Okay. I give. Everyone else has been whining about the price of gas, and I’ve kept to the notion that “hey… it’s cheaper than walking.” But a few days ago, I nearly broke $60 to fill my car up. And my car doesn’t get the greatest mileage. I can eak out 23 mpg city if I drive like Miss Daisy. So I’m a little upset, which means the rest of you are probably stroking out. Let’s first ease our collective tension with… some Run DMC and Russian Red Army break dancing.
Yeah… it’s like that.
So hear we are three decades after the Gas Crisis of the 1970’s. Only this time the problem isn’t that there are a bunch of Arab oil barons angry at us. The problem is that our dollar is weakened, global demand for gasoline is higher than ever and our refinery capacity is continuing to decrease. Oh, and we got complacent after a few years and started going back to “bigger is better” and “more power, less economy” modes of thinking. Don’t get me wrong… I drool over the site of a 1972 Hemi 442 ‘Cuda. I’d love to have one. I wouldn’t commute in the thing.
So everyone is feeling pinched. Enter the wingnuts who want us to save on gas (as opposed to solving the supply problem) by hypermiling. What is hypermiling, you ask? It’s pure stupidity, I answer. A nicer explanation would be ‘changing your driving habits to maximize mileage.’ Some of the tips make sense, like don’t drag race between lights or keep your tires inflated. Some tips range from stupid to patently unsafe.
One example… keeping your tires at proper inflation helps reduce the rolling resistance. Some hypermilers take a step futher by over-inflating their tires. The bulging tread makes for a smaller contact patch. Less rolling resistance still, true… but also less grip when you go into a corner or need to slam into the brakes. Another dumb hypermiling tactic? Drafting 18 wheelers. Folks, in spite of what you might think, those trucks can actually stop pretty quickly. If you’re up their butt when they do an emergency braking maneuver, you may wind up underneath them. Then there’s turning the engine off and coasting down hills. Take note before you try this: without your engine, you power brakes and power steering will be without power. You’ll literally need to stand on the pedal to stop, and you’ll need to get some leverage before actually turning the vehicle.
Saving gas starts with smart shopping. Use exactly the fuel specified for your car - that is the fuel your cars computer is expecting, and may not be able to burn higher or lower octanes as efficiently. Also… gas is gas is gas. Brand doesn’t matter when you’re buying regular unleaded. There is a difference among premiums, but not in the part of the gasoline that makes it go. Rather, it’s in the detergents added to keep deposits from forming. (Those deposits, incidentally, are forming because you’re using a higher octane fuel than your engine is able to completely burn.) Do not - I repeat - do not tailgate. Every time you step on your brakes, you’re turning the kinetic energy of your car into heat energy in the cars brake pads and rotors. That’s energy you can’t get back. Rather, leave a few car lengths - one for every ten miles per hours you’re driving - between you and the next car. That way if they surreptitiously tap the brakes then go, you can just let off the gas and let them increase the distance. Also, don’t accelerate too quickly. The amount of energy used to accelerate a car is at least the square of the energy used to keep it at a constant velocity. Also, if you’re looking at cars - opt for something light weight and go for the manual transmission. After acceleration and maintaining speed, the greatest portion of fuel consumption comes from mechanical losses. Manual trannies are simpler and transfer power more efficiently.They’re also lighter, which means less mass to acclerate. Don’t worry about aerodynamics. Although much hyped, the truth is that at subsonic speeds, a brick has only slightly more trouble parting the air than a super sleek wedge shape. (A 747 doing mach .8 sips fuel comfortably, while an F-14 Tomcat - a Mach 2.5 fighter - gulps fuel. The difference? The Jumbo Jet was specially designed to operate smoothly at that spead, while the Tomcat was designed to slice through the air at supersonic speeds.)
Whatever you do… stop blaming the oil companies for the price of gas. You’re the one buying the product… you’re the one driving demand. They’re entitled to make money.
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