Random Musings..of an Awry Neuron

For many of the folks who know me, this post is bit of an oxymoron. However, in keeping with the times and with gas prices hitting nearly $5 a gallon I thought it would be good to write a post on some of the ways to save money at the gas station. While this situation is relatively new to my American friends, my mates in the Blighty and Desh will relate to it much more.

I would like to preface my thoughts with this video of Clarkson, doing a comparo of a BMW M3 vs a Toyota Prius on Top Gear. While the Top Gear trio are generally known for mucking about, this test was actually very insightful in its simplicity.

So what can we do to improve the gas mileage from our cars??

Driving Style : Dont change your car, change your driving style. If there is anything to take away from the Top Gear video, this is it..Smooth driving is the key

• Rev Lower: If you are a numpty who races other cars at stop lights..refrain!! The more you rev your car the more fuel it drinks. Keep your revs low..in my car which is a 3.5l V6..about 2000 – 2500 revs works best. Good compromise between power and gas mileage. If you wanna be even more stingy try keeping below 2000 revs
• Drive at higher gears: If you have a stick shift (manual gear) or a manu-matic gear box, try to go up to the higher gears as soon as you can. This will ensure that the engine produces the same power at lower revs (you will have less torque..ergo less accelaration) but it will drink less fuel
• Anticipate braking: Braking is the single most energy inefficient action. It literally converts your fuel into heat thats dissipated by the brakes. The more you brake, the more you will have to accelerate to get your car moving. While approaching a traffic light instead of braking at the last minute, apply gentle braking and let the rolling resistance bring you to a halt
• Anticipate the traffic patterns: This is an advice which is applicable both tactically and strategically.
• While driving always look down the road ahead. Gauge the cars 3 cars ahead of you and half mile ahead of you..are they slowing down, are they braking or are they moving in a steady pattern. Modulate your speed accordingly. This will ensure that you avoid unnecessary braking and thereby wasting precious fuel.
• If you live in a city like Chicago where peak hour traffic can double the average commute time..it is a smart move to be strategic and reschedule your commute time.  For example in Chicago, if you can leave downtown 15 – 30 minutes before the traffic begins you can get to Hoffman Estates in 40-45 minutes instead of the 75-80 minutes it takes during traffic hours. Think about it, you spend 30-35 more minutes burning gas because you leave during peak traffic hours.
• Cruise Control: Most people cannot fine tune and modulate their right leg. This means that maintaining steady revs and steady speed is a challenge. Use the cruise control as often as you can, maintain a steady speed and if you wanna slow down..anticipate the braking distance and just cancel cruise control..the car will roll to a slow halt.
• Speed: No matter how sleek your car is..the faster you go..more fuel you burn. If you really want to optimize your fuel consumption, maintain a speed that keeps your engine revs at around 2000 rpm and around +- 10% of the posted speed limit

Tires : Make sure your tires are well inflated. Maintain the recommended pressure. Normally during summer the air in the tires expands. This reduces the contact area of the tire with the road and reduces friction, which will result in a better fuel economy. During winters however the air contracts and the tires flatten. This increases friction and fuel economy goes down. So keep an eye on the tire pressure once a month during winters.

Fuel :

• Make sure you fill the right kind of fuel for your car. The right octane rating of the fuel will ensure that the engine breathes properly and burns fuel completely.
• One of the best kept secrets is that fuel is cheaper during mid week and is expensive during the weekends. You dont need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why, but some how most of us dont bother and often end up spending 20cents more per gallon because we are lazy to fill it up midweek.
• If you live in the city and work in the suburbs, try to fill the car in the suburbs where the gas is normally cheaper.
• Finally, use sites like Gasbuddy.com (they have great iPhone and Android apps as well) to find out the cheap gas stations near you. This app is most useful, if your car needs premium gas. I have observed that sometimes the gas station with the cheapest advertised regular gas isnt the cheapest for premium gas. Gas buddy comes in handy here.

Work from home : Work from home on Fridays if you can. Might sound funny but it isnt. When I was in the U.K., companies there used to encourage people to work from home. It saved the company real estate and overhead costs  (internet, electricity, facilities, etc). It made people more productive because people who appreciated the flexibility made sure that they worked effectively in order to keep enjoying that facility. And most importantly, you can work in your pajamas :)..from a fuel stand point, you save about 4-5 days of commute every month. Thats 18-20% reduction in your fuel consumption per month.

So whats the math?? Let me give you my example

My daily commute is 30 miles to and fro. Plus over the weekends I clock about 100 miles. So in a month I do about 1060 miles. My car has a 17 gallon tank and in the days of $2.50/ gallon and aggressive driving I used to get 17 mpg. Now with this sensible driving I get 20 mpg. I still enjoy spirited driving at times but all within reason. So, @17 mpg I needed about 63 gal of gas a month and now @20 mpg I need only 47 gal. I have to put premium fuel and today I tanked up @4.5/ gal. So with these few changes I am saving $70 a month, thats about $840 a year. Significant, if you ask me.

Misc : If you have come this far then you have really made good progress. If you want to squeeze the last ounce out of your gas money then there are a few more ideas that you can try..

1. Aircon saps upto 10% of your cars power. If the weather doesnt merit it then try to keep the A/C switched off
2. Carpool..carpool..carpool. Economics 101..economies of scale
3. If you can..then use public transport..almost always cheaper, its a good exercise in punctuality and keeps you on your toes 🙂

Click here if you want to see an epic Top Gear race to find the most fuel efficient car.

I hope this has been helpful. Please share more inputs/ ideas that you might have to save gas or make your money smarter when it comes to transportation. And yes please drive carefully!! Godspeed..