Daily Auto News Testing Gas-Saving Tips in the Real World
Daily Auto News
After a summer of $4 gas, there more gas saving tips on the internet than we have time to read. Car and Driver recently decided to help sort out what works and what doesn’t, and came up with some useful conclusions.
The magazine tested the tips by driving around a 2.5-mile oval at steady speeds under a variety of conditions, and recording fuel economy data through the car’s data port (something you can do yourself with a device, called an OBD II Diagnostic Scanner that costs roughly $150). Driving what appears to be a BMW 3-Series, the magazine’s testers found that:
- Driving with the windows open is more fuel-efficient than running the air condition, even with current-generation cars. The penalty for running the A/C decreases the faster you drive, so particularly at in-town speeds, just enjoy the fresh air and leave the A/C off to save gas.
- Shifting into neutral when coasting actually uses more gas than leaving the car in gear. GM’s Powertrain Spokesman (what a job title – he speaks for your engine) told C&D “Shifting into neutral in an automatic will cancel fuel cutoff. Thus, it is better to remain in gear and let the drive wheels pull the engine airflow down to where fuel cutoff can be enabled or where fuel flow is minimized.”
- Turning off the car’s engine for short stops – at stoplights, for instance – is not a good idea. Fuel savings are negligible, but it’s actually more work for an engine to re-start while it’s already hot than while it’s cold – meaning that repeatedly shutting off and re-starting at stoplights costs you more money in wear and tear than it saves you in fuel costs.
- Taking weight out of the trunk, removing roof racks and properly inflating (but not overinflating) tires actually does pay you back at the pump.
The results all confirm our own findings, but with so many myths and misconceptions swirling around fuel-economy, we’re glad to see more research being published.
Kicking Tires notes, however, that “Only one car was tested in this case. A test with a variety of cars may have turned out differently depending on the aerodynamic properties and how air flows around the car.”
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