Nowadays, with oil prices soaring, folks in the US are driving less in order to economize fuel. Here are some tips on how to get more mileage, from someone who for the past seven years has lived in a country where a gallon of gasoline costs more than the average daily wage.
1. Unload the Junk
Some people treat their car like a storage facility. If your car is weighed down by a ton of junk, it will get less mileage. So get rid of the baby seat, the beer cooler, the camping gear, the subwoofers, the mastiff, etc. If you feel like going to extremes, also throw out the rear seats.
2. Open the Windows
Opening the windows increases drag, which is not good. But it means you can turn off the airconditioning, and that is good. Air conditioning puts a lot of strain on the engine, which accelerates fuel consumption.
3. Shift Early
If you have a manual transmission, you can get much more mileage than with an automatic transmission. The trick is to shift into a higher gear as early as possible, but without causing knocking in the engine. Basically, you want to go for low rev numbers. The higher your engine revs, the higher your gas bill. Redlining is a great way to go through a tank of gas, not to mention a set of tires, so don't do it.
4. Drive at 3:00 AM
The main cause of fuel consumption is actually traffic. You use approximately twice as much fuel if you drive the same stretch in traffic compared to with barely any traffic. It doesn't even have to be heavy traffic. So the best way to get more mileage is to drive when there is no traffic, i.e. at 3:00 AM.
5. Don't Brake
The reason traffic increases your fuel usage is because you are always stepping on the brakes to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of you. When you brake, the energy you got from burning gas in your internal combustion engine is converted to heat, by your brake pads and brake disk (or drum). This means you are basically wasting energy.
The way not to brake is not to accelerate too much - accelerate only enough to get to the next red light or curve without braking. The ability to do this time after time is an acquired skill.
6. Turn Off the Ignition
If you don't need the engine, turn it off. You can turn it off when at a traffic light, or while coasting down an incline. An extra spurt of fuel is required to get the engine going again when you restart it, but as long as the time the engine is off exceeds 7 seconds, you still save fuel. Be careful not to rev the engine when you start it, however, because this will negate your gains.
SAFETY WARNING Be very careful when switching your engine off while moving. If you turn the ignition key too far, the steering wheel will LOCK, and this means you will lose control of your vehicle. Typically, steering wheels lock at an angle, so if you your steering wheel suddenly locks while you're coasting, you will veer off right into oncoming traffic, or onto the sidewalk. So when switching off the engine, turn the key only one notch, keeping the dash warning lights ON.
7. Hitch in the Slipstream
I've never tried this, but the August, 2007 issue of WIRED magazine mentions a trick courtesy of so-called hypermiler Wayne Gerdes. If you are travelling on an expressway, you can drive up really close to the tail end of a large vehicle, such as an 18-wheeler or a tanker. Then, if you switch off your engine, you will get towed along by the truck's slipstream. But keep your sixth sense peeled for obstacles in front of the truck which might cause it to slow down suddenly.
