Gasoline, mpg and more

1. 58

   Jay_man13posted 16 years ago

   First, does anyone actually believe TV car ads that claim "X" MPG?  Are there people who buy these cars and expect to attain it?  Do they know that average MPG, especially around town where a great many miles are driven, do not equate to highway miles?  Do they understand that at highway speeds, using cruise control where possible, there is still significant deceleration and acceleration that blows EPA estimates out the window?.  At one time car makers used to include the words, "EPA highway estimate" when touting a number.  Now, the hype has changed to "This car "GETS" X MPG.
   
   Back when gas was $4/gal or more, advice abouned from everyone including presidential candidates.  NHTSA and other big entities weighed in on the subject and had people believing windows up or windows down made a difference along with tires inflated a couple pounds under. . 
   
   With the economy in the dumper and gas under $/ gal.  does anyone actually care about squeezing every mile possible from a gallon of gas?   And no, I am not trying to hawk some bolt on gizmo, whirlygig to make a fast buck.
   
   If there was a real, honest, believable way to increase MPG by at least 10% without spending one dime, would anybody be interested?

   replyreport
2. 73

   WHoArtNowposted 16 years ago

   99% of the time I read "official" mpg figures as rubbish. However, my current car (skoda Fabia Vrs) had a quoted mpg (for distance drive) of 53mpg, yet when I drive along at 70mph in 6th gear, I get over 55mpg!
   
   Windows being open adds drag to a car, thus make the efficiency worse. It's been proven by MIT (I think) that 4 open windows on a medium family saloon can drop you mpg by upto 3mpg. (I'm going to see if I can find the article and will post link)
   
   Tyre pressure is the same, too little air and the engine will need more power to move the wheels the same. So make sure your tyres are set to manufactures settings.
   
   I'm not sure how the American's are with diesel these days, but for a daily drive i wouldn't drive anything else, mainly because I live in England where fuel is soooooo expensive!
   
   I don't know about increasing your fuel efficiency by that much for free, but if you drive sensibly you should see a 5% (maybe 10% depending on how bad your driving was and the car your in)
   
   I'm a young male, which means I love speed, it might be hard to believe but there are cars out there that are fast and good on the mpg. I get 0-60 in less than 6 seconds, top speed of 145, cheap road tax and insurance, 4 doors, 5 real seats, and if I'm cruising then 55mpg, which to me is great considering the car was less than £4000 and it's only 3 years old
   
   

   replyreport