Getting the most from your tank of gas - Here is something that might help

[liberal N proud]

I drive a full size sedan with a trip computer on board. The readout included an fuel economy gage which is basically a vacuum gage.
Until recently I paid little attention to it except on long trips to estimate my next fuel stop.

I began using the gage while driving, glancing at it as I drove trying to keep the mpg reading as high as possible. It has actually become a challenge to see just how high I can sustain a drivable speed.

There doesn't have to be a compromise to speed, just have to learn to drive much less aggressively and anticipate stops way ahead of normal. If the light ahead is read, why come speeding in? Let up on the gas, save fuel and you will get going from the light the same time you would sitting there.

I actually cut my gas usage in half driving this way. I had already cut my driving as much as possible and was still going through a tank of gas each week. I thought one week was a fluke but I was able to repeat it the next week.

If you have a vehicle with the economy meter on board, use it.

So I have one car with the economy meter and the other one does not. My wife usually drives it. I have found a plug in instrument designed to do the same thing.

It plugs into your OBDII connection which is standard on all cars after 1996.
It sells for $160



http://www.pureenergysystems.com/store/ScanGauge/purchase.htm

[rinsd]

1. My biggest recommendation would be steady speed and moderate acceleration.

I have found that I can still maintain 31 to 32 mpg in my 100K+, 5+ year old Honda Civic at speeds of 70 to 75 mph provided I ease my way there.

[liberal N proud]

5. Exactly

One analogy would be to drive like you have an egg between your foot and the peddle

[uppityperson]

18. That is what my driving teacher told me way back when I drove uphill to school both ways.

Drive like there is an egg between your foot and the gas or brake pedal.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My Toyota Camry Hybrid has something like that...

And it has changed how I drive...

It's a very useful tool!

I believe it does make a difference...

I get about 30 mpg mixed (mostly) town/freeway driving...

And I'm filling up on a monthly basis.

[maui9002]

16. Honda Civic Hybrid has similar device in instrument cluster

I've been telling people for years that the installation of that device in most cars would have a very favorable impact on increasing gas mileage. I get about 43 to 44 mpg now; when my wife drives my car, the gas mileage goes down perceptively (@ 2 to 3 mpg) because she hasn't learned how to drive as I have. The gauge almost makes driving (and maximizing the mpg figure)a game; I've had the hybrid since 2003 and I'm still intrigued by the device. How you drive, and how you maintain your car, has much to do with gas mileage; too bad it took $4 per gallon gas to get people to focus on this fact.

[DCKit]

19. I've been driving a ZipCar Honda hybrid...

and don't seem to have a handle on it yet. I don't know if the other drives using the car are trashing the mileage, but I've always driven "gently" and can't seem to get it over 42 mpg under any circumstances.

Does slow acceleration help improve mileage? I'd have thought so, but it seems that not using any of the battery charge minimizes the benefit of driving a hybrid. My acceleration is usually gradual enough that the "engine assist" indicator rarely comes on.

I've done extensive Internet searches and asked ZipCar to post some information on "How to Drive a Hybrid" but haven't heard anything yet.

[Rick Myers]

3. Is this how the little 'upshift' light works in my wife's 20 year old Honda CRX?

If you follow it, it cuts gas usage ALOT... We estimate the little clunker is getting 36 mph regularly...

[geckosfeet]

4. I have a 97 Accord. It has OBDI

[liberal N proud]

8. Really, I thought they were standard after 96

I have an OBDII scanner and it says 1996 and newer as does the site I mentioned in the OP.

Nice to know if I go looking for a used car.

[Selatius]

6. You should see what hypermiling is all about. It talks about squeezing as much mpg as possible.

http://www.hypermiling.com/

I do it with my 1995 camry. It's just a 4-cylinder, but I can regularly squeeze 29 to 30 mpg in city driving.

[liberal N proud]

14. Covers all the things we need to be doing

[RamboLiberal]

26. CNN has video of a guy who is an obsessive hypermiler

Wayne Gerdes is a man on a mission. He wants to end our wasteful ways, and that became plain as day to me from the moment I met him.

He is the king of "hypermilers," drivers who push cars to their miles per gallon limits and beyond. Wayne gets about 50 mpg from his Honda Accord using hypermiling techniques.

We met him at the Waukegan Regional Airport not far from his home. CNN producer Dana Garrett and I had flown there in my small, single-engine airplane, a Cirrus SR22. Within moments, Wayne and I were talking about the kind of mileage it gets.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/03/btsc.hypermiling/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

I'm trying hypermiling though I'm not going obsessive like this guy.

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. I just use speed control on my Ford

Tap the buttons to go faster, same to go slower... saves a lot of gas.

[liberal N proud]

11. This can improve over that step.

Cruise control has a tendency to do a quicker acceleration in many vehicles. This give you the opportunity to do a slow steady increase in speed by keeping the mpg reading as high as possible.

[Cronus Protagonist]

12. I do 1 mph increments

1mph up or down so I never have to brake unless someone does something out of the ordinary. Best economy possible in any given car. Read about it in the hypermilling article.

[catnhatnh]

20. I run a 1996 contour...

and use the cruise for fine tuning.But if I need to accelerate 10 miles an hour (say 35 to 45 zone) the cruise control stomps the pedal where I merely squeeze it. Listen and you'll hear that. Let that bad boy hold your speed but accelerate to it yourself...

[Cronus Protagonist]

23. Mine doesn't do that at all

I just tap the button ten times and it gracefully increases speed to ten miles an hour faster. Very nice speed control on the new models.

[IntravenousDemilo]

9. You can get even more bang for your buck...

...by converting the gasoline into napalm and dropping it on the Crawford ranch. If nothing else, it would clear a little brush.

[Bravo Zulu]

21. You bad!

rotflmao

[TlalocW]

10. I've read about this

There's a guy who tries to make it so that he never actually stops when he's driving so he anticipating the lights way ahead of normal, letting himself coast in as slowly as possible, etc. When you've stopped, it takes a lot of gas to overcome your inertia.

TlalocW

[liberal N proud]

13. I have been able to actually achieve that some times

When I see the light ahead is red, I let up on the gas, coasting to the light. Many times it turns green before you get there and you are already cruising.
The only problem is other traffic does not get going or you catch them as they are accelerating.

We all have to change our driving habits and it doesn't have to include giving up the automobile. We just don't need to be the aggressive driver we all had grown accustomed to.

[AwakeAtLast]

27. That would be this guy ---->

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/king_of_the_hypermilers.html

[Buck Laser]

15. My Civic Hybrid has a fuel economy gauge...

that's right on the main instrument cluster. I find that it provides a good incentive to keep my mpg high. I've also dropped my maximus speed on expressways to 55. Every day, I see more people driving a bit slower. My 2500 mile mpg is 44.2. Unfortunately, it will drop as the summer heat comes on, because I don't have much tolerance for heat.

[maui9002]

17. I have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid

In my experience, A/C doesn't make much difference in mpg compared to driving with windows down.

[FourScore]

22. recommended and bookmarked! n/t

[central scrutinizer]

24. moderation please!

I have ridden with one person who is so obsessed with his fuel economy gauge that he forgets to watch the frigging road. As someone who uses a bicycle for almost everything, this scares the hell out of me. Don't let this become yet another distraction along with texting, eating, putting on makeup, shaving, or changing CDs. Those bike lanes are not your margin of error.

[knitter4democracy]

25. I use mine on my Ford Freestyle all the time.

I love it when it goes up when I throw it into neutral to coast down "hills" (we don't have many real hills in this part of Michigan).