Here are the top 10 ways to waste gas
1. Stand on the gas
There's little a carbon stomper enjoys more than blasting along at 90 mph — other than doing it in a Suburban while towing a big trailer. You can get about 5 mpg if you try. On the highways I travel, there's no shortage of huge SUVs and other vehicles travelling at or near that speed.
2. Use E85 ethanol.
Ethanol significantly drops fuel mileage because alcohol contains less energy than gasoline. The EPA says you'll get about 7 mpg less with E85 (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) than with 100 percent gas. In our own tests comparing E85 and gasoline. To grow corn to make ethanol, American farmers are plowing up native prairie grass that is the primary breeding ground for waterfowl. Simultaneously, Brazilians are burning down virgin rainforests to grow sugarcane for ethanol and soybeans for biodiesel. Also, some studies say it requires more fossil fuel energy to make ethanol than the alcohol contains. In addition, ethanol must be transported by truck or railroad rather than the traditional gasoline pipeline system.
3. Idle.
A car gets zero miles per gallon while it sits motionless with the engine running. You can make a Corolla get the same gas mileage as an 18-wheeler by sitting in the car with the air-conditioner running while waiting in an elementary-school pickup line. A main way hybrid-electric cars reduce fuel consumption is by switching off their engines while stopped in traffic. For modern, fuel-injected vehicles, the break-even point for turning off the engine and then restarting it right before traffic begins to flow may be as little as 10 seconds, even when considering extra wear on the starter motor, battery and other components. Expect honks and rude gestures from drivers behind you.
4. Enter the stoplight drags.
Establish your dominance by being the first to the next stoplight. It's a race: Don't let the rats win. By accelerating hard, you're burning much more gas than you would by gently gaining speed. And you get to waste even more while idling at the next stoplight until the slow-accelerating driver arrives. Often, the light turns green right as the slowpoke arrives. Then you really have to gas it to beat him to the next light.
5. Cruise
Driving around aimlessly is such a relaxing and enjoyable way to waste gas. Harley riders, snowmobilers and teenagers have this down to a science. Some cities still boast 1950s American Graffiti-style cruising where people circulate in an intentional traffic jam around a city square — doesn't that sound fun? Gas hogs love traffic jams and lots of idling.
6. Choose max-performance tires.
There's little like the thrill of blasting around a freeway transition ramp on super-grippy max-performance tires. However, sticky tires take more energy to move down the road than do most original equipment tires. Tire engineers call it rolling resistance, and ultra-high-performance tires almost always have a lot of it.
7. Never use cruise control.
A great way to burn extra fuel when driving down the interstate is to accelerate until you pull far past another car. Then slow down until that car passes you and gets a half-mile lead. Next, gas it until you're a quarter-mile in the lead. Repeat. Not only does this drop gas mileage, it'll make you one of the world's most aggravating people.
8. Use regular gas when your car calls for premium.
The Lexus College says using 87-octane fuel in its vehicles that require 91 octane will reduce fuel mileage by about 6 mpg. This is partially because the lower-octane fuel requires the engine to work harder to achieve the same performance. It's unclear whether this is true for all makes. Try it for yourself to find out which gets worse mileage.
9. Keep your trips short.
Engines don't operate at maximum efficiency until warmed up. So you'll burn more fuel if you drive two or three miles and then stop and let the car cool down before making another short trip. To make sure you burn the most gas, never drive first to your furthest destination and make your other stops on the way home. Best of all, drive all the way home after each errand and never even think about walking or riding a bike.
10. Ignore maintenance.
A clogged air filter does a wonderful job of wasting fuel, but it's nothing compared to a malfunctioning oxygen sensor. If the "check engine" light illuminates, a small piece of black tape will allow you to keep wasting gas without the annoying nagging. Out-of-spec suspension alignment will burn more fuel, as will adding heavier-weight oil like 10W-40 rather than the automaker-recommended 0W-20.
No comments:
Post a Comment