Getting the most for your money at the pump

[robotech_master]

Some tips came through internal email at the logistics company where I work. I had posted them here, but a friend pointed me at this Snopes link which mentions the tips and investigates their claims to legitimacy, so I'll just put it here instead.

(I should know better than to be susceptible to passing on email forwards without checking their provenance. I usually am. It's just that their coming through work, and work being associated with the transportation industry, made me assume I was getting it from the original source. :P )

Also, once you've got that gas in your tank, here are some tips to help you get the most miles per gallon out of it, via Hypermiling.

Comments

[jcfiala.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to lock my car down to 55 mph since I realized just how much a tank of gas costs me these days... but I should check my tires and see if they need a little more air anyway.

[hyuri.livejournal.com]

Checking fuel mileage is something that became very distracting, once I had access to a vehicle with an instantaneous mileage meter: my grandparents' Toyota Sienna. Interestingly, according to the meter, on a level road with no wind in fifth (drive) range, it got its best mileage at 85 MPH (34 MPG), whereas at 55 in fifth it was showing a mere 16 MPG. Dropping down into fourth range at 55 raised the displayed mileage to 27 MPG.

They're right about the gentle starts though, for a very different reason: if I'm not very careful on the throttle, it spins the front tires.

And, again for different reasons, I disagree with the last tip. Very few of these articles mention that drafting doesn't cut your fuel usage - it just passes it on to someone else. I've seen the mileage on that Sienna drop by as much as 13 MPG when someone is tailgating me. I'll confess to using that drag effect myself, but I make a conscious effort to only use it to provide a sort of slingshot effect when preparing to pass (lets me downshift and rev up without losing as much speed).

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

And the thing I -hate- most about these tips is that they ignore a simple item that can improve base economy by 5% to 10%: a high performance air filter like a K&N. Oiled cotton filters pass more air than disposable paper filters so the engine runs better. They are not disposable; just clean them every 50K miles so less waste over the life of the vehicle. They are not terribly expensive: at about $45 for the filter and $20 for a cleaning kit, and at 5% improvement, it pays for itself within 10K miles.