Getting better gas mileage part 2

Posted by Nick Loadholtes on September 28th, 2005 filed in Blogging, Cars, Technology, The coming apocalypse, gas, hybrid

In my post yesterday I gave two ways to increase your gas mileage in your car right now. It turns out that you can affect your mileage by the way you drive. Below are today’s two tips for the road.

1. Don’t slam on the brakes, coat to a stop if you can.

Think about it, if you are coming up on a stop sign, why would you keep pressing the gas until you had to stop? Not only are you burning gas you don’t need to (why would you accelerate to get to a place you need to stop?), but you are also wearing out your brakes faster. Plus, I’m convinced there is a connection between slamming the brakes and slamming the gas.

1. Don’t be afraid to go the speed limit. Slow and steady wins the race.

This one is hard to do, but it is very true. Don’t go 80mph just because you can, try to stick to the speed limit. Most cars are setup to run efficiently at a certain speed, which is probably somewhere between 55 and 65 mph. But no matter what speed you drive at, try to keep your speed constant, that’s where a big fuel savings comes from. Every time you have to speed up you are burning more gas. Plus by driving at the speed limit, you are more likely to be going the same speed as the people around you (which hopefully would help in the event of an accident).

I hope you are finding these tips useful. If you have any you’d like to contribute, please feel free to put them in the comments below.