Fuel Saving Tips
Shifting Automatic Transmissions manually
I saw two posts one by BenjaminWKI and another about using the manual shift mode on automatics to keep RPMs low. I have found a 16% improvement in fuel economy by doing this. Combined with another tip to accelerate briskly at 50-75% throttle is brilliant in my Passat v6 wagon. I am constantly trying to get into top gear as soon as possible and I can get into 6th gear past 40 mph at about 1,300 rpms. I regularly barely get 22 mpg but on two deliberate attempts to get good MPG I went from 25 mpg in fully automatic to 29 mpg when shifting at 2000 rpms manually. Also "manual" mode on the highway in cruise, my car does not kick down to 5th gear unless I really slow a lot. In normal "Drive" the engine downshifts on long hills and overpasses pretty quickly to maintain roadspeed. In "manual" mode it really lugs down to around 1,500 rpms before downshifting.
posted by mexglx on March 28, 2013
this tip works for 70% of voting Fuelly members.
Plan and be consistent.
High MPG is helpful but using your head on when and how to drive can save a lot more. Going to or from work or another errand? Great time to fuel up if it's on the way. Hungry? If you can, stop at your destination and combine a little walking with grabbing your meal. Flexible on when you go? Driving at times when traffic isn't as congested is generally more economical of course, but often less congested equals less stressful too. Driving distracted (eating, talking to others in the car or on the phone, reading, playing a game on your phone, ...) is not only dangerous to you and others. It typically also has a negative impact on performance and therefore fuel economy. How fast do I speed up? Mash on the accelerator or barely push it? The trick is to use a fair amount of throttle so you get the most fuel efficient use of power while reaching the desired speed but not so much that the engine is working extra hard. This varies from vehicle to vehicle. Altitude, air pressure and humidity also play a role. Tire pressure - as recommended is usually best though the one in your guide or on the sidewall? Usually up to the sidewall indication but not more and check it before you get in to go somewhere every time. If you use pressure caps, this can be a simple look. Following another vehicle too closely is dangerous and often illegal but following at a safe distance at highway speeds can be helpful, especially if the other driver is driving at a compatible speed with cruise control set similarly to yours. Mail order saves having to go out. Last for now - use the phone to avoid unnecessary trips. here's no point in going somewhere to get one thing if they don't have it.
posted by ItalianHonda on March 19, 2013
this tip works for 92% of voting Fuelly members.
Hypermiling
Blowing through stop signs and nearly never using the brakes can cause an accident, but being more conscious about how you drive, pop the clutch down every hill and accelerate BEFORE the hill and let your car decel a bit going up the hill can seriously increase your mileage. This is how i get ~40MPG in my honda accord, a better figure then my friends hybrid civic!!! Coasting wont work if you have nothing to coast on... Hopefully you live in a valley like me.
posted by Mitch6R on March 11, 2013
this tip works for 49% of voting Fuelly members.
Raw Egg on Accelerator Pedal
Pretend that there is a raw egg between your foot and the accelerator pedal in your vehicle. You don't want to break the egg and get the mess on your floor boards so you'll be less inclined to mash down the throttle pedal. The idea is to encourage gentle accelerations and avoid flooring or lead footing your vehicle.
posted by bates on March 5, 2013
this tip works for 49% of voting Fuelly members.
Calibrate your odometer readings
Quite often your odometer reading will differ from your actual distance travelled. Usually it is over reported, so that you think you're driving faster and travelling farther than you actually are. This can be 5-10% in many cases, which would decrease your mpg by 5-10%. Use a GPS unit to measure your actual distance travelled and compare it to your trip meter. If you're GPS reads 100 miles, and your odometer reads 105 miles, then you should divide your fuelly entry by 1.05 to get it to 100.
posted by engineered on February 27, 2013
this tip works for 58% of voting Fuelly members.
Compare gas stations
If you regularly have several choices of gas stations, compare stats over several fill-ups. For example, my local full service Shell is usually 2 cents more expensive than the other off-brand station. Yet I found my fuel economy was 5-10% higher (lower? - more miles for the buck) with the full service Shell. I've mentioned my results to several of my friends, who have found the same increase over several months of checking. Although this runs contrary to common thinking, the numbers here have proved differently. Your mileage (literally) may differ.
posted by pegn on February 22, 2013
this tip works for 91% of voting Fuelly members.
Coast or Decelerate Cruise Control
When using your cruise control and approaching a red light, stopped or slowing traffic, a freeway interchange, an intersection or anywhere when you need to slow down use the "Coast" or "Decelerate" function or button on your cruise control to let the vehicle coast down rather than using your brakes to disengage the cruise function. After you pass the slow down then accelerate back to your desired speed with the throttle pedal, NOT the resume button and click the speed set button at your stabilized speed.
posted by bates on February 22, 2013
this tip works for 74% of voting Fuelly members.
Change Your Air Filter!
A dirty filter can easily decrease your MPG by 1-2 miles. Also by doing this yourself you save more money. The dealer / oil change places charge a premium price for this service. It's easily a 100% mark-up considering the new cost of the filter is $10-20! My Hyundai dealer charges $35 for a Air Filter replacement. I do it myself for $17 and it literally takes 20 seconds to install.
posted by oeight74 on February 21, 2013
this tip works for 83% of voting Fuelly members.
Slow down before red lights
When you see a red light in the distance, start to slow down moderately well before, and wait for it to turn green so you can stroll on through, hopefully maintaining quite a bit of speed - this helps fuel economy greatly over the standard method of coming to a complete stop and then having to accelerate all the way back up to your prior speed!
posted by snwbdr09173 on February 13, 2013
this tip works for 99% of voting Fuelly members.
Save Fuel in Turns!
One great way to save fuel is to do minimal braking for turns. When coming up to a turn or bend, threshold brake at the limit of adhesion and slowly release the brakes as your turn the wheel. Once your come out of the turn you will still be near the speed limit. Why brake, it only slows you down! If you experience oversteer, countersteer!
posted by vtecintegra9 on February 4, 2013
this tip works for 44% of voting Fuelly members.
In winter, turn off heater during first 5 min
In the winter, using the heater/defroster immediately after startup may delay the engine's full warm-up to its optimum fuel efficient temperature by a few min. If you have heated seats, turn them on and turn off the heater for the first couple miles or 5 min., so that the engine may warm up faster. Also, don't let the engine run for a few minutes before driving off. Start, buckle up, put on sunglasses and check mirrors, then drive moderately for a few minutes. This tip works especially well on hybrids.
posted by HuskyNuda on February 2, 2013
this tip works for 80% of voting Fuelly members.
State highway vs Interstates
Whether you have a hybrid or non-hybrid vehicle, most cars burn more fuel when speeds exceed 55 mph. If you want to increase fuel efficiency and have the option to do so, choose a state highway or even a county road where the speed limit is 55 vs an interstate highway with higher speed limits.
posted by Navi on February 1, 2013
this tip works for 86% of voting Fuelly members.
Follow those "breaking wind"
Use other vehicles on the road to your advantage when opportunity allows. Driving a safe distance behind a larger profile vehicle helps lower the resistance of your vehicle to still air so your engine doesn't have to work as hard. The result is increased gas mileage. You should not and do not need to get dangerously close to take advantage of this "quasi-drafting" technique. You are just looking for the vehicle in front of you to break the wind. If you have a MPG meter on your car you can test this theory. This technique becomes less useful on hills when the vehicle in front of you prevents you from taking advantage of coasting.
posted by Navi on January 31, 2013
this tip works for 85% of voting Fuelly members.
Top Offs
Don't top off or overfill your tank to get the most gallons or the most accurate MPG reading. Not only is it hazardous to your health, dangerous and messy, your fuel system will have to capture excess fumes in the system's carbon canister. After some time this overtaxes evaporative control system parts and requires costly repairs. Carbon canister replacement is expensive and averages around $600.
posted by Navi on January 29, 2013
this tip works for 62% of voting Fuelly members.
Accurate Fill-ups
Don't top off or overfill your tank to get the most gallons or the most accurate MPG reading. Not only is it hazardous to your health, dangerous and messy, your fuel system will have to capture excess fumes in the system's carbon canister. After some time this overtaxes evaporative control system parts and requires costly repairs. Carbon canister replacement is expensive and averages around $600.
posted by Navi on January 29, 2013
this tip works for 60% of voting Fuelly members.
Accurate Fill-ups
Accuracy with any process is a result of reducing variations between samples. If you want consistent fill-ups, park your car the same way at each fill up. This helps ensure that the gas tank is in the same position each time. A gas tank may have more reservoir in front of the gas tank or the back. Air can get trapped, reducing the amount of area that gas can occupy. Try to park your car the same way and your MPG readings will be more accurate.
posted by Navi on January 29, 2013
this tip works for 74% of voting Fuelly members.
Find your "true" city/highway driving splits!
According to the EPA test cycle average speeds of 21 MPH for the city cycle, and 48 MPH for the highway cycle. If your car has a menu display for average speed, reset it when you fill up. At your next fill up, record the average speed for the tank, and use it to find your "true" city/hwy driving splits in the following formulas: Percentage of Highway Driving = 100*(AVG SPD - CITY)/(48 - 21) Percentage of City Driving = 100(1-(Calculated HWY%)). Any average speed under 21 MPH is 100% city, and anything over 48 MPH is 100% highway driving. For example: If at your next fill up, your average speed is 35 MPH, your city/hwy splits using the formula above are: 52% hwy, 48% city driving. Repeating this at each fill up allows you to compare your driving on Fuelly directly to the EPA estimates, rather than guesstimating your city/hwy splits. It also gives you much more consistent results than guessing does.
posted by cougar435788 on January 27, 2013
this tip works for 86% of voting Fuelly members.
Try "Surfing" the Hills in the C-Max Hybrid
Highways in the cities are not flat. There are undulations in the terrain caused by overpasses and underpasses, They are called "vertical curves" and are the result of elevation changes. Overpasses are usually a mile or so apart as they cross over roads below. Sometimes the freeway will go underneath a road and you will descend in elevation to go underneath a bridge. Now Here's the "Surfing" trick, try to eyeball the road ahead so that you are at the top of an overpass when you are at 68 and you are backing off the throttle to go into electric mode. The electric motor is more efficient going downhill, even slightly and you can maintain your speed longer because it takes less KW or juice to go downhill. The C-Max is a heavy car and it's own mass going downhill is a big plus. The longer you can run the electric motor, the higher your mpg will be simply because electric mpg is way higher than than using the Internal Combustion Engine. That is the crux of getting higher mpg. At the end of your trip you should see a definite increase in the percentage of EV-Mode used. Now if you see the road ahead is going uphill for an overpass, time it so you are firing up the ICE to propel you uphill and increasing your speed to the top. If all you do is run the gas engine from the bottom of the hill to the top, and go electric from the tops down you will increase your mileage.
posted by mtrcop on January 18, 2013
this tip works for 30% of voting Fuelly members.
Use ethanol-free gas
Wonder why your fuel economy drops during the winter? Ethanol! Ethanol has a lower energy density than gasoline (10% loss for E10, 30% loss for E85) and it has been shown to deteriorate your engine over time. Avoid high ethanol blends whenever possible, and check Google Maps to see if there are any ethanol-free gas stations near you.
posted by XaXa on January 17, 2013
this tip works for 72% of voting Fuelly members.
Slide back from the pedals
Adjust your drivers seat back so youre not too close to the pedals. Make sure you can still access fully the pedals but being further back prevents you from mashing the gas and/orte brakes too much.
posted by MatrixDom on January 15, 2013
this tip works for 21% of voting Fuelly members.
Do not Compare Too Much
Comparing your vehicle's mpg with other vehicles especially with smaller engines would often frustrate you. Always compare with vehicles of equal engine capacity and of same body type. Better yet calculate mpg * 1000 cc value to get a engine capacity neutral mpg value when comparing with vehicles of different engine size. Eg a car with 1.0L engine does 15kpl, and a car with 1.5L engine does 10kpl are equivalent because you compromise performance for fuel economy and vice versa.
posted by Gandabout on January 5, 2013
this tip works for 27% of voting Fuelly members.
Check your bike's gearing!
If you're riding a smaller motorcycle and feel that it's struggling to keep up, take the time to check your front and rear sprockets. Although it is nice to have a powerful bike in the first place, often times changing the rear sprocket up a tooth or the front sprocket down a tooth can make life so much easier for both you and your bike. Power is one thing, but as long as your bike is making good torque, gearing can make all the difference.
posted by Loki1342 on January 5, 2013
this tip works for 76% of voting Fuelly members.
Plan and be consistent.
High MPG is helpful but using your head on when and how to drive can save a lot more. Going to or from work or another errand? Great time to fuel up if it's on the way. Hungry? If you can, stop at your destination and combine a little walking with grabbing your meal. Flexible on when you go? Driving at times when traffic isn't as congested is generally more economical of course, but often less congested equals less stressful too. Driving distracted (eating, talking to others in the car or on the phone, reading, playing a game on your phone, ...) is not only dangerous to you and others. It typically also has a negative impact on performance and therefore fuel economy. How fast do I speed up? Mash on the accelerator or barely push it? The trick is to use a fair amount of throttle so you get the most fuel efficient use of power while reaching the desired speed but not so much that the engine is working extra hard. This varies from vehicle to vehicle. Altitude, air pressure and humidity also play a role. Tire pressure - as recommended is usually best though the one in your guide or on the sidewall? Usually up to the sidewall indication but not more and check it before you get in to go somewhere every time. If you use pressure caps, this can be a simple look. Following another vehicle too closely is dangerous and often illegal but following at a safe distance at highway speeds can be helpful, especially if the other driver is driving at a compatible speed with cruise control set similarly to yours. Mail order saves having to go out. Last for now - use the phone to avoid unnecessary trips. here's no point in going somewhere to get one thing if they don't have it.
posted by ItalianHonda on December 31, 2012
this tip works for 93% of voting Fuelly members.
Question Conventional Wisdom
When taking off from a stop, do so briskly, 50 to 75% throttle. Then let up on the gas. This uses less fuel than if you gently roll away from a stop. Don't believe me? http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Become-a-Hypermiler/step9/Acceleration/
posted by MissinMahSeven on December 22, 2012
this tip works for 83% of voting Fuelly members.
Warm air intake saves gas see ecomodder.com
Warm air is better for MPG check it out www.ecomodder.com Cold air is condensed and good for fitting more air into your cylinders. Warm air mixes with gas better. Cars burn up to 4 times more gas when they are cold.
posted by koolbreeze on December 20, 2012
this tip works for 28% of voting Fuelly members.
Did you know that about A/C?
Most newer cars will activate A/C when you select the "Defrost" or "Defrost + feet" setting on your heater (hot setting) to accelarate the defogging/defrosting of the windshield. Unfortunately, it doesn't activate the A/C indicator, it's a "stealth" feature. If you forget about the setting, and keep the setting to "Defrost" during all your commute, then the A/C is on, without you knowing about it. Make a habit of always changing the setting to "feet only" or "feet + face" once the windshield/side windows are defogged. Some cars may even automatically activate the A/C when set to "extreme cold" (all the way in the blue), again without lighting on the A/C indicator. You can set it to one notch before extreme cold to avoid it if the temperature (heat) doesn't call for A/C. Check your manual to know the specifics of your model! Having A/C on without being aware may be costing you dearly!
posted by ct200hfan on December 16, 2012
this tip works for 91% of voting Fuelly members.
Accelerate ON the onramp
When you're getting on the freeway, use your time on the onramp to gradually accelerate up to the speed of traffic. This is safer than accelerating up to traffic speed on the freeway itself, and, since you will not be going as hard on the accelerator to match traffic speeds while you're on the onramp than if you're accelerating on the freeway, you'll save gas in the long term.
posted by acebrock on December 14, 2012
this tip works for 96% of voting Fuelly members.
Red Lights
Try not to accelerate up to red lights... if you coast up to them you can try to avoid comping to a complete stop which puts a damper on the gas mileage.
posted by jasper9 on December 12, 2012
this tip works for 100% of voting Fuelly members.
Dont be a drag
For all the DIY'ers-when servicing your brakes, be sure all parts operate smoothly after installing new brake pads or shoes. If the brake pads dont retract correctly, they will drag on the rotor. This resistance will cause excess heat and will require more power to turn the wheel than if it rolled smoothly.
posted by VaporRider on December 11, 2012
this tip works for 99% of voting Fuelly members.
Some Hill Suggestions
While going uphill is of course going to kill your MPG, a hill can still be your friend. Consider some options when dealing with a hill: - For many hills, ease up on the gas (factor in whether you'll be greatly inconveniencing traffic behind you though, if you care...). It's okay to lose some MPH on the hill (see the reward part below for why!). - Before you reach the downhill, you may be on a fairly level road and, if possible, continue with your speed until you get to the downhill. - Reap your reward while going downhill. You just invested energy to get to the top of that hill, and downhill is a wonderful treat for your MPG. If you're going much slower than before you arrived at the hill, use the hill as your opportunity to get back up to your cruising speed. If you're already going the speed you want, coast and maintain that speed. Gravity may fight with you on the uphill, but it will help you out on the downhill, and we want to make as much use of that help as we can. While this sounds blatantly obvious, 'accelerating downhill is better on your MPG than accelerating uphill,' I am always surprised how many people ignore it. Perhaps they are not concerned about their MPG. Lastly, to give you a mental image of the energy involved with a hill, consider riding a bicycle up the same hill. If you want to conserve your own energy, are you going to race up the hill? Are you going to pedal quickly on the flat before the downhill? Are you going to slow down while going downhill? I myself would rather go slower up the hill (technically I'm forced to because I get tired), level out a comfortable pace, and then either coast downhill, or use that extra downhill energy to get some more speed so I can use it to allow me to coast farther.
posted by vwooks on December 11, 2012
this tip works for 86% of voting Fuelly members.
