Max Your MPG

Today's gas prices make many of us think about driving more efficiently. "Hypermilers" go to extremes, eking out up to 100 miles on a gallon of gas. They may take cues from Granny (50 miles per hour in a 65 zone, anyone?), but Web sites like greenhybrid.com and cleanmpg.com now lend gas-sipping efforts a competitive spirit. Join the fray with these tips:

Travel light
An extra 100 pounds of cargo can reduce your mpg by up to 2 percent. Remove that surf rack when the waves are flat, and take the rock collection out of your trunk.

Face out
Back into parking spaces. Cold engines use more fuel, so three-point maneuvering is more efficient at the end of a trip.

Use cruise control
Pressing the accel button lets you speed up in smaller increments (and burn less gas) than even a feather-weight foot on the pedal.

Brake (very) gently
Skilled hypermilers coast to a crawl with hardly a touch on the brakes to avoid wasting an ounce of fuel at traffic lights.

Comments

[Mike Weaver]

I was surprised at your suggestion that backing into a parking space would save gas. I must admit that I am generally frustrated by those who choose to back into spaces, primarily because they are often parked off to one side of the space, over the line or cockeyed. But at least your suggestion forced me to think about it.

And I'm struggling to believe that backing into a space will save gas. It is more difficult to be accurate when backing up than it is when driving forward. Consequently, it often takes more than one attempt to back into a parking space. I was reminded of that today as the person backing into a parking space in front of me turned a three-point turn into a seven-point turn as they took several tries to get the car into the space. And all the time that they were making these multiple attempts, I was sitting there idling, waiting to get by them. So they were using more gas than if they had pulled straight into the parking space, and I was burning up gas waiting on them.

Other times, the person backing into the space doesn't do a very good job, which makes the space next to them unparkable. So the next person looking for a parking space has to drive further to find one.

Sometimes, a car may only be parked for a short time. I admit that I don't know much about how fast an engine cools down, and how quickly that would effect gas mileage, but I'm hard pressed to beleive that for a five to ten minute stop, it would make any measurable difference.

Do you have any real data to prove that backing into a parking space will use less fuel than backing out? I think a far better suggestion would be, whenever possible, to use a parking space where you could pull through to the next row. Then you are going in forward and out forward, so no three-point turn is required. And you've probably parked at a parking space that is closer to the entrance/exit to the parking lot, so you've also saved a little gas by not driving to a closer parking space.

[Juan Rivera]

You do not have to go to hypermiling extremes to get a significant MPG increase.

I did my own little hypermiling experiment in the month of July in which I changed a few simple driving habits as follows:

1. Regularly check proper tire pressure,
2. Drive no faster than the posted speed limit,
3. Accelerate smoothly and coast down to stops.
4. Time the traffic lights to minimize stopping and shut the engine off if I know I am going to be stopped at a light for more than a minute.
5. Coast in neutral on the downhills provided I can maintain proper speed.

At the end of the experment, the MPG of my 2001 Honda Civic went from my usual 35 MPG to 41.5 MPG, or an 18% increase. (I drove 498 miles on 12 gallons of fuel) This was accomplished with very little effort.

So try hypermiling, it works!

Juan Rivera
Kihei, Hawaii

[mary]

You don't actually have to back in to a parking spot...just look for a completely empty parking spot and pull all the way through, so that you are facing out. I do it all the time!!

I guess you could back in if you absolutely had to (if all the spaces were empty and you couldn't pull through) but for the most part, you'd be surprised, you can pull all the way through, esp. if you park a little further away - there are plenty of open spots.

I'm glad hypermiling is catching on, I've been doing these "tricks" for a long time.

[Richard Ferrary]

My state agency did a study and found that parking "face out" so that you can go forward instead of backing out, significantly reduced backing accidents, which are the most frequent type, if not the most dangerous. Since the "backer" is almost always at fault, you can really save some "green" but avoiding these accidents.

[Laurie]

I suspect that some of these tips may not apply to hybrid vehicles. I drive a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Any different advice?

[Ronald Wehner]

I have a 2001 Honda Insight. The engine shuts off when I come to a stop and restarts flawlessly when I put it in first gear to go again. This technology is over 7 years old. Why hasn't it caught on with other carmakers. It is the perfect two seater that I use for 90% of my driving. I have 114,000 miles on it and averaged 58.2 miles over the seven years without even trying. I get over 60 MPG traveling across county while loaded down. Honda no longer makes the Insight, I think they should bring it back

[Hali]

I noticed that in the picture, the surfboards are facing backwards (fins in the front). Is this more efficient than having them face forwards? I would have thought the opposite.

[Sunandsage]

I almost always back into parking spaces and even into my garage. I takes a bit more precision to do this but it's worth it. I made the decision to start doing this after a time I was backing out of my garage and found a little neighbor kid waiting for me in my blind spot. He was waiting for me so he didn't do anything wrong. If he had decided to cross behind me, I very likely would have hit him. He had obviously been taught about cars backing out of driveways and garages but I didn't want to find out which kid had not been trained. I think it's safer to back into a parking space then to back out of a parking space.
Before we push to slow everyone down, bear in mind that there are some vehicles that actually operate more efficiently at the higher speeds. As a cross country vehicle transporter, I've been in some of these. Technology is available to make vehicles operate efficiently at the higher speeds.

[Steve G.]

My slogan: I brake to work! In other words, in my Prius it's nice when I eventually DO have to brake (regen). Still it's wise to time your decelerations, but even when decelerating, I'm in regen-mode! -Steve

[Monte Engel, Devils Lake, ND]

This is in reply to Laurie:

Yes, these same things apply to a hybrid. I have a 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid and I follow these tips and can see the improvement in my milage.

[Eletruk]

The problem I have with people who back into parking spaces is that there is no indication to other vehicles when they are about to exit the space. You can't see the brake lights, and you can't see the back-up lights. So it pretty much is up to the parker to watch and wait for clear passage. Also if you are looking for a parking spot, you can't tell if someone is about to leave and wait for them so you can take their spot. For the amount of gas it MIGHT save, it's more detrimental to overall parking, in my humble opinion.

[Colleen Dick]

We notice that our Prius does significantly better in summer than winter. Our neighbor told us this is because they do better when the engine is warm, and he is going to get a block warmer for the engine for the cold months and put it on an automatic timer and it's cheaper to warm the engine with household electricity than it is to let it warm itself by burning fuel. What do y'all think?

[John]

Man, I figured out the best hypermileage trick of all: I got rid of my car! If you have to drive a car every day just to get to your job, you'd better figure out a new arrangement very quickly because your current mode of existence is about to become--to say the least--untenable. Sell the car now, while you can still get at least some money for it.

[Mike Burek]

Um, yeah. How about just parking in the first spot in the lot and walking all the way in? It reduces the stop-and-gos and looking around for a spot.

How about telling people that they can move the AC temp setting somewhere towards the middle as the car cools down? Almost everyone just leaves it at the coolest setting. This setting controls how much the compressor runs. The compressor is a big gas hog. Lowering the temp setting means it runs less - not all the time.

[joseph myers]

The difference between "highway" mileage and "city" mileage has almost invariably been almost 40%. I am convinced that we would be far better off trying to ease traffic flow -- simply to keep it going -- than to hope for much from speed laws.

[CherylC.]

Yes, these tips can make a huge difference with a hybrid. I have had a Prius for about 9 months. When I first got it I drove it as I did my old car and averaged 45-50mpg. I then talked to some other Prius owners I know and changed to way I drove, with the goal of never having to touch the brakes. I now average around 65mpg on my daily commute. It really is the coasting, trying not to use the brakes, slow accelerating that makes the most difference.

[Peter]

I have a nice chrome lettered medallion that reads "HYBRID" and I stuck it on the back of my SUV, works great for me.
P.

[deepermeaning]

If we cannot be bothered by squeezing out of our cars or park 100 yards from our ideal spot we will have a hard time accomplishing our goal and all this blogging is just wasted bandwidth.

These are the small personal sacrifices we will have to make. Lerning how to park better, walking a bit more than usual, whatever form it takes at the individual level.

If we cannot part with these small comforts for the sake of the planet then we will smog ourselves into oblivion. That is the alternative, is it not?

[martin Strasmore]

1. Biking is faster than you think & saves even more gas. I bike 5 miles to the best library around (in suburban CT) in 20 to 25 minutes - it takes 15 to 20 minutes by car.
Short trips use most gas and are the easiest and most satisfying to bike - and I am over 60!
2. Leave enough time so you can drive smoothly and don't feel like you have to speed. That feels good too!

[Jill Budzynski]

Laugh if you will, but I carry a fold-up chinese fan for use in my car, instead of turning on the AC. It's a great boost for the fan in the car, I can direct it wherever I want, and it's portable, so I take it with me when I leave the car:) A little wrist exercise never hurt anyone!

[John F]

I have been backing into spaces for about four decades. I can say, without any hesitation, that it is much, much safer than backing out. While backing in takes more coordination, you have a good view of traffic around you, in a controlled environment. Pulling out, going forward, you have an outstanding view of traffic around you, even in inclement conditions, far clearer than backing blindly into traffic. (As for saving gas in the process, I have no idea.)

[Steve Zeigler]

Oregon recently switched from MTBE gas to E10. My friends and I all saw an immediate 12% to 20% drop in MPG. This was obvious in our Prius's, but true for other cars as well. Oregon was unusual because in most other states, ethanol has gradually entered the gas supply (first 1%, the 2% and so on) So most Americans haven't seen a dramatic drop. We're all being screwed. So point me to a place that still sells real gas. And there's billions of dollars on this. For example, watch out for "richard schumacher", who seems to track all E10 mentions to tell you about the "theoretic" 3% less energy, while failing to point to any unbiased study of E10 mpg.

[Mark O]

In reply to Colleen:

An engine block heater may be a good idea, as an engine runs most efficiently at warmer temperatures.

Another factor in your MPG variability may be the formula of your gasoline. Many areas have summer and winter formulas. The summer formula usually allows for better fuel economy.

Anyway, another tip is to coordinate errands. Go to the farthest destination first, and work your way back to your home.
And yet another good idea is to monitor traffic lights. Look close for safety, but look farther ahead to judge traffic light changes. If you have a regular driving routine, learn the sensors/timing of the lights. You'll know whether to coast through that stale green or get ready to stop.

[Claudia M.]

Your tips are helpful. A couple of more: check the air filter on a regular basis. Remove it from under the hood and hold it up to the light. If you do not view translucent light or the view is dim, time for a new one because it is dirty. Also, I agree with checking air pressure weekly or bi-weekly. Correct pressure impacts fuel efficienty. A 3rd consideration, that many may know, is to keep windows up at high speeds to diminsh draft and drag on the car. And, lastly, keep an eye on the speed. Consistency is a big factor for driving efficiently.

[Bonnie]

Re Backing into a parking space. I do that about 95% of the time. One can make sharper turns and is ready to exit more quickly. Those not doing a good job the first time, NEED practice or a conscience! Use the mirrors!