Ways To Save Gas While Driving - Fast Driving Drains Your Wallet Faster!

We have lost complete control of gas prices and now they are controlling us! But, still we have the power to control the volume of gas we use. We can definitely reduce the consumption of gas by reducing the mileage we do by car. However, that option is no more than a Hobson’s choice. Presuming that we have already reduced our mileage to the barest minimum, what else can we do about it?

How To Save Gas When Driving

Supposing you are willing to cut down on your speed, it can have a significant impact on the fuel consumption and consequently reduce your fuel cost. Perhaps it sounds a little unadventurous, less showy and “unbecoming” of you. So are you prepared to drop these vain notions and face up to realities of life on a very important issue such as cutting fuel costs that is badly eating into your family budget?

Viewing this problem from a different angle, we see that life moves at an increasingly hectic pace now than before that requires us to be at different places and perform more things during a short space of time. The concept of “slow and steady wins the race” is now replaced by “time is money”, so that we have to hurry up all activities including traveling. This brings us back to square one where we stated that driving faster would make our wallets empty faster!

Fuel Consumption Meter

Generally the fuel consumption per mile is optimized up to a speed of 55-60 mph on any vehicle such as a car, van, large van or truck irrespective of its size. As you increase your speed beyond that limit, fuel is consumed at an increasing ratio so that driving at say 70-75 mph would cost you anything like 120-125% of what it costs to drive the same distance at a speed of 55-60 mph. So those who are experiencing the fuel bite cost sharper than others should drive a little slower to reap the benefit of this fuel economizing strategy.

From the above, now we have to face two stubborn facts that are at loggerheads with each other and make a compromise between the two. They are (i) Driving faster makes you consume gas at an increasing rate, and (ii) You have to be driving fast in order to keep up with the present pace of living. 

Driving And Coasting To Save Gas

You may drive fast in order to keep an important appointment, but you need not drive fast when going out on a pleasure trip during the weekend, or going marketing after work in the evenings or on Sundays. You have to decide when you really have to drive fast or when you can drop that pressure on the accelerator pedal and just relax. The chances are that there will be more trips where you need not go fast then trips when you will have to go fast. You can still save quite a lot on fuel by exercising your options judiciously.

The Best Speed To Save Fuel

In going unnecessarily for high speeds around 75 mph or more, apart from the prohibitive cost of fuel (at 120-125% of driving at 55-60 mph), you are asking for trouble by increasing the possibility of earning a traffic ticket that is costly as well as bad for your driving record, and also the chances of an accident with consequent injury, maiming or even death. 

The other main impediment to driving slow on high speed freeways or busy highways, apart from the need to keep to important appointments etc. is purely psychological such as the “humiliation” of being overtaken by many drivers, when some motorists suffer a big blow to their ego and “prestige”. However, sooner you shed such immature and irresponsible notions, the better for you in order to realize the benefits of cost reductions on your fuel consumption.

If you feel averaging 55 mph is way too slow for you, you may concentrate on slowing down as much as possible from speeds of 70-75 mph or more; bearing in mind that every mile you drive at over 55 mph is likely to cost you 5% more per every mile up to 25% as you keep on increasing speed.