HOW TO INCREASE GAS MILEAGE BY SHUTTING OFF YOUR ENGINE
The Second Fuel Friendly Fundamental: Your car wastes the most fuel when it's stopped with the engine running; your mileage drops to zero. (Or - How to increase gas mileage by shutting off your engine.) Safety First. Discovering how to increase gas mileage by shutting off your engine should never involve creating hazardous driving conditions. The advice on shutting off your engine does NOT apply to stop lights or other traffic conditions on the road. With that understanding, here are a couple of super easy ways to save gas. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
THE WARM UP In most circumstances, it does little good to warm your car up before driving. You save fuel if you just start your engine and go. But when outside temperatures are below freezing, you have a good chance of frosting up the inside of your windows and hurting your visibility until the car warms up and defrosts the inside of the windshield. When you have subfreezing temperatures or frost issues (these two often go hand in hand), go ahead and warm the car up but keep it to a minimum. As outside temperatures get warmer, you need less warm up time. How to increase gas mileage by shutting off your engine first means short warm up times, or less. When it's above freezing and frost is not an issue, you should be able to start and go. _________________________________________________________________
THE DRIVE THROUGH LANE The other big gas eater is the drive through lane. You will find most of those at either banks or fast food places. You can often save both time and gas by just avoiding drive through lanes. You will be surprised at the number of times you can park, walk in and take care of your business, and leave much quicker than using the drive through window. Fast food places aren't quite as quick as the bank, but it's still a great way to increase gas mileage. You save gas, almost always save time, and get a bit of exercise as a bonus. ________________________________________________________________
BUT WHEN SHOULD YOU SHUT DOWN? If you search the internet, you will find a confusion of rules on shutting down your engine while waiting in a line. Some sites suggest that you shut your engine off if you think you'll be idling more than ten seconds. Others put the time at closer to one minute, some even more, and most just don't say except to say you shouldn't waste gas idling. The exact, perfect time depends on the car you drive, weather conditions, and other factors. So, it's virtually impossible to come up with anything other than an estimate of how soon you should shut down to save gas. The one-minute figure seems to be a good average. Much under a minute, and it may take more gas to restart your car than you save by shutting it off. _________________________________________________________________ THE GOAL IS TO SAVE GAS AND MONEY Your mechanic will tell you that starting a car involves giving an extra squirt of gasoline to the engine. If you don't do it with the gas pedal, the computer takes care of it for you on all late model cars. In addition, your battery uses power when cranking your engine, and that power has to be replaced by working the alternator harder, which uses a bit more gas. Your mechanic will also tell you that, because the oil hasn't properly circulated in the engine yet, the most wear on an automobile occurs in the first couple of seconds after starting. And repeated cranks of the starter cause wear and tear on the starter. Learning how to increase gas mileage by shutting off your engine shouldn't mean saving a little gas and creating extra repairs. _________________________________________________________________ CARS THAT SHUT OFF FOR YOU Auto manufacturers have discovered how to increase gas mileage by shutting off your engine without you doing anything. The discovery is called a hybrid car. Hybrids are designed with an internal combustion engine, a large generator or alternator, an electric motor, and extra batteries. This combination of power trains allows the car computer to shut the gasoline engine down when it's not needed. Hybrid cars are constantly starting and stopping the gas engine in heavy traffic, and saving gas. The engines and starters are engineered to handle that kind of use without causing excessive wear on components. The only problem with hybrid cars is the extra cost. It is questionable whether or not you will save enough in gas dollars to pay for the extra initial cost of the car plus the extra maintenance expenses. The Edmunds Fuel Economy Front Page has detailed cost/savings comparisons on hybrid vehicles. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
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