www.csua.org/u/lq7 -> autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/579/6-ways-youre-wasting-gas
Read more Autos Articles 6 Ways You're Wasting Gas It's not easy to break bad driving habits, but if you don't, the money you lose on gas could wind up breaking your bank.
com) -- With all the worry over fuel prices, you'd think drivers would do whatever they can not to waste gas. But look around and you'll see lots of them tooling around as if they owned their own tanker fleet.
Fuel-sipper smackdown 1 Racing away from green lights When the light turns green, you don't have to take off as quickly as possible. That pedal under your right foot is called the "gas pedal" for a good reason. The more you press down on it, the more gas you're pumping into the engine. Press lightly on the gas pedal, and you'll still accelerate, and you'll still get where you're going. You might be surprised at how little pressure it takes to get your car up to speed in a reasonable time. There's no point in keeping your foot on the gas until just before you reach the intersection. Let off the pedal sooner and give your engine a rest as you coast to the stop while braking gently. As an added benefit, your brake pads will last longer, too. The faster you go, the more air your vehicle has to push out of the way. The faster you try to move your hand, the harder the water pushes back. In tests by Consumer Reports, driving at 75 miles per hour instead of 65 miles per hour reduced fuel economy by between 3 and 5 miles per gallon, depending on the vehicle. You reduce your ability to react if the car in front of you slows or stops. It also means you have to pay ultra-close attention to that car which reduces your ability to scan for other hazards ahead of you and to the sides. Every time the driver ahead taps his brakes, you have to slow down even more than he did. Hang back and you'll be safer - plus you'll be able to drive more smoothly and use less fuel. A good rule of thumb is to allow two seconds of space between your car and the one ahead. You can figure that out by counting off two seconds after the car in front of you passes an obvious landmark like an overpass. With modern fuel-injection engines, it takes very little extra gas to restart a car once it's warmed up. Idling, meanwhile, burns about a half-mile worth of gas every minute, according to the California Energy Commission. That's why hybrid cars shut down their gasoline engines whenever they stop, even for a moment. Now you don't want to shut your engine down for every little stop in your regular, non-hybrid car - it's not designed for that - but if you're waiting for someone to run in and out of a convenience store, turn off the engine. And don't go through the drive-through at fast food restaurants. You're already paying enough for the oil in those chicken nuggets. Bonus tip: Don't idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm. A lot of short hops that let the engine cool down at home between trips can use twice as much gas as starting the car once and making a big sweep to all your stops, according to the US Department of Energy. Go to your farthest destination first so your engine has a chance to reach its optimal operating temperature. With the engine warmed up, the car will restart easily and run efficiently all the way home.
|
http://csua.com/feed/