Think About Wind Resistance

Headwinds can really drag down your gas mileage. A good practice is to stay behind another car, not too close, in order to allow them to ‘break’ the wind for you.

Headwinds aren’t the only winds that increase fuel consumption - cross winds can have a large negative effect as well. In crosswind conditions, choosing a route with a barrier (trees or buildings) along the edge will save fuel compared to a road in the open.

DIY Vacuum Forming

Here’s the dude’s website :
Vacuum Former Plans

For smooth racing disks, I am *guessing* that you don’t even need the vacuum part, because the wheel cover shape is so uniform and simple. I think the only question is figuring out how thick you want the wheel cover to be.

But, for other things (like a side view mirror delete cover), the vacuum would become a must.

Tips for Cheapest Gas

Depending on where you live there is most likely at least one gas station that has something special going on which allows it to offer gasoline for around $0.10 a gallon cheaper. The easiest way to save money on gas is, of course, to buy cheaper gas in the first place.

An example of this, here in Oregon, is that you are not allowed to pump your own gas and the state taxes you an extra $0.10 a gallon to have people working to pump your gas for you (economic stimulus job creation thingy). What I do is go to the casino, its tribal land so you can pump your own gas and knock off this ten cent tax.

A more universal saving tip is to look for an Arco gas station. These guys don’t accept credit cards which allows them to offer gas for $0.10 to $0.15 a gallon less. This is because credit card companies charge a base charge plus a percentage to the merchant on every transaction. Eliminating credit cards means that this is about how much they save from not having to pay fees and they pass it on to you. There is a myth that their gasoline is cheaper because it is lower quality, this is simply not true.

You Think You’ve Got it Bad?

If you think that gas prices are getting out of hand where you live then you need to put a little perspective on things. As an example, in Sierra Leone gas goes for around $18.40 USD / GAL. Could you imagine paying that much?

The thing that we need to start doing is looking to these countries that have experienced unbearable gas prices for a long time now. What kind of things do they do? More mass transit, more walking, small compact (very compact) cars. Take some hints from them if you really want to save on gas, they’ve been practicing gas conservation for a while now.

Save Gas by Driving Less

With Spring well on its way, for some at least, now is the time to save big on gas expenses by simply driving less. A bike ride to rent a movie or pick up a pack of cigarettes not only saves on gas but keeps you feeling better, both physically and mentally.

Enjoy the weather and avoid short trips in your car. Now that there’s no more freezing and snowy conditions you don’t have an excuse to wait for the bus either, a bus pass usually runs about $30 a month - how does that compare to your monthly fuel bill?

Slow it Down and Stay With the Pack

If you are doing some interstate driving then you can easily get a great boost to your gas mileage with a simple driving technique. First of all, slow it down. Anything above 60-65 MPH and you are going to get way worse gas mileage. The next thing that you want to do is find a pack and stick with them. They help to break the air for you and reduce resistance on your car, this also helps with increased gas mileage. Finding a few cars driving the speed limit and staying behind them will help you get better gas mileage on your next interstate voyage.

Homemade Hydrogen Motorcycle

I found this the other day and thought I’d share it. Hydrogen technology is probably the easiest way to save cash on gas (because you’re not using it). You can even do a partial hydrogen conversion to your car, the DIY plans can be found here.

Very cool concept bike from a couple of creative students. Be sure to follow the link to see more pictures and video. — Ed.

Innovation isn’t always pretty, as two Pennsylvania college kids have shown with a homemade hydrogen-fuel-cell motorcycle that is ugly and slow but still pretty cool.

Alex Bell and Andres Pacheco, a pair of engineering majors at Swarthmore College, told us they spent two years and about $10,000 cobbling the Frankenbike together for a class project examining the viability of hydrogen-powered… [Read More]

Pulse and Glide, What is it?

Pulse and Glide. An old driving technique popularized most notably by some drivers of the Toyota Prius (but adaptable to nearly any vehicle). It’s a repeated regimen of accelerating to an upper target speed under relatively high engine loads, then coasting down with the engine shut off to a lower target speed. The average speed of a Pulse & Glide pattern is often significantly more fuel efficient than cruising at the same constant speed.

Drive Without Brakes Whenever Possible

Minimize use of the brake pedal. Each time you press it, you’re effectively converting gasoline into brake dust and heat.

Driving as if you have no brakes will cause you to do two things: 1) reduces ‘excessive’ acceleration, and, 2) extends the amount of time you spend coasting down to stops and turns.

Obviously you have to balance use of this technique against traffic conditions so as not to adversely affect other drivers.

How to Brake for Fuel Efficiency

A car consumes most gas as it accelerates. It’s a simply law of physics (force equals mass times acceleration). A moving car doesn’t require much gasoline to keep moving (due to the inherent inertia). In real life this means, in order to improve your mileage you need to keep the ride smooth. Let me give you some examples.
About 30% of the drivers I see in somewhat heavy traffic apparently cannot control their speed with the accelerator pad alone. Instead I see those guys speed up and slam on the brakes all the time. Obviously, that makes the guy following too close behind very nervous and he too needs to brake and accelerate constantly. In really heavy (but still moving) traffic about 90% of the cars do this. It is relatively easy to hold a speed in a long line of cars without stepping on the brake. Just keep a little bit more distance and try to practice this. If the traffic moves along, you rarely need to brake, unless everything slows down. If you pay attention to the cars ahead of you (not just the one right in front of your nose, but the other cars ahead of that one), you can anticipate when things will slow down and you can ease off the gas. This means you won’t lose all that power to friction (on the brakes) and you can keep your speed without having to accelerate. In heavy traffic this is the most efficient way to save gas and can easily get you 10% - 20% better gas mileage.

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