Driving slower to save gas
If you have read or heard of any gas saving tips at all, I am sure you heard that you save fuel by driving slower. A couple of weeks ago when we left for our vacation, I decide to test it out, just to see what the results really were. I really didn’t really do much in the way of hypermiling other than occasionally hanging behind a big rig when he matched my speed.
I just drove the first 350 miles at 65mph rather than the 75-80mph that would have been more likely on our way to vacation.
Let me also mention that we took this same car, our Honda Fit, on vacation last year and the best we ever got was 35MPG. After we filled up that first tank, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that we got 44MPG on that tank.
That was 25% increase in gas mileage, just from driving slower. In terms of dollars, if you spend $200 a month on gas, you would only be spending $150 each month.
How much longer does driving slower take?
The obvious downside here is that it takes longer. Thankfully my wife has enough patience to put up with all my “experiments” that I drag her into. It was about 700 miles to our destination and I would guess that driving 10+ miles per hour slower (for one tank) added 30-40 minutes. So, depending on your situation, it may or may not be worth the time. But, there is no denying that driving slower will save you money on gas.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
You are so right. Not only will we save gas, however we will save lives too. Praise God!
I have always found it interesting to read articles on this subject. Anything from the A/C being on to open windows causing drag all theoretically weigh in on gas mileage. But much to your point, the main thing is our own right foot…..
Drive on !
@Debt reduction
you bring up a good point – realizing the cash savings from driving slower helps to stay at (or below) the speed limit – which is a good thing!
Americans need things like saving money to understand the concern of driving too fast. Even more important,driving slower extends our energy reserves and could ultimately prevent an energy crisis in the near future. Yes you may find the need to get there half an hour early (if you’re even driving along enough distance so save such a significant amount of time) but also realize that it may not be long before you cannot even drive that distance at all because the fuel is just not there. Eventually energy will no longer have a cost. Having it will be the luxury.
In addition to saving on gas, money and saving lives, driving slowly can also reduce car gas emission. Driving slowly will use up less gas which will reduce fuel burning of the engine.