Creative Ideas To Combat High Ga$$ Prices

[JollyT]

These belong right up there with the "cow magnets" along the fuel lines that were the craze during the last crunch. You may see fuel savings, but these are because you unconciously change your driving habits, because you are now paying attention to your mileage closely to see if the new gadget is working. If a little swirling air could make your engine more efficient the manufacturers would build vanes into the intakes. They'll do anything to meet their CAFE standards easier.

[solbes]

I really wouldn't bother with the Tornado. I've heard way too many people be disappointed that it did nothing.

Good point on car pooling. If more people did that, we'd really start to lower demand. I'd do it in a second if it would work.

[matthothand]

I saw a bit on Myth Busters (myth busting tv show on the discovery channel) where their findings showed that rolling the windows down and leaving the AC off didn't give you better mileage because of the drag and aerodynamics involved. Ac off might help but only if the windows stay shut too.

Pretty sure the tornado deal doesn't work either.

I'm heading to lake michigan in a couple weeks and my crew and i are brainstorming ways to cut our cost for this trip. Now we are looking for a fourth to join our group to share the expenses. We also rigged an 18hp kicker to the big motor so that we can still steer with the wheel but don't need to run the gas burning big motor. We won't eat out and we're going slow and puttin on the cruise conrol. Thinkin about stocking up with extra gas if it sounds like there will be a big jump. Some are saying it'll be $4 by labor day??? $3.11 tonight but money is tight. Maybe tmrw i'll donate some plasma.

[Gus]

Donate plasma, I haven't done that since college. I forgot they still pay you to do that. I guess I know how I'm getting to the deer shack this year.

[Fishin4Life]

Me and needles don't get along. Plasma is not the way for me.

Anyone know the reasoning behind better gas milleage in the summer vs. winter? I notice a large difference. Now in my car its not as great. But when I had a blazer winter ran around 15-16 average, summer ran about 20 average.

[solbes]

Could be a lot of things. A lot of it is the additives that are added in the winter reduce your mileage. Larger engines especially will take longer to heat up in the winter and run on the rich side initially. Bearings are colder, tire pressure might be lower, etc.

[BobT]

There are many.

Colder weather = colder/stiffer lubricants = higher resistance = more power required = more fuel consumption. Set a can of motor oil outside in -30 degrees and compare its viscosity to warm oil. It is very thick. Imagine trying to pump it. Or worse, consider 80-90 gear oil in your rear-end. At -30 degrees it will not pour. This adds a lot of drag on your drive train. You can see this because your car will not coast as easily in winter as summer.

Colder weather = more warmup time = excess fuel consumption without adding miles.

Colder weather = more letting the car run to keep it warm. Again, more fuel consumption without adding miles.

Colder weather = colder fuel = less efficient atomizing = less efficient combustion. Your engine just doesn't perform as well in colder weather. The colder it gets, the closer it gets to the point where the fuel will not ignite. That's one reason it is harder to start an engine in the winter.

Bob

[Duffman]

I was watching "Die Hard" last night, and as the cop got done buying his Twinkies, he stepped outside to take a gander at the tower, the camera panned past the posted gas prices - 74 cents!

I guess a guy notices things like that these days.

[Skipper T]

Between sythetic oil, high performance filtration, and a high performance tune up kit, I achived a solid 3mpg increase in my GMC 4x4 350. A 11 to a 14 mpg makes a big difference. I also noticed a substantial power gain.

[BobT]

A colleague of mine this past weekend tried a little experiment. He had to travel to the twin cities on Friday and again on Sunday. He drove his 2002 Ford F-150 with 5.4L Triton. On Friday he set his cruise at 78mph as usual to flow with the traffic. The round-trip was 233 miles and he recorded just a little over 14mpg. On his return trip he set his cruise at the speed limit, which is 70mph for those that don't know this. He recorded a tad over 18mpg on that trip. Quite a significant difference. When I calculated the cost savings it equates to about $.65 per gallon! He could have driven 78mph both ways for the same cost if the gas he used on his return trip was only $2.25 per gallon instead of the $2.899 he paid.

If you do the math, the time difference for traveling 233 miles at 78mph vs. 70mph average is 20 minutes.

Food for thought.

Bob

[nofishfisherman]

I know that in my 2006 Mazda 3 I can get 35 mpg if I go 55-60mph but only 31-32 mpg if I am going 75mph.

Slow it down a bit and your gas will go alot furhter.

I usually chuckle when I see someone in a Lincoln Navigator or similar SUV going 80-85 mph down the free way. I bet you can see the needle dropping an inch a minute.

[Fishin4Life]

Good point bob. That is not just with Trucks. I notice the same diff with my car also. If I get the speed up above 70 mph my MPG drops significantly. Best MPG is around 65 - 68 MPH.

[ChuckN]

I have an F150 5.4L too. Slowing down definitely makes a difference, but I'll tell ya, it's the wind that really makes a difference. A 15mph+ headwind can really kill the mileage. I always pray for a tailwind....

[hanson]

While Bob's example illustrates a simple little concept, there are plenty of variables, other than your speed, that come into play as well.

I don't know how to explain it but I've made the drive from Crookston, MN to the Twin Cities so many times in my life, its not funny. It never fails, I always get better mileage driving back to the cities. Always. This is driving the exact same distance of course going the same speed. I don't know how to explain it.

I've never looked at the topography but I've always figured its slightly downhill to the cities.

[Fishin4Life]

Hanson -

Maybe ths smog from the cities is trying hard to hold you in, like leaving the earths atmosphere, creating extra drag on your vehicle in turn giving you bad gas milleage. On the way back it in works like a worm hole and kind of pulls you along...LOL

[Bob/Mn]

I have a Chrysler Minivan,3.8 V-6 with auto.

I went on a trip this spring and instead of driving the interstate speed limits of 70-75 MPH. I decreased my speed to 67MPH. Now this is only a 4.3% to 10.6% reduction in speed, but my gas consumption went down by 18.5%.

[BobT]

You're right that there are other factors and this was not a controlled scientific experiment. I think we all know that our vehicles will perform most efficiently at some specified speed, which is likely not 80mph. I would think our vehicles are probably designed for optimum performance somewhere between 55mph and 65mph.

It's like when I design using a variable frequency drive on an ac motor. 60hz is optimum but as you increase frequency above or decrease frequency below its design frequency, the motor efficiency is sacrificed.

Bob

[JohnMickish]

I've made more trips to Fargo than I can count and I always get better economy headed this way too. Believe it or not it's downhill coming this way and usually the wind is out of the West which helps alot.

[cold one sd]

I don't drive in Minnesota that often, but I have noticed that whenever I travel in South Dakota the wind is always from the direction that I'm traveling. If I'm towing my boat and camper it blows twice as hard. I think I've had a tail wind in this state twice.

[icehousebob]

A co-worker of mine can squeeze a nickel till it squeeks, and he checks his gas milage every tank. He has a small pickup with a topper that he uses to go up north with. He found that hauling a canoe gives him better gas milage than without. It must streamline the rig and break up the drag that is created by the flat fear end. If you don't have a topper and you have nothing in your pickup box, opening the tail gate will give you better milage. As for me, when we plan a fishing or hunting trip, we try to recruit more people to help share the travel expenses.

[Bobb-o]

Mythbusters dispelled the myth of getting better gas mileage with your tailgate down, you actually get worse mileage with it down.

[Bobby Bass]

Quote:

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If you don't have a topper and you have nothing in your pickup box, opening the tail gate will give you better mileage.

---

driving with the tailgate down is illegal in Minnesota. I was giving a warning for this by a state trooper who informed me that if the tailgate is down your rear bumper is no longer your bumper, your tailgate is. just an FYI

[icehousebob]

Sorry, guys. I hadn't done my research on the tailgate thing. One thing we did find out on our own; a covered boat tows a lot better at highway speeds than an uncovered one. Didn't check the mileage but since the engine ran easier, it must have improved it.

[Green&Gold]

Yeah, I second that its a myth regarding better mileage with your tailgate down. I have heard that with your tailgate up, an air pocket or bubble forms in your bed that somehow the air flowing over your truck skims across. How's that for a scientific explanation! Have you ever watched a piece of paper or a leaf just kind of hover around in your truck bed as you are going 55 mph down the highway? I know I have, kind of explains the theory I have heard.

[Buckslayer]

So then is haveing a leather cover or something comparible no better on gas than without?