Ideal Bite

Where does the road paved with good intentions lead?

09.15.2006

Submitted by idealbite on Fri, 09/15/2006 - 5:00pm.

The Bite:

To poor mpg. It takes a little more than good intentions to get good gas mileage, but you're probably not seeing the tips in the blind spots. It'll be green lights all the way with these simple ideas for a more efficient ride.

The Benefits:

Save gas - don't idle. Idling for more than 10 seconds produces emissions at almost 2x the rate of normal driving. For post-1970s cars, turning the car off and on again doesn't use extra gas or cause additional wear and tear.
Use cruise control when you can - you'll get up to 15% better mileage.
Take a load off. Stuff you don't use all the time, like toolboxes, drag you down - less weight means slightly better fuel efficiency.

Personally Speaking:

Jen likes to play mpg games with her car, seeing how long she can coast after coming down a hill and trying to get through bumper-to-bumper traffic without braking.

Wanna Try:

A Guide to Stretching Your Fuel Dollars - a goodie from Consumer Reports.
Gas Mileage Tips - decent insight from the feds.
Ideal Bite's Click & Clack Tip - even more easy-does-it tips.
Ideal Bite's Under Pressure Tip - extends the lifetime of your tires by 15% and increases your gas mileage by up to 2 mpg.
Ideal Bite's Roll Up Your Windows Tip - AC's are more efficient above 45 mph due to window wind resistance.
Ignore the ads for gas tank additives claiming they'll get you better mpg. Jen's tried several, and none worked for her.

Jennifer Duckworth, Sarah Locke and Marie Malin.

Cocktail Fact

Of all 2006 autos, the sporty Bugatti Veyron beat out the SUVs to win the title of least fuel efficient car, getting about 8 mpg for city driving.

Bang For The Bite

If 10,000 Biters cut out 10 min of idling per day, in a year we'll avert the same amount of CO2 as is emitted powering 19,504 TVs during the same period of time.

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