Get better Gas Mileage

I remember as a kid, my dad would send me up the street to get a gallon of gas for his lawn mower. He would give me 50 cents and everything left over I could use to buy candy. I would come back with a gallon of gas and a couple of candy bars. Fast forward to 4 and 5 dollar a gallon gas prices in some states.

A couple of months ago I went out and bought a new car. My commute to work and back is about 80 miles a day. I wanted something comfortable and fuel efficient. I decided on the new Prius C. I want to make a couple of things clear before people start judging me. I do not hug trees. I have an open mind about global warming, still listening to both sides of the argument. If I was forced to drive a Freightliner to work and back, I could still afford the gas. My reasoning for driving more efficient stems more from the money sent to middle east countries or south american dictatorships. If I thought all of the gas imported to the US came from Canada, I would drive a Hummer H2.

My little car is currently averaging 59 miles per gallon, city and highway. This is in the last 3,030 miles since I bought the car. The window sticker on the car when I bought it said I would get a combined mileage of 50. It said I would get 46 on the highway and 53 in the city. I spend equal time driving both.

Why do I get 9 mpg better than what the United States Government said? It has more to do with driving efficiently than driving a weird hybrid Japanese import. Granted, there are people who could take my car, drive it like it was stolen, and after their fast and furious commute the dashboard would say 35 mpg. By the way, I am not a hypermiler. I don't draft behind the semi trucks on the freeway and I don't go 10 under the speed limit.

Here are a couple of tips to get better mileage:

1. Drive the speed limit. I know it sounds utterly stupid to some people but it has been proved that an increase in speed will reduce your miles per gallon. The Bugatti Veyron Supert Sport gets 3 miles per gallon at 250 miles per hour. It gets 13 miles per gallon at highway speeds. You will see a noticable difference in your gas mileage by dropping your speed from 80 to 70. I see this on all of my vehicles including my motorcycles.

2. Don't jackrabbit your start. If you treat your gas peddle like a bass drum peddle, you will get less miles per gallon. Ease down the peddle to a nice start and you will notice a savings.

3. Don't screech to a stop. Anticipate the traffic and coast a little before gently applying pressure and coming to a nice calm stop. This extends the wear on your brake pads and you don't lose as much of the energy built up during the acceleration. Your car will love you for it.

If you are so inclined, try these simple steps and you may see a savings at the gas pump. There is a slim chance we will ever see gas prices below $3.00 a gallon again and a big chance they will go up. It doesn't matter what car you drive. I would never tell anyone to buy one car and not another, everyone can make that choice for themselves. All cars have pros and cons, my hope is that everyone can drive friendly and drive safe.