Wednesday 16 March 2011

Sloooooww Dooowwwnn

Well I'm sure everyone has noticed that gas prices took a dramatic hike as of late. I know I have. I was on empty the other day and $50 didn't even fill my little 45L Mazda 3... sad. Since moving to Squamish I have become a commuter. First driving to BCIT everyday, then work in Whistler and now to go skiing. Before becoming a commuter I was a standard 10km over driver. Now I'm a 20k over. Time is precious and I don't want to waste it in my car! Great philosophy. But as I have been quickly finding out... expensive philosophy.

My car has a little "info" button on the dash which allows me to switch between various stats of information on my mileage and gas consumption. Two that I sometimes use are current km/100L which updates live how much gas you are currently consuming and also how many "km" are left in my tank of gas. This is just an estimate based on your average driving habits and consumption.. so sometimes not so accurate.

The other day to Whistler it was a pow day and I didn't have time to stop for gas on my way out with just under a quarter tank left. Normally with my regular driving habits that won't get me there and back but I decided to experiment. On the way there I mostly kept a constant speed of 90 (instead of 100) except speeding up a bit when going downhill and then dropping my speed on major hills. On the way back (basically dropping 2000ft) it's crazy how much of the drive you can keep a constant speed over 80 in Neutral! (aka Mexican Overdrive). I made it home with gas to spare!

Here's a few tips on getting maximum gas mileage:

Tire Pressure: Check your tire pressure regularly. Improperly inflated tires (and that also means if one or all are reading at different pressures that can negatively impact your consumption)

Clean off your car manually: No one likes getting in a cold car... I get it. But cars (except maybe an old diesel) only need to warm up for 30-45 seconds. Any longer than that and you're really just melting the ice of your windshield instead of taking 15 seconds to scrape it. (aka being a princess)

Slow Down! Driving over 70km per hour forces your car to overcome tremendous wind resistance so keep that in mind when you're putting the pedal to the metal.

Regular Tuneups: Make sure you get your oil and FILTER changed when you're supposed to... a bogged down filter can up your fuel consumption. 

Unload your Car: Do you really need to drive around with your roof box full of your 3 different pairs of skis and snowboard you never really ride plus your bike on the back in the winter just incase? Probably not. Weight ads up quickly so why not just unload your car of unnecessary belongings. Sure it may not make much of a difference on a 5 minute trip. But lugging a bunch of stuff around all the time could definitely make a difference. And that includes that giant mushroom top of snow you didn't brush off this morning.

Anyway I would say these are the main ones although theres others such as don't accelerate too quickly (the people that drive on my street should really read my blog), keep a more constant speed, if you have a standard shift into a high gear as soon as possible, avoid reversing when you can and don't overfill your gas tank (can spill over on hills). 

Hopefully this cuts down your bill a bit and of course helps the environment at the same time (oh and for arguments sake obviously; walking, biking, public transportation and vehicles that consume less to begin with are always the better choice!)

3 comments:

  1. Thanks Kelly you give a lot of good info.

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  2. Great tips Kelly! I'll be adding this post to my weekly Links Worth Sharing on the weekend!

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