Today on my drive to work I got 44.9 mpg (with windows down). My goal is to make it the 45 miles on one tank of gas and not drive like a 100 year old grandma. I have been perfecting my driving to be the most fuel efficient it can be. Today was a good day - the temp was moderately warm, it was not too windy, and there were plenty of big trucks to follow.
The places where I lost some of my mpg was at stop lights. Where I gained some of that back was coasting down hills in neutral. I know it sounds strange, but it appears to my non-scientific experiment that if I am idling in neutral i can save about 0.2mpg+/- (of the total trip) for every 10 seconds of sitting versus idling in drive. I assume this is because the car is accelerating ever so slightly but the brake is preventing it from moving forward. I wonder if car makers could make their cars actually shift into neutral when braking to save some fuel economy?
Some people think that if you drive 55 mph or less you will get the best fuel economy. I have observed that this is not the case. I think each car probably has its own sweet spot based on how aerodynamic it is.
For my Honda Fit, it seems that I get better gas mileage at 75 than I do at 70. I cant be sure because I am not testing it in a wind tunnel. The road is never flat for long enough to know for sure.
I do know that when I follow behind a large truck or eighteen wheeler that I get at least 2-4 mpg better if not more. Also, the less pressure put on the gas pedal the better. I know thats probably obvious but its really works. Instead of accelerating quickly (like pretty much every driver does) slowly ease into the speed you want. Sometimes you cant slowly accelerate due to other drivers preparing to ram you off the road.
Another thing that caught my attention was an old school Honda Civic going about 50 mph in a 55 zone. It had a bumper sticker on it that said GasSavers.org which I think its great that people are trying to save money and gas and also drive efficiently. The only problem is that they were driving so slow that people were getting stuck behind them and then would mash the gas pedal to pass. (The other lane of traffic was easily doing 70+). For every 1 mpg saved by the slow car - probably equals 2mpg wasted in every car who gets stuck behind them and passes… which doesn’t really help the environment in the long run. We all have to find a good balance between super energy saver and purely wasteful.
Maybe one day everyone will drive efficiently and have energy sipping cars, but until then we have to learn to live cohesively. I hope in a few years we can look back and laugh at how pathetic the fuel economy is of all cars built today.
I get my MPG rating from the ScanGauge II:
You should ride your bike to work everyday. It’s not THAT far. :-)
I got some different numbers in a couple of mileage tests I recently ran. I drove 300 miles without regard to driving conservatively then another 300 miles with the cruise set at 55mph. When I drive my Honda Fit the same way everyone else drives (70+ mph, speed-up-brake etc,) I’m lucky to get 28 mpg but when I lock the cruise control at 55 mph I get 40 mpg, 40% more!! Incidentally, in coming up with the aforementioned numbers, the air conditioner was left on for both 300-mile test trips. The car can get higher mileage by driving even slower than 55mph, but until others follow suit, I choose not to be a hazard on the road.
Very cool. More comments welcome.
your uncle John told me a long time ago that cars are more aerodynamic when the windows are closed and they get better gas milage, even while using air conditioner…the wind blowing inside the car, with windows open, makes the engine have to work harder to fight against the wind
Well better to walk than drive these days. Save money and get a healthier body.
Hello my Korean friend…… this has nothing to do with your Honda, which i’m jealous of by the way!!!! I just wanted to say hey. Send me and email sometime. I gave you my temp email, but it should work.
UPDATE: the past 2 tanks of gas have gotten 39mpg for the whole trip!
Red/Inversin : your temp email doesnt work.
Ok new one try this.
For some reason the email you are giving with FAKOR in it does not work… wonder why?
tire inflation, try at max pressure all around.also get out & push sometimes. with engine off of courseread recently if you are idling more than 15 seconds turning engine off helps gas milage, not sure about the starter tho
Hi this blog entry has come up from my daily google alert on “honda fit”.
I drive a 5 speed Fit, and I have a scangauge too. I assume you’re driving an automatic from what you wrote. Please let me know if you’re not. I got the best mileage when cruising at 55. It could be the stickshift’s shorter gearing (your 4th gear has similar gear ratio to my 5th), I don’t know.
About shifting to neutral downhill, I can attest to that. It burns 0.4 Gallons per hour cruising in 5th and 0.3 Gallons in neutral. Strange ECM I guess.
Also note that cruising in neutral is illegal in some states, so I don’t think we’ll have any auto maker doing that for automatics. That law was passed like 60 years ago. If you have to brake in an emergency cruising downhill in neutral the brakes were the only thing to stop the car and brakes easily overheat back then; when it’s in drive the engine will help slowing the car (when most cars were manuals, where the engine is directly connected to the wheels). Sorry for the digress.
Very interesting. Yes, I am driving an automatic. I cant really say which speed gets the best mileage. I am still trying different speeds to find out.
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