Comments for Daily Fuel Economy Tip

Comment on President Bush and Gasoline Prices by michael ziel

michael ziel — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:30:58 +0000

what I see is that every pres. will do what ever her can to make as much as he can. They do not care about the poor because they can’t give them money. It is the hard is job in the world because you have to get as much money under the table you can but if you upset the voters the money train will end.
P.s anyone that thinks people are giving Mr. clinton a million $ just to come and tall to their works because he is a great speaker should not get the right to vote.

Comment on Fuel Economy Tip – Tailgating Doesn’t Help by Andy

Andy — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:51:30 +0000

I know I’m late to the party, but Mythbusters confirmed this in July 2007. With a baseline of 32MPG, percentage of fuel savings at four distance settings is as follows:

100′ = 35.5mpg = 11%
50′ = 38.5mpg = 20%
20′ = 40.5mpg = 27%
10′ = 44.5mpg = 39%

Tailgating does help fuel economy, so this article is incorrect. The author would have been better advised to cover the safety risks rather than writing on a topic he knew little about.

My own experience with this technique has yielded 30.9% improved mpg (55mpg vs 42mpg) in a 2006 Honda Civic while keeping between five to six car lengths back at speeds between 65mph and 72mph – generally over a 132 mile route.

Comment on Will Switching to Synthetic Oil Give You Better Gas Mileage? by David Horsley

David Horsley — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:27:45 +0000

Don’t buy the Royal Purple hype. I’ve been a Mobil 1 user on several different vehicles for many years now. An ’01 Suburban, ’05 Grand Caravan, ’06 Silverado 5.3, ’07 Silverado 5.3, and fairly soon, a ’11 Toyota Tundra 5.7. On the two Silverado’s I decided to trust the engine oil monitoring system and only change the oil when it got close to the 0% mark, anywhere from around 9000 miles to 12000 miles. On the ’07, I got talked into trying the Royal Purple, so I bought a case (two oil changes worth) and a couple Royal Purple oil filters. Liked the literature on the filters, and they weren’t any higher than other premium filters, but the oil offered me 0% difference in fuel economy. My ’07 had the high end electronics where you could see instant mileage readings, as well as mileage per tank, every tank. I’ve always watched those numbers, on a quest for better mileage in my trucks, and the Royal Purple offered no better mileage, and I even felt that my mileage might have slightly dropped. And I don’t even buy the fancy Mobil 1, just the regular full sythetic that you get at Wal-Mart in the 5 quart jugs, plus an extra quart for the Silverado. I’m not saying Royal Purple is a “bad” oil, just not any better than Mobil 1 in my opinion, and definately not worth the higher price.

Comment on Fuel Economy Tip – Avoid the Spoiler by Jim Nordstrom

Jim Nordstrom — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:45:24 +0000

I have a 2005 Mustang GT with no spoiler and I’m averaging 27 to 28 mpg at 70 to 75 mph. This well over what the sticker claims for gas miliage.

Comment on Fuel Economy Tip – Reduce Excess Weight by Belas

Belas — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:50:38 +0000

Seems to defeat the whole thing you have going here.

Comment on Daily Fuel Economy Tip Isn’t Going to Suck by Belas

Belas — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:30:32 +0000

yea, thanks for sharing!

Comment on Is the Federal Fuel Tax About to be Cut? by Adam

Adam — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:13:03 +0000

The true poor tend to not have a car or share one among more people.

Comment on Is the Federal Fuel Tax About to be Cut? by Brian Carr

Brian Carr — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:31:33 +0000

I definitely appreciate your thinking outside the box on this issue, but I disagree with your thoughts on the tax affecting the poor more than the wealthy. I would argue the wealthy tend to be more suburban, while poor tends to be more urban. Sure, it’s a regressive tax meaning more of a poor person’s income goes towards the tax, but so too are taxes on cigarettes.

I think you’re headed down the right path with toll booths – the more you use the roads, the more you pay for them.

Comment on Is the Federal Fuel Tax About to be Cut? by Rootdude

Rootdude — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 00:06:46 +0000

The gas tax tend to unfairly affect the poor more than the wealthy. The wealthy tend to live closer to their employment and drive newer cars with better tuning, whereas the poor generally live on the outskirts of cities and drive used cars that generally 10-20 years old and way past time for a tune-up.
What would be better than the gas tax would be removing oil subsidies and adding an luxury/efficiency tax at the time of vehicle purchase based upon the gas mileage (Israel does this).. I wouldn’t be surprised if tax revenues available for road construction (or even better bike lane/sidewalk construction) went way up as a result.
To get even more out of our roads, I would suggest that cities place toll booths at their outskirts and attribute the money gained toward public transportation (local businesses, residents, carpools and semi-cargo-trucks could be shifted towards a central lane bypassing the booths) (This is the model practiced by Amsterdam.)

Those measures should reduce traffic and build revenue for hi-speed interstates and highways. But, I’d still go a bit further.. I would mandate that all intra-city roads have a max speed limit of 35mph and increase the federal allowed range and speed for neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV) to 35mph and no maximum range.. Then I would push for expanded road shoulders for bike lanes and convert many four lane roads to three lane. Thereby, making it a slight inconvenience to drive a gas car as opposed to a bike or NEV..

Comment on Fuel Economy Tip – Drive The Speed Limit by Become More Aware of Your Gas Mileage | Saving Without A Budget

Become More Aware of Your Gas Mileage | Saving Without A Budget — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:24:25 +0000

[...] Watch your speed. [...]