How to achieve insanely good mpg in your car

**War.mongeR1** · 06-03-2007, 01:11 PM

This is a pretty interesting and very beneficial article to read...
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ourOwnCar.aspx

The drafting thing works for sure. My little Mazda 3 hatchback is only rated at 27/32. On a trip from San Antonio to Dallas, I decided to take it easy in the slow lane chilling at 65 mph since it was night time. Most cars were blowing past me, but when I got to Dallas I still had half a tank of gas left. I got around 37 mpg. Totally worth it since I wasn't in any rush what so ever. With ever rising gas prices, using some of these tips is probably more practical than buying a hybrid car. These guys got 51.2 mpg in a Honda Accord! Not too shabby considering a guy I work with averages around 45 mpg in his Toyota Prius.

**tau_neutrino** · 06-03-2007, 01:25 PM

I just drove from San Antonio to San Diego averaging 65mph, and I got about 50mpg in my fully loaded Scion xA (at least 250 lbs of junk). That site offers a lot of good advice.

**snooggums** · 06-03-2007, 01:48 PM

On average, fuel efficiency improved 12% when speed limits were followed, 31% when aggressive driving tactics were avoided and an additional 7% when cruise control was used.

Basically: Driving the speed the car is optimized for, without wasting gas on hard accelerations and using cruise control to assist this will give you the best mileage.

Gee what a surprise.

**TheFatKidDeath** · 06-03-2007, 02:28 PM

Good thread. I'm all about getting good gas mileage, always have been. It certainly helps I've always driven smaller cars. My first car was a 1976 Honda Civic, one of the first Japanese vehicles to enter the US. It was novel at the time. Driving that car around in GA during the early '80's certainly got some looks. Ironcially, smaller compacts were sort of considered a joke but no one is really laughing now with gas at over three dollars a gallon in most of the country.

I have a 1995 Honda Civic two door hatchback with 207,000 miles. Runs like the day I bought it. I average about 47 miles to the gallon. I've been looking at buying a new car in the future but I have to ask myself why?

My 12 year old car is more fuel efficient than most vehicles on the road. I have to sort of laugh at this "new" hybrid technology.

**MagnaCentipede** · 06-03-2007, 02:51 PM

Time is money. If you are willing to pay in time for what you save in gasoline, good for you. But getting a ticket for illegal car modification or unsafe driving practices (which can lead to more than a ticket) is silly.

Looking at a Toyota Touring, it claims 55 mpg for $23k. Let's assume that figure is legitimate. I'm driving a terrible junker that gets 15 mpg. So, getting the greeniemobile would supposedly save 2.67gal/55miles, assuming a mean cost of $3/gal, that's 14.5¢ per mile, which means to pay off the new ride with savings, I must drive 150,000 miles to break even. My work round-trip is 24 miles, so that's 6300 trips, 1260 weeks, or 25 years.

Oops.

Also, don't these hybrids use elecricity? I didn't factor in the cost of the 1.21 gigawatts that's generated by coal-burning stations. :eyeroll:

**Zoraster** · 06-03-2007, 05:16 PM

Maybe I can get 12 mpg out of my H2!

(just kidding, I drive a 2001 Toyota Corolla)

Also, don't these hybrids use elecricity? I didn't factor in the cost of the 1.21 gigawatts that's generated by coal-burning stations. :eyeroll:

the hybrids use electricity, but it's its own generated electricity (at least this is my understanding). It's like an ordinary car battery, it charges off the excess energy from the engine when you're doing things like idleing. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. I'm no car expert.

**Chewy** · 06-03-2007, 06:53 PM

I love my new '07 Cobalt... advertised as 24 city and 32 highway. I do plenty of both and average 32-34 which makes me pretty darn happy because I was a little worried before I bought it what it was going to average but it's exceeded my expectations.

**Mavrok** · 06-03-2007, 08:02 PM

91 toyota mr2 36 on hw 30 in city

woot for a 500 dollar car

**War.mongeR1** · 06-03-2007, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by MagnaCentipede

Time is money. If you are willing to pay in time for what you save in gasoline, good for you. But getting a ticket for illegal car modification or unsafe driving practices (which can lead to more than a ticket) is silly.

Looking at a Toyota Touring, it claims 55 mpg for $23k. Let's assume that figure is legitimate. I'm driving a terrible junker that gets 15 mpg. So, getting the greeniemobile would supposedly save 2.67gal/55miles, assuming a mean cost of $3/gal, that's 14.5¢ per mile, which means to pay off the new ride with savings, I must drive 150,000 miles to break even. My work round-trip is 24 miles, so that's 6300 trips, 1260 weeks, or 25 years.

Oops.

That's kinda my point. You don't have to buy a hybrid car to achieve great gas milage. You can do it with what you already have. And BTW, the article suggested you not do anything illegal or unsafe. It just pointed out that some hardcore people have done it.

**sordavie** · 06-03-2007, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by MagnaCentipede

Time is money. If you are willing to pay in time for what you save in gasoline, good for you. But getting a ticket for illegal car modification or unsafe driving practices (which can lead to more than a ticket) is silly.

Looking at a Toyota Touring, it claims 55 mpg for $23k. Let's assume that figure is legitimate. I'm driving a terrible junker that gets 15 mpg. So, getting the greeniemobile would supposedly save 2.67gal/55miles, assuming a mean cost of $3/gal, that's 14.5¢ per mile, which means to pay off the new ride with savings, I must drive 150,000 miles to break even. My work round-trip is 24 miles, so that's 6300 trips, 1260 weeks, or 25 years.

Oops.

With that kind of number crunching, you should become a timeshare salesman.

**MagnaCentipede** · 06-03-2007, 10:46 PM

It could happen. Then I could afford to buy a new car to save money.

**icky** · 06-03-2007, 11:01 PM

I love the fixation people have on "idling hurts mileage". I suspect that many people believe that this is because an idling engine is terribly inefficient, but the reality is that it is simply a period of time during which you are getting 0 mpg. To avoid this, MY recommendation would be that you circle McDonald's slowly while you wait for your drive-thru order to arrive. This will greatly improve your mileage.

**MagnaCentipede** · 06-03-2007, 11:11 PM

1) Only if you go by direct odometer readings. As my calcuations work, I'm looking at miles as a side-effect of utility. I don't drive to score highway cred, I do it because I need to get from spawn to site and back.

2) Get out of line, lose your place. No McCutting in the McQueue.

3) If it were only profitable, we could be driving on used cooking oil, in which case you'd be getting a tankful with your faux-food.

**icky** · 06-04-2007, 08:43 AM

I drive a diesel VW Golf, btw, and I use the basic tricks of good fuel consumption, so 50 mpg is about normal for me. I looked into self-made biodiesel, but that's too much mess and work for me.

**snooggums** · 06-04-2007, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by MagnaCentipede

Looking at a Toyota Touring, it claims 55 mpg for $23k. Let's assume that figure is legitimate. I'm driving a terrible junker that gets 15 mpg. So, getting the greeniemobile would supposedly save 2.67gal/55miles, assuming a mean cost of $3/gal, that's 14.5¢ per mile, which means to pay off the new ride with savings, I must drive 150,000 miles to break even. My work round-trip is 24 miles, so that's 6300 trips, 1260 weeks, or 25 years.

Oops.

Also, don't these hybrids use elecricity? I didn't factor in the cost of the 1.21 gigawatts that's generated by coal-burning stations. :eyeroll:

Why do you have to pay the entirety of the car off instead of the difference between the car you would buy and the Touring? Why are you accounting for "electricity by coal burning stations" since you don't plug the car into a wall? (the 55 mpg includes powering the electric parts like any other car)

If you were going to buy a Lincoln not only would you save money on the purchase but you would save the gas too! If you were going to buy a SUV then a 23,000 dollar car that gets better mileage than the 27,000 dollar SUV becomes a steal. A better comparison would be the only Camry vs New Camry, if there is enough mileage difference to make up any price difference.

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