Save Gas! Change the way you drive.

Step 3: Techniques Continued...

5. Don't Idle! I know that remote start comes in handy during 40 degree winters, but your car consumes a lot of gas while it's idling. Don't let it sit in the driveway for twenty minutes to warm up if you're only going down the road to Walgreens for some toilet paper. Also, this tip is great for heavy traffic jams. Plus this drastically reduces CO emissions being release into the atmosphere.

6. Let it Idle! This can be dangerous! Oh yes I did just contradict myself! Stopping and starting a car consumes more gas than it would for you to let it idle for a minute or two. It takes a lot of gas to get it going. If you're just running into the store to pick up gum then let it idle. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK OR IF YOU HAVE A REMOTE START. Using a remote start you can allow your car to idle locked up without the key in the ignition.

7. Keep your car warm! If you have access to a heated garage this can help you in the winter time. Your car consumes more gas under cold start up conditions. You could also buy an engine block heater!
TECH TALK: Your engine needs to be warm for it to be as efficient as possible. Warmth is needed for the O2 sensors to start what is called closed loop operation. This is when your cars computer can begin to adjust air/fuel ratios.

8. Stay in your lane! Studies have shown that lane changing does not significantly reduce your travel time. Simple and easy...

Comments

[fwater]

Step 5 states "your car consumes a lot of gas while it's idling". An automotive tech would know better. Idling consumes a tiny amount of gas. No automotive engineer would ever design an engine to be shut off and turned back on constantly in traffic, even if it was more than 30 seconds. Wear caused by rapid heat cycling can be high. Again, idling consumes very little gas.

[gr33ko]

Are you an automotive tech? Have you ever run a fuel volume test? Step 5 is completely true ESPECIALLY when the engine is still running cold. During cold engine startup (exhaust temps under 600 F) the O2 sensors are still in OPEN LOOP. This causes an excess dump of fuel because the ECU/ECM does not know how much fuel to add. It is simply "enough" fuel to start the vehicle. After the O2 sensors achieve CLOSED LOOP then it knows how much fuel to add. Before closed loop the fuel system is working purely off of a fuel map. By the way I am a technician with credentials to prove it.

[fwater]

Spare me the explainations, I know what open vs. closed loop is, I'm not going to take open loop running into account because no matter what you do, that's what happens at cold start. After the engine has gone into closed loop, does an idleing engine consume a large amount of gas? If it does, cruising under load or accelerating consumes less? Are you an automotive tech? Have you ever been in a Turkish prison? I'm afraid that I will have to see those credentials. I got mine from the bottom of a box of cereal.

[gr33ko]

Idleing does consume a lot of gas if you allow it to idle for a while. That's what the point of the idleing statement was. Don't let it run if you're going to leave it a while. Here's my credentials.

[gr33ko]

http://i29.tinypic.com/vrv969.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/2b1y61.jpg

[fwater]

Wow. Thank you for actually posting your credentials. Please don't be offended if I state that I was hardly serious about wanting proof. I can gather that you know a thing or two without photographic evidence. How hard would it be to find an accurate fuel consumption rate on a common car (10 years or less old, 100K miles or less, 4 cylinder) at idle? I would like to see some comparisons to consumption rates at medium throttle and cruise. Of course, now we've gone beyond the scope of a siple suggestion on a DIY website. You are knowledgeable and experienced, and though I disaggree, I concede. I'm taking my toys and going home. Yours too. I'm taking your toys.

[gr33ko]

For the sake of being nice I will tell you that most of the vehicles I have worked on were imports (85% roughly). If thats any consolation.

[Joenavy85]

getting the fuel consumption rate is easy, get a ScanGaugeII. I use one in my 05 jeep liberty to monitor mileage and fuel consumption, when i start my engine while it's still hot the peak consumption during start up in never even double the idle consumption, and that's for only about 2 seconds of the start up, so if you're going to be sitting waiting for a train to pass, you might as well shut off the engine. Like a lot of these instructables say, changing the way you drive will make the biggest difference, according to the EPA testing, my jeep should get 17 mpg in the and 21 on the highway, and most people know those are usually a little on the high side. after changing the way i drive i routinely get 17 mpg in the city (my commute to work, i usually get to work about the time the engine is up to temp) and 24-26 on the highway that's a 14-20%(roughly) increase on the highway.

[JacobAziza]

Step 6 is mistaken. This is a very common myth. This used to be true for large engines with carburetors. Computer controlled, fuel injected, and smaller engines use very little extra fuel to start. If you are going to be stopped for 30 seconds or more (depending on the vehicle) it is better to shut it than to idle