Dangerous Ways to Save on Your Gas Mileage

Friday, February 25, 2011

Dangerous Ways to Save on Your Gas Mileage

!: Nice Dangerous Ways to Save on Your Gas Mileage

Everyone wants to save on their gas mileage these days, however it is important to do it safely. You may have heard of race cars Drives driving in the slip stream of other cars to reduce drag and it would be correct to assume this saves you on gas however it is exceptionally dangerous. 54% of accidents on the road are other vehicles running into the back of the lead car. Basically driving to close. So here are the facts. At 50 miles an hour it take you 15 met res to react to a dangerous situation and another 38 meters to actually stop therefore a total of 53 meters is the very minimum distance you should be behind a car at 50 miles per hour. This assumes a dry road, efficient brakes and normal reaction times, the elderly generally react slower than this.

In rain this distance should double and in snow and ice your breaking distance can be up to 10 times greater. Another crazy suggestion I have seen is driving in neutral, this is dangerous as your no longer have the benefit of using the engine to slow you down. If this is confusing think of going down hill and selecting a lower gear, you do this as you know the gears and the engine give your better control of your speed. If your in neutral you will actually speed up going down hill; going faster with less control of your car is not something you should try. So what are safe way to save gas? Drive more smoothly will less harsh breaking or accelerating. Take your foot of the gas peddle when going down hill. Take your foot of the gas peddle and let the air and road resistance slow you down to a stop, this should require minimal breaking. Retire your 3rd gear and change from 2ND to 4Th going up or 4Th to 2ND going down.

Make sure your car is regularly serviced, with a new air and oil filter, clean oil and the correct tyre pressure. Half fill up rather than lugging around the weight of a full tank. Keep our rev counter below 3000 revs and drive in as high a gear possible that is appropriate for your speed and driving conditions. Empty all the junk out of your car, more weight mean more fuel. Use your air conditioning less, this burns up a lot of fuel, when below 45 miles per hour it is cheaper to open a window assuming Car share where possible and consider public transport a bike or walking for some of your journeys. Buy a smaller more fuel efficient car, consider a petrol / LPG dual fuel as LPG is half the price of petrol. Stay safe, keep to the speed limit and minimize your driving about 60 miles per hour as this just guzzles fuel. Happy safe motoring.