To Save on Gas, Stop Driving Aggressively

 

Whoa, slow down there lead-foot! Turns out the best gas-saving strategy relies entirely on you and your driving style. Moderate drivers will save more on gas than aggressive drivers; and, the difference isn’t minor. Edmunds.com ran tests under real-world conditions and found savings on gas can be as high as 37% – just by taming your inner speed demon.

There’s no need to drastically alter your driving personality either. You don’t need to morph from a jackrabbit into a tortoise. Instead, just follow a few simple tips to become a more moderate driver and watch the savings add up. Ready...set...SLOW!

• Stop gunning it on every green light. The stoplight is not a pole position; there are no prizes awarded to the car quickest off the line. And, besides only really being the first person to the next red light, fast starts and hard braking can increase fuel consumption by as much as 40% – while only reducing travel time by 4%. That just doesn’t add up.

• Accelerate smoothly, and maintain a steady pace. In city driving, nearly 50% of the energy needed to power your car goes to acceleration. If you slowed your 0-to-60-mph acceleration time down from your current 10 seconds to a more normal city pace of 15 seconds, you'll feel the savings immediately.

• Drive the speed limit. Besides safety, there are fuel consumption reasons to obey the law. Fuel efficiency starts dropping at around 60 mph and plummets drastically over 65 mph. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.21 per gallon of gas (at $3.00 per gallon).

• Use cruise control on long stretches of highway driving. Cruise control not only saves fuel by helping your vehicle maintain a steady speed, it will also smooth out the driver's accelerator input preventing nervous "surging." Additionally, it will allow the driver take the “long view” of the road rather than reacting to every minor change in the traffic around them. *In hilly terrain, it is best to turn off the cruise control.

Following these simple tips will help you to burn less fuel – which is better for the environment as well as your pocketbook. As a nice byproduct, you may also end up with less stress on the road and increased safety for yourself and others.