cutting down on excessive idling, and using cruise control and overdrive gears when you can. These are things you can do without much lifestyle change; all it takes is modifying a couple of your habits.
There are other tips that are slightly more involved — but which you should be doing anyway, ahem — like keeping your engine tuned up, replacing filters when necessary, properly inflating your tires and using the recommended grade of motor oil. On their own, these suggestions will save just a little, but do them all and you’ve got another 10 to 19 percent improvement. Yahoo!
Lastly, combine your errands to avoid multiple trips and try not to drive during peak hours. If you’re stuck in traffic less often, you’ll use less gas. Who wouldn’t love that?
I’m just saying, even if you drive an Expedition, you can maximize your gas. I mean, you can have more gas. You know what I’m trying to say. There are all kinds of things we can do, short of buying a new car, that can help us reduce both our expenses at the pump and our “carbon footprint.” If you’ve got any more tips, please share them in the Comments section below.
Special thanks to Ellen From England for inspiring this post. Cheerio!
User Comments
DL,
If they are dumb enough to do that, that is an at fault accident, you know?
I could have care less about how they feel behind me. It is not only because I am being nice to my wallet, but also for the sake of our future generation.
Sidenote: I make my tranny shift up at around 1500RPM to 1750RPM.
Crap, there isn’t an edit function.
I wanted to add what mileage I have.
The EPA rated my car 26/35 using 2008 standard, but I constantly get 34 by doing all of the above.
I can’t agree more. One’s driving style can make all the difference. I get 20mpg with my car that’s rated at 15/20; while my wife gets 19mpg with hers, rated at 18/26 
DL,
Perhaps city driving is not the um, safest exercise for fuel efficiency in your hostile city environment. Should we make some kind of bumper sticker to explain? What should it say? The one without profanity, that is. Until then, the other tips can help you out.
I hope you’re right, I would hope that people would decide at some point slower driving isn’t worth the road rage (nothing is, really).
i don’t know about those who live in less populated parts, but in the cities i live in, if you keep your RPM’s under 2000 -2500 for most average cars, there will be plenty of impatient drivers who will willingly chew your rear bumper off. i’m not comfortable giving people an excuse to exercise their road rage ...
of course, if gas was $15 per gallon, maybe enough people will feather their gas pedals to make for a less angry even drive home ...