Green Driving Tips

Having a lighter foot can lead to a heavier wallet

Cameron Naish Issue date: 8/27/08 Full Article

Paying for gas can be a hassle. Students have enough bills to pay without needing to pay anymore for fuel or a new hybrid. However, no matter how high prices may reach there are a few easy ways to increase gas mileage out of any vehicle that will ultimately help one’s wallet and the environment.

Don’t step on it
According to fueleconomy.gov, driving sensibly is a great way to save gas. Aggressive driving can lower gas mileage by 33 percent on the highway and by five percent in the city.

Driving smoothly with light acceleration and deceleration is also important. According to opentravelinfo.com, trying to keep a constant speed instead can increase gas mileage by 10 to 20 percent.

“I try to drive as smoothly as possible,” said Amber Rose, 19, a sophomore sociology major. “I just don’t rev my engine when I take off from stop signs or stoplights.”

Turn it off
This encompasses two ideas. First, turning off a vehicle and leaving it that way is a great way to save gas- simply do not drive.

“I hardly drive my car- there really is no need to,” said Haley Kaiser, 20, a sophomore environmental studies major.

Boulder offers plenty of bus service and all CU students have a free RTD pass. To learn more about RTD, visit their Web site. Local stores such as Target also have bikes for cheap, some are less than $80.

For those who still opt to drive, it is important to keep a car turned off during long idles. When a car is sitting and running, it is getting zero miles to the gallon.

Use cruise control
For those who have it, use it. Just about every gas saving tip list includes this one. Cruise control can improve mileage by 14 percent, according to Edmunds.com, a popular vehicle web site.

By keeping the setting under 55 mph, mileage soars. Going over 55 mph rapidly decreases mileage, and combining lower speeds with smoother cruise controlled driving, cruising past gas stations will become common.

Rumors aside
There have always been rumors about what saves gas. One common myth is air conditioning robs vehicles of mileage. However, according to Edmunds.com, this is simply not true. Modern vehicles do not lose more gas mileage when the A/C is on than what is lost when the windows are down. It is probably best just to enjoy the drive and have some cool air.

While there are plenty of different ways to save gas on any vehicle it is still a good idea to try to not drive at all or drive something efficient.

“My car gets about 32 miles to the gallon,” said Aimee Anderson, 19, a sophomore psychology major. “I don’t worry about it.” Full Article

http://www.delawareonline.com Full Article

Americans supposedly so loved their cars that nothing — repeat, nothing — could stop them from driving as fast and as far as they wanted. Then along came $4-a-gallon gasoline.

Now even American car manufacturers are getting into the act. Each of the Big Three is claiming that with a little tweaking here and fiddling there, they have lighten and tighten their autos to save costly gasoline.

These tweaks have boosted fuel economy averages by about a mile on most vehicles. That doesn’t sound like much, but with gas prices still well above $3 a gallon, every bit helps. By reworking cars during the “between models” stage, the manufacturers got tires with lower rolling resistance and adjusted some engines so they rev more slowly at highway speeds — small, but money-saving adjustments.

It’s good work. But why didn’t they do this earlier? If Detroit had actually built a gas-efficient car that could compete with a Japanese-designed one, more American auto workers would still have jobs.

The high price of gas also has pushed Americans into driving less, thereby helping to lower prices.

Fewer miles driven have led to another positive development: The United States is on its way to having the fewest traffic deaths in a single year since John Kennedy was president.

A researcher for the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan said that reduction of nonessential driving is keeping the fatality rate down. Other researchers have found that drivers are slowing down, another way to save lives. Full Article

Aug. 25, 2008 12:00 AM http://www.azcentral.com Full Article

I’ve just found an incredible device that can not only increase your mileage but also reduce your chance of an accident. And it won’t cost you an extra penny.

It’s your brain.

For the past month, we’ve been running something we called the MPG Challenge. The idea was simple: We wanted to see if all the stuff that the so-called experts recommend will really work. We found six volunteers who were willing to change the way they drive for four weeks.
We brought them in for a single classroom session where we went over groundbreaking ideas like driving the speed limit and avoiding jackrabbit starts. We gave them tire gauges and told them to empty the dead weight out of their trunks. In short, it was all that boring stuff that you’ve heard over and over.

At the root of it all was the concept that they needed to pay attention to their driving. Most of us zip along each day more concerned about the music on the radio than the road.

After four weeks, the results were spectacular. Every challenger increased their mileage. When you compared it with the mileage they were getting, their new driving styles would collectively save 1,600 gallons of gas and more than $6,200 in an average 15,000 mile year.

Our overall winner was Robert Sty. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Robert’s Nissan Xterra should average 16 miles per gallon when you combine both city and highway driving. Robert bumped that number up to 23 mpg. Even with gas costing only $3.60 a gallon, Robert should be able to save about $1,000 during the next year. Full Article