I always did, but I'm paying a little more attention to low-RPM driving on the surface streets. I'm not THAT concerned about the 75 vs 65 mph crap on the highway - that doesn't make as big a difference as the news outlets try to make it out to be. I do drive less overall. Got friends in Jersey Village, Austin, and League City that I'm not going to visit anywhere near as frequently. Sucks, but with any trip to Austin being an automatic $70, I've got to wait for an actual reason to go. I only drove in to work once or twice a month (Med Center parking being $12/day), but now that's more like once every 2 or 3 months. In general, I try to consolidate trips - go to the gym and get all the errands done on the way home on Saturday. It's not that I can't afford to be looser with the driving, but I'm thrifty in certain areas so I don't have to be in others. The next question is going to be about posters' flying habits. With the way the industry is doubling the cost of flying this summer, I have to believe vacations are about to change for a lot of people. I know tons of people that fly to the East Coast for Christmas - and that's going to be a poison pill this year.
As velocity increases, drag is squared i.e. doubling your speed requires 4x the power. Drag isn't a big deal under 50 mph or so, but becomes more so at 70, at 100mph it's huge, and so on. And uhhh.... yeah black gets better gas mileage than silver! Whoever asked if putting a vehicle in neutral at a stop light will save gas the answer is yes, but you're looking at a fraction of 1mpg difference unless you spend an inordinate amount of time at stop lights.
I got some chain email thing a while back that suggested that. I saw the links that you posted. One of the things it said to do was not to fill up with the pump on the highest flow setting. Not sure if that is a myth either. I'll tell you this though, driving in town through a lot of stop and go traffic I get just over 20 miles per gallon. I use to only get about 16 in the same situation last summer. Myths or not, I'm just getting better gas mileage.
I find it funny how people will trade in a car, spend $30k on the deal, and cite saving a few thousand $$$ on gas as the reason. Americans have bigger problems in terms of credit card debt, bad mortgages, and no savings.
Unfortunately, recently, my driving habits have changed for the worse. I've taken on additional responsibilities in organizations that I'm in and make regional trips a couple of times a month. I do drive a little slower, but I never drove particularly fast. So, while I've picked up 1-2 miles per gallon, I'm driving an extra 400 or so miles per month. With my pick-up nearing early retirement age, my next car will be a compact sedan of some sort.
FYI ~ This decreases your mileage -- the drag of driving with your windows down is like driving with a small parachute behind your car.
Depends on how fast you're going, 35-45 stop and go traffic... and rolling down the window is more efficient than A/C.
I never did quick accelerations/hard braking to start with just to extend the life of my car. I now plan ahead to make one trip a day to take care of my errands, instead of going to the store, coming back home, deciding I need/want to go somewhere else, make another trip, etc. I'll also drive slower on the highway now, around 65-70 mph.
i want a ninja 250r <img src=http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/200381/images/Ninja%20250R%20(4)%20copy.jpg>
BTW.....is it just me (meaning, am I just noticing now something that has always been there) or is it like every day I'm seeing somebody new who has died in a motorcycle accident?
Nothing new, it happens every day I think. I want to see some statistics though like what kind of bike was used and if the rider was wearing a helmet. I bet the majority of fatal accidents involve sport bikes like a Ninja and no helmet.
I guess I was trying to suggest something a bit different; like: motorcycle accidents happen all the time, but I think gas prices have a LOT more bikers on the road--some without enough experience--and these people are dropping like flies lately.
i just filled up for 4.17! for some reason i am not getting good mileage recently either. air filter? time for an oil change too.
One thing that irks me.... People complain about gas prices and yet they don't do anything to fix it. How about slowing down on the highways. Some people just don't have any patience these days....the ones that have the urge to go 80 in a 65mph zoned freeway. First off...you're breaking the speed limit. And secondly, you're wasting even more gas by driving that fast. I changed my driving habits not too long ago, I now drive 60-65 on a 65 freeway in cruise control. My miles per gallon improved by 3 miles.
