How to maximize your car’s gas mileage when driving

What an amazing feat of engineering, I can now drive a hybrid car that effortless gets around 50mpg, and in comfort. I really like these high mpg hybrid cars for their frugality, and their positive impact in lowering carbon dioxide emissions. In terms of frugality, saving as much money as you can at the pump can have huge benefits, so I have created a list of how to save the most money when driving a car, be it Prius, other hybrid or otherwise, in case it is of use to you. My next post will be Prius centric, focusing on the key points of maximizing the mpg of Gen III version of this car. My list of tips here is created from the comments of fellow drivers on the web, as follows:

1. If you buy new, you’ll have Break-in Period
If you buy your car new, you likely have to give the car some gentle driving for the first six-months/10,000 miles. This break in period tends to have lower gas mileage, something in the order of 10-15% lower in a Prius than the actual gas mileage you’ll get once it has broken in. Of course, this being the FrugalProf website, I would question the numbers of your deal if you are buying it new. The first couple of years typically show the major depreciation of the car, so why next get a lightly used car coming off its lease instead?

2. Tire Pressure
The pressure of your tires has a notably impact on your fuel economy. Clearly, you should take care not to over inflate your tires, while a multitude of drivers suggest that you should inflate to the maximum pressure on the sidewalls, not the psi noted on the doorframe. I inflate just a little less that this for safety, as I often go into quite hot environments in the summer, so want to make sure that the tires don’t get over the maximum pressure setting due to the much hotter air and road. One good tip is to check your tire pressure regularly, so that the tires do not drop bellow your pressure setting.

3. Fuel type
Actually, the low octane gasoline is the better one, and take a frugal mindset you’ll probably be using this fuel anyway. However, if your car specifies 91 Octane, do stick to this, and just buy a more frugal car next time!

4. Slow down
There is no need to drive so slowly as to enrage other drivers or to sit in the fast late while driving well under the speed limit, if you do that you may cause an accident if not being in one. However, do you really need to drive so quickly, or do you really need to be in the fast lane? If you slow down, you likely only arrive at your home or work a minute or two latter, but saving lots of money in fuel and probably taking a lot less risks in getting there. Driving on good fuel economy tires in a Gen III Prius will get you maybe up to 70mpg at 55 mph (amazing!), but at 65mph this will go down to 56mpg, 52mpg at 70pmg and then 46mpg at 75mph. Clearly, driving at lower speeds dramatically improves your fuel economy, whatever type of car you are driving

5. Combine your trips
It is best to combine all your shopping into one trip, as this will lessen the number of warm-ups required, where the gas mileage dramatically lower than with a warmed-up engine, and this is still the case with a Prius and other hybrids.

6. Take an efficient Route
Try to take a direct route that isn’t filled with traffic lights and stops signs. Yes, modern hybrids do have regenerative breaking, and for many cars now-a-days the engine stops when at a stand still. Yet, you still have to spend gas to replace all that kinetic energy that you have lost, as it is not all gotten back from the regenerative breaks. Very significant hills can have a similar effect and wind that is not a tail wind will also bring down your fuel economy numbers.

7. Do Avoid the Rush Hour if you can
Hybrid cars are great in city driving, better than virtually ever other car that you can be looking at while stuck in traffic, but stop-start traffic will still lower your gas mileage, and take away your most important commodity of all, your time.

8. Try and Avoid Weather Extremes
Cold weather in particular can dramatically lower mpg, due to the gas required for engine warming, as well as warming the passengers; this is in addition to lower battery efficiencies in hybrids also robing you of mpg. Similarly, hot weather can put a strain on energy efficiency with an AC going at full blast. However, hot humid weather does have the least air density, and so will produce less air resistance and hence better fuel efficiency. Not surprisingly, extreme weather such as heavy rain, snow, sleet, etc, are all more dangerous to drive in in addition to lowering mpg.

Drafting yes, but not so close!
If you can use the glide mode of traveling in your car (will explain more in the next Prius centric post) you will save a lot of gas. You may see a lot of hybrid owners drafting behind larger vehicles to glide the most efficiently, however most of these people are probably driving too close. You do need a good breaking distance, especially as the large vehicle blocks your view in front. Instead take a much larger distance, as you can still reap benefits of drafting will being safe distance of 150 feet or even greater. You’ll also less likely to get rocks thrown at your windshield at these further distances!