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$4/gallon gas coming?

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  • #1

    $4/gallon gas coming?

    So I heard during the Presidential Q&A session yesterday that they are expecting $4/gallon gas this spring. Yikes!

    Here are some tips to help lower your gas bills.

    Make sure your tires are properly inflated. This is a big one. This can lower your mileage up to 10%, and I see people with under inflated tires all the time. On average, a tired loses about 1-2 psi per month. Check those tires!

    Turn off your engine! If you aren't going to be moving for more than 15 seconds, turn off your engine. You'll save gas.

    Find your sweet spot. Most folks go as fast as they can get away with, but most cars have a sweet spot between 45 and 60 where they get their best mileage. This is huge. I can squeeze an extra 10%-20% out of a single tank by never going over 55mph.

    Going down hill? Turn off your engine and coast.

    See a red light a head? Don't motor up to it, take your foot off the gas and coast until you need to speed up again. Even better, turn off the engine and coast if you won't need the engine in the next 15 seconds.

    Avoid puddles.

    Make sure your oil isn't over due for a change and make sure all your filters are clean.

    Clean and wax your car. If it's slippery, air will slide over it, reducing your drag.

    Use air conditioning instead of rolling down the windows. Modern AC is much more efficient, but if you can live without the AC with the windows up, even better.

    Save up and do all your errands on one trip. Ride public transportation. Use a bicycle! Walk!
    Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...
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  • #2
    Some of those things are ridiculous.
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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    • #3
      The turning off the engine to coast down hills or to lights is pretty silly, yeah.

      And what is the gas mileage savings really going to be if you clean & wax your car more often (and will this really offset the cost of the cleaning & waxing?). Especially in the winter in the NE - it's dirty again pretty damn quick.

      The ones about tires, speed, turning off the engine when you're just sitting there and not running up to lights & slamming your breaks are good. Oil changes... well hell, that just make sense period.

      Puddles?

      Use air conditioning instead of rolling down the windows. Modern AC is much more efficient, but if you can live without the AC with the windows up, even better.
      That's one I wasn't aware of. Really?

      -Arrian
      grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

      The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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      • #4
        Yeh, that one's true.
        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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        • #5
          Good. I use my A/C.

          -Arrian
          grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

          The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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          • #6
            That probably depends on how fast your going.
            "The DPRK is still in a state of war with the U.S. It's called a black out." - Che explaining why orbital nightime pictures of NK show few lights. Seriously.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by DanS
              Some of those things are ridiculous.
              Maybe so, but some of the mileage hackers swear by it. The one guy sez he gets 200 mpg from a Honda Insight, and many report 60mpg with regular, non-hybrid cars. Best I ever got in my Sentra was 38mpg.

              There's one that I think is too stupid and dangerous to do, which is to use truck slipstreams.
              Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...

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              • #8
                Going down hill? Turn off your engine and coast.
                DON'T DO THIS! (general advice, not to che)

                It might be safe for some cars, but unless you KNOW it's safe, don't do it!

                Depending on the car, some of your critical controls like the BRAKES or STEERING might stop working when the engine is switched off!



                Anyway. One of my tips.
                WALK!

                It takes me about 45 minutes to walk into the shops. And I've found that's not a big deal. I've even done 3 hour shopping round-trips on foot.

                Walking, it's good for your body, it's good for your mind and it's good for the environment.

                I usually walk to buy fresh groceries nearly every single fine day. 1-1.5 hours of walking a day. It's great.

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                • #9
                  Some of us have jobs and lives that don't allow for multi-hour strolls to take care of basic necessities.
                  "The French caused the war [Persian Gulf war, 1991]" - Ned
                  "you people who bash Bush have no appreciation for one of the great presidents in our history." - Ned
                  "I wish I had gay sex in the boy scouts" - Dissident

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                  • #10

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                    • #11
                      If your job takes more than 8 hours then you're living your life wrong. But we could bring that up to 9 hours with reasonable travel time

                      If you sleep more than 8 hours, you're probably also doing something wrong.

                      You should have about 6-8 hours of free time in a balanced life. We can reasonably say that about 2 of those hours are needed for food. You still have 4-6 hours of free time.

                      And maybe, if you do have leisurely 10 hour sleeps you might actually find walking to be more refreshing than the extra time spent lounging in bed.

                      And if you work for 12 hours, you might find you actually get more down in 8 hours due to lower fatigue (there have been studies done on this!)

                      Spend some time being less busy instead of more busy and you might find your life is more balanced .

                      PS. I find walking to be much more intellectually stimulating than TV.

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                      • #12
                        What tires are you using ? My Michelin tires haven't lost more than 0,1 psi a year.

                        Coasting is good but don't shut down the engine - just use the coupling.
                        With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

                        Steven Weinberg

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                        • #13
                          About the tips and tricks. The one about tires is a good one. Keep them inflated. The one about speed is also a good one. Slow down and you'll be spending less fuel. The rest (shuting down the engine) aren't worth the trouble.

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                          • #14
                            Vetty, you missed the point about tire pressure - you get the best economy if you use the recommended pressure.
                            With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

                            Steven Weinberg

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                            • #15
                              Re: $4/gallon gas coming?

                              Ride public transportation. Use a bicycle! Walk!
                              "I read a book twice as fast as anybody else. First, I read the beginning, and then I read the ending, and then I start in the middle and read toward whatever end I like best." - Gracie Allen

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