I’ll be honest, I bought my car based mostly on horsepower and handling. That it was relatively fuel efficient, was an added bonus at the time. A 300% increase in gas later, and I’m extra appreciative of my VW’s efficiency.
My car has a display that shows my average MPG for the current trip, and I’ve always paid attention to it. On my daily commute I used to average about 28 MPG. It’s a pretty easy commute with no traffic to speak of, so I thought 28MPG was pretty darn good. Well, I’ve been trying some new “techniques” to get the absolute most out of my $4+ a gallon gas. It’s turned into a kind of competition to get better and better gas milage each day. Well, I broke all of my records last week. I was so proud, I had to snap a picture when I pulled into the garage.
This from a car that is rated at 29MPG highway!
Granted, to get mileage like this I’m driving a little more “mild”, but I’m not driving like a 90-year-old or doing anything unsafe. You can learn all about “hypermiling” techniques here.
My point to all this, is that by some minor changes to your driving, you can dramatically improve your mileage. I read a great article recently that said they should pull all these MPG meters out of Priuses and put them in pick-up trucks and SUVs. If drivers could see what was happening every time they slam on that gas pedal, they might do something different. Evidently, if you drive a Prius hard enough, you get crap for mileage too.
Don’t get me wrong, I love driving fun cars in fun (or scary according to Shannon) ways, but at the right time. I get more pleasure on my daily commute knowing I’m saving a ton of gas.
