What is the single most effective fuel saving tip?

[mareakin]

My prevailing belief, at this moment, is that driving in such a way so as to minimize the using the brakes, is the single most effective fuel-efficiency boosting strategy.

I try to anticipate lights ahead and to plan my course ahead of time and to always be aware of what's ahead.

Of course, the hyper-miler does plenty of other things to maximize mpg but this technique is probably the big one, right? I mean if you brake to a stop, all that energy to get you moving converts into useless heat.



Would you agree this is so?

Or would you argue that accelerating gently is more mpg-friendly?

 

[simple_gifts]

Proper maintenance all around is a big one. I H.M'ed one time in my !echo! and pulled in > 50 mpg. I subscribe to your strategy also, having the original brake pads @ close to 200K

Heavy cars get bad mileage due to the energy it takes to "get them going" rather than the energy to "keep them going"

 

[Mr Nice]

Light pressure on the gas pedal.

 

[needsducktape]

Acceleration made a big difference I could see on the BMW analog gas mileage indicator.

The needle would sway towards 0 mpg if I stomped on it -if I was gentle but still accelerating it point towards 15 mpg and if I was cruising on the highway with no acceleration it would sit around 30mpg

On cruise control, if I hit a hill it would drop towards 15mpg because the car would "work" to maintain the speed that was set. Otherwise cruise control was great.

 

[bigdawg74]

mass transit??

 

[Hallmark]

Repeatedly stopping or slowing a vehicle by braking means that inevitably the vehicle must be accelerated again and again to cover any required distance. It's well documented that the best mpg is obtained by maintaining a reasonably moderate constant speed (let's don't pursue all the variables of rolling resistance, windows up/down, AC on/off, topography, transmission ratios, etc. etc.). In a word, you are likely correct.

I drive much as you described, i.e. not hyper-miling, but observing traffic conditions to avoid stopping/slowing. Not my spouse...I average c. 4 mpg better in any circumstance.

 

[Pablo]

Turning the buttfeel accelerometer off.

 

[Rick in PA]

I'd tend to agree with minimizing the use of brakes. I changed my driving habits when the price of gas spiked a while ago and it seemed to add about 10% to my mpg. Thinking about it, if you drive like you're the engine, it should save gas. Think like a bicyclist. Bicyclists don't go unnecessarily fast, they defiantly don't race uphills, they try to time their speed to avoid unnecessary stops. That would all save gas.

 

[wander2039]

Acceleration has to be it. I'm amazed and amused by how many fly off the line. Most of the time just to stop at the next light. I'm getting alot better at a steady foot and mpg has gained significantly. I think even the wife is catching on. I haven't quite got the minimizing the brakes yet. Probably have to manual shift my auto's which wouldn't be good in the long run. Now 5spd's I could drive clear through town and never use the brake.

 

[eljefino]

1) stay home. Buy a house close to work, or work from home.
2) car pool
3) trip chain... get groceries on the way home from work.

People focus on miles per gallon, not cutting miles.

+1 on the acelleration. People say "pumping losses mean you should have the throttle 2/3 open" but that's just an excuse. I've monitored my injector pulse width.

I've ridden pedal bicycles and motorcycles. Wind is a factor at lower speeds than most think. Modern cars are so quiet I think people speed and over-acellerate just to feel or hear something.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: bigdawg74
mass transit??


My avalanche has a lot of mass!

 

[JHZR2]

1) Drive like you have an egg between your shoe and the gas pedal.

2) Remember that most every other person racing away from the stoplight is deeply in debt and has no care about their financial situation

3) There is no need to race to a stoplight or stop sign, just to slam on the brakes.

 

[BobFout]

Best way to increase MPG is to drive slower. Second thing is to avoid WOT and near-WOT (say, anything over 3/4).

 

[gathermewool]

I've found this to be true 100% of the time. This is why I can get 20-21 mpg city in my STI. I've seen my mileage drop precipitously while driving my normal route while in a hurry. The result? Terrible gas mileage and getting to where I was going IN THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME, albeit a little more peeved. The lights are mostly and invariably red, so my driving should reflect such.

 

[Patman]

I definitely agree that minimizing the use of the brakes has a huge factor in improving your MPG. But you've got to do other things as well in order to really get the full advantage.

I mentioned this in another topic on here recently, but figured I might as well mention it again. These are the things I do in order to improve my MPG:

1. I do a lot of coasting and anticipating of stoplights ahead

2. I drive the speed limit on the highways now, instead of going 10 to 20km/h over like I had been doing before

3. I shut the engine off at stoplights that I know are going to be at least 30 seconds to a minute (or more)

4. I keep my short trips to a minimum, so for example if I need to go to the grocery store I'll do it on the way home from work or from another longer trip

5. I accelerate very gently most of the time, so when I'm in my Civic I don't go above 2000 rpm and in my Corvette it generally shifts around 1500-1600 (both cars are automatic)

6. I keep my tire pressures a little above the recommendation (Civic tires are at 39 psi, Corvette's are at 35 psi)


With these techniques I am able to get around 22 to 23 MPG in my Corvette in mixed driving (and over 30 on the highway) and I average close to 40 in the Civic (and close to 50 when on the highway)

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
1) stay home. Buy a house close to work, or work from home.
2) car pool
3) trip chain... get groceries on the way home from work.

People focus on miles per gallon, not cutting miles.

+1 on the acelleration. People say "pumping losses mean you should have the throttle 2/3 open" but that's just an excuse. I've monitored my injector pulse width.

Good points, but what every car engine efficiency graph shows is that around 2500-3500 rpm and around 3/4 throttle is when the engine is most efficient in turning gasoline into hp.
This is why pulse and glide works because you're minimizing times when the engine is inefficient and only using the engine at its peak efficiency.

 

[ahoier]

Somewhere between vehicle maintenance, braking, and tire pressure.

On all the cars I've owned, I've "noticed" a slight slump in MPG when it's "about that time" for an oil change

I don't know what it is....but it seems to correlate.

 

[sciphi]

Adjust driving style to less frenetic. That's the biggest impact. I can consistently get 10-15% better FE in our cars than other drivers since I'm much calmer behind the wheel.

Some kind of instant feedback is great.

 

[tomcat27]

Keep the speed down. in most of my cars I can save approx 3 mpg on the highway by chopping 10 mph (or more) off my speed.

 

[mva]

Since this is an oil website:

I have been very impressed with M1 0W20. There was a noticeable improvement in fuel efficiency when I recently switched to this oil from VWB 5W30.