The art of saving on gas

[@M]

Are you doing more "tricks" to save on gas? I don't recall which program I was watching, but, there was a segment on the news yesterday about a guy who obsessively does all sorts of stuff to make his gas go farther, averaging 100 miles a gallon, and, he claims, saving $2,000 a year. He drafts behind semis, times red lights so he can coast through without stopping, keeps his tires fully inflated, drives at/under the speed limit, doesn't let his car idle, keeps next to nothing in his car to reduce its' weight, etc., anything he can think of to squeak a few more cents out of his tank. He's an extreme case, and probably OCD about it, but, with rising prices, I can see more people doing these sorts of things...

 

[SignOfGoob]

1: buy quality small car with low power engine, doesn’t really matter what it is…

2: work 15 minutes from home

After that it’s all hair splitting. Even if gas hits $10 a gallon I’d still only be being putting in $120 a month which is about what I spend on fast food.

Now the people living out in BFE because they don’t want to pay taxes, and they’re driving American V8 powered SUVs…if they aren’t as well off as they look, and they rarely are, Christmas presents may suck this year…but that is a trap of their own doing. We just went through all this shit in like 2009 and 2001…

 

[NeoSneth]

Hypermiling is so 2008. get that nonsense out of here.

proper maintenance... that I can get behind...

 

[LoneSage]

$120 on fast food a month. Is that normal or shameful?

 

[terry.330]

$120 on fast food a month. Is that normal or shameful?

I figure that works out to about 10 times a month. Yeah that's way too much. Gross.

 

[Burning Fight!!]

Nothing is shameful anymore once you break the 300lb barrier

 

[fake]

I only drive downhill. Saves a ton on gas.

 

[sylvie]

I figure that works out to about 10 times a month. Yeah that's way too much. Gross.

Im sure it's premium Japanese fast food

 

[@M]

I only drive downhill. Saves a ton on gas.

Wouldn't you have to drive completely uphill to return then?

 

[fake]

Wouldn't you have to drive completely uphill to return then?

Nope, I take a route that's all downhill.

 

[Moob Butter]

Don’t use air-con, don’t accelerate too spiritedly, drive at least congested times, try use as high a gear as possible for your current speed, buy your gas at night or very early morning because the colder temperature means the fuel is more condensed so you get slightly more for your money…

… or just say fuck it and accept avoiding all that stuff might result in you paying approx 10% more for gas each month.

I drive mostly with the air con off (it’s pretty chilly here most the year anyway) and I can cruise around town at 30 mph in 4th gear most the time. I also try not to drive during the school run hours as traffic is nuts.

I don’t bother with much more than that.

 

[lithy]

If you're really gonna hypermile it, step 1 is to buy an original Honda Insight with a fresh battery. Anything else is significant effort for little additional payoff.

 

[Tw3ek]

Siphon your gas from coworkers and watch the savings add up

 

[SignOfGoob]

If you're really gonna hypermile it, step 1 is to buy an original Honda Insight with a fresh battery. Anything else is significant effort for little additional payoff.

That would be the best path 20 years ago since 90MPG is totally doable with this car. It would never pay for itself though. A new battery is thousands of dollars (I assume they still make them, but I don’t know for sure) and the car itself…well, I’m quite fond of it but most people…would want more. It’s best use these days is K swapping. It’s miles from passing a crash or emissions test of 2022 standards.

In general people just need to drive less. Less car, less distance, less speed, just don’t drive so much period. Don’t buy an F-250 or a McMansion in BFE just because gas happens to be cheap that day. Fuel costs money, it always has, it always will. It goes up and down day by day but overall only up. Don’t pretend that isn’t true. If you’re burning more of it…then you’re burning more of it! It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

 

[norton9478]

My plan is to buy an F-250 with dualies and take the bus to work.

 

[wyo]

If these prices continue, the US car companies might regret their decision to axe most of their economical models.

 

[fake]

If these prices continue, the US car companies might regret their decision to axe most of their economical models.

I'm not a car guy but I've noticed some weird decisions while shopping for a new car for my GF. The Subaru guy said that they're discontinuing the four-door Impreza. We also wanted to at least test drive the WRX but he said that it's literally impossible to get one because they make so few of them. They're beyond special order at this point. I also heard Honda is discontinuing the Fit in the US so people will buy their small SUV instead.

 

[Tw3ek]

If these prices continue, the US car companies might regret their decision to axe most of their economical models.

I'll never understand why they did this the very instant gas prices start to decline again

 

[Moob Butter]

So didn’t crazy prices happen before in the 70s oil crisis? What did the car manufacturers do then? Make smaller more economic models and less of them?

 

[NeoSneth]

Blame the consumer. How many people drive giant SUV and Trucks, by themselves, 45min daily commute? It's a lot.
Giant SUVs were selling out 5 years ago. The only people to blame are the consumers.

People continually forget about the fragility of Oil prices.

I was willing to pay up to $10 a gallon in 2008 before I would change my driving habits. It should be no different now. If Gasoline prices are preventing you from feeding your family, you have other problems,.

 

[Lagduf]

$120 on fast food a month. Is that normal or shameful?

It’s a lot for a single person. But some people eat out for lunch everyday so…

 

[fake]

Blame the consumer. How many people drive giant SUV and Trucks, by themselves, 45min daily commute? It's a lot.
Giant SUVs were selling out 5 years ago. The only people to blame are the consumers.

I agree with this. The vast majority of people who own SUVs don't need SUVs.

 

[SignOfGoob]

My plan is to buy an F-250 with dualies and take the bus to work.

That would be ideal, but sadly, impossible. There isn’t an F-250 owner on planet Earth who would take a bus to work. That’s why the vehicle has its reputation for being owned by assholes. It isn’t that it makes a person into an asshole, but that it attracts assholes almost exclusively…just like most Kia sedans only attract people with bad credit.

Additionally, F-250 owners rarely live within 30 miles of a bus route.

 

[Syn]

Everywhere I need to go is within 10 miles. I drive a Miata in the Spring, Summer and Fall.

 

[GohanX]

When I bought a ridiculous car with laughably low gas mileage I had the sense to keep a fairly economical beater around.