More Ways To Survive The Coming Gasoline Crunch
More Ways To Survive The Coming Gasoline Crunch
For the second time in the last five years, gasoline prices are rising towards $4 a gallon, only this time there is no end in sight and the rise may not stop until we are paying upwards of $5 per gallon. This will no doubt put a major crunch on a majority of Americans. Even a simple commute to work may become burdensome, if that commute is more than ten miles or so a day.
The good news is that prices will eventually come back down again, hopefully to more manageable levels, but until then, it is important to develop good driving habits designed to get as much mileage as possible out of a tank of gas.
If you have the means, I highly recommend a more fuel efficient car. This author will freely admit to openly scoffing at the notion of hybrid vehicles such as the Prius when they first came on the market, only to find himself now wishing he had bought one when he had opportunity. Vehicles such as the Prius can achieve nearly 70 mpg and 50 in the city. A fuel efficient machine can conceivably save you up to $1000 a year.
Even if you are stuck with a gas guzzling SUV, you can still make it more fuel efficient by altering your driving habits. If you are a more aggressive, lead footed driver, try the passive approach. Cutting down on your speed and adopting more responsible driving habits can save you up to 10% on your fuel bill. Make sure your tires are properly inflated and avoid bad habits such as riding your brake, and you will slowly see an improvement in even the thirstiest car.
Likewise, keeping your car properly tuned can help increase fuel efficiency. You can also purchase fuel additives designed to wring more mileage out of your vehicle.
Idle hands are the devil's playthings. Same goes for idling cars. Just sitting and letting you engine run for no reason runs out a lot of gas. If you are waiting on your child to get out of school, shut your engine off. It only takes a couple of seconds to turn it on and the guy behind you will wait.
Watch prices. I know it may only seem like a little when the gas station across the street is only a nickely cheaper, but think about it.a nickel a gallon, for a 16 gallon tank that is 80 cents. Over the course of a year you can save $50. It doesn't sound like much, but when prices are spiking at $5 a gallon, every little bit will help.
Here's a novel idea: forego use of a car altogether. Using a bicycle or motorcycle can get a lot of miles out of very little gas.
Opt for smooth driving. Cars use the most gas during acceleration, and the least while actually cruising at a given speed. Constant breaking and speeding back up wrecks your mileage. Learn how to pace yourself, accelerate to your desired speed, then try to keep it there with a minimum of stutterstops.
Air conditioning works your cars' systems harder. Don't run the AC whenever possible.
Rolling down the windows is always refreshing, but can actually worsen your fuel economy. I learned this first hand while driving a Camaro with the T-tops removed on an interstate highway. The drag on the car is increased significantly by the windows scooping in vast amounts of air, making your engine work harder and burning more fuel in the process.
Use a manual shift. Automatic transmissions will always burn more gas than manual, just because they aren't as efficient at shifting at the proper time. Many newer cars also offer a manual opt in shifter, allowing you to shift your automatic transmission manually.
Reduce weight. Leaving that old sofa in the back of your truck for weeks on end probably isn't the best idea. The lighter your vehicle is, the better your mileage will be.
Consider the concept of drafting. It isn't just for NASCAR drivers anymore; placing your car effectively into another car's slipstream will reduce the drag on your vehicle and help you to save gas. Now this is not permission to tailgate, and you certainly do not have to get right up under the bumper of the car in front of you, but falling in behind a larger vehicle such as a semi truck certainly works, and over long highway hauls can prove quite beneficial.
We can survive the coming gas shortage, if we keep our heads and do what we need to to make our fuel go farther.
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