So on the 19th I filled up my tank and then set my Trip A to 0.0 miles. I wanted to see how far I could get with one tank of gas. One tank of gas for my car is about 9.9 gallons. Before this little experiment of mine, I would have to fill up from about the 1/4 mark every 3-4 days just because I drove so economically unintelligent. I would regularly drive 75-80 in a 55 zone and 10-15 over other speed limits like 25, 35, and 45. For the past 9 days though, I've gone to Maryland 2 times, DC once, school 4 times, and Springfield once. I've also been driving strictly what the posted speed limit is in my given location. Basically in the past, I would average about 27-30 miles per gallon. Also, I'd blast my A/C all the time. During the past 9 days, I only turned on the A/C on my way to DC to make the ride comfortable and also to defog my windshield and back window. All other times driving below 45 MPH, I would let my window down a little bit.
Here were my results while using all of the techniques that I've read online.
401.3 miles on 9.792 gallons. This comes out to 40.98 miles per gallon.
Here are some tips:
-Don't press real hard on the gas pedal once the light turns green just to find out that the next light is also red. Gradually accelerate.
-Don't brake so hard. Gradually slow down.
-Try to time your braking perfectly so that once you get to the next light it'll be green already and you can just coast through the light already going 15-20 MPH and not have to accelerate from 0 MPH.
-If you're familiar with your route, know how long lights are. If you know that your light just turned red and the intersection has to do the turning green first, then the normal green, then oncoming traffic gets their turning green, then turn off your car. The whole cycle until you get your green light will probably take a minute or so. Every 7 seconds that your car is idle, it is equivalent to turning your car on. So, you might as well just turn your car off and only turn your car on once.
-F the passing cars going 75 on 66 or 495, you'll both get to your destinations. One time I saw this car zoom past me probably going 75 or so. About 6 miles ahead, I was right next to him at the traffic light once we exited. So, you might think that you're passing everyone, but they'll eventually catch up to you once you exit. You can't stay on the highway forever.
-If you know a downhill is coming up, speed up a bit to get momentum and just coast until you've slowed down again under speed limit in which you should be accelerating already.
-Oh and obviously, avoid traffic. On the 16th I hit traffic taking my sister to work in the morning. I ended up only getting 335 miles on that tank. I was in traffic for about 30 minutes. Imagine people going to work everyday like that. Blower! And that's just on the way to work haha.
I hope this helps.
3 comments:
hope you don't mind, but i linked this entry on my blog ;)
Wow, 40 MPG, that's awesome! Although I've been told that the AC doesn't really have any effect on your gas mileage. Whoever told me that could be wrong, but they were a car person so I figured they might know they were talking about.
Also, if you know a hill is coming up, you can put your car on neutral.
I hit traffic every day on the way home from work. I guess another tip is to wait out the traffic by keeping yourself occupied somewhere else before you get back on the road. Sometimes that can't be avoided though =/
^When you're going over 45 MPH, you might as well just turn your A/C on because the wind resistance with your windows down would be equivalent to using the A/C. But below 45 MPH, you're better off with your windows down.
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