Gas Saving Tips

[JeShUa]

This is a government website that has most ways that you can save gas...

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml

I wouldnt mind if you guys decided to sticky this :P

[Downpour]

in my opinion, the owners' manual has more useful info on saving gas than that site. check the driving habits sectoin, it will tell you all about our civics and gas saving in general. maybe if i get the time, ill copy those words down and post em' here.

[NEMESIS_2006]

i always pop the gear in neutral on a downhill. does this have any benefit?

[jasongg06]

Originally Posted by NEMESIS_2006

i always pop the gear in neutral on a downhill. does this have any benefit?

IMO it does, I do that once in awhile and i think it saves gas, but i've heard that it isn't that great for your transmission. I also know that when the hill ends, and you put it back in gear, the engine revs up, so you didnt' really save any gas.

[[IVI]]

Here's a great gas saving tip for Civic owners. Stay out of VTEC! Of course, that's easier said than done.

[TommyD]

Here is one for you.


walk or ride a bicycle when you can

[leakslikasieve]

actually i heard that with a n.a car the best thing you can do for better mpg around town is shift really low, but continuously have your foot to the floor. shift low in the rpm band but once in gear just peg it. i have read that in 2 different auto journals.

[Tybeedon]

Originally Posted by NEMESIS_2006

i always pop the gear in neutral on a downhill. does this have any benefit?

NO. In neutral, the engine is at idle speed, meaning the throttle is OPEN. Leaving the tranny in the proper gear according to steepness of the grade means the throttle is CLOSED if your foot is completely off the gas pedal. That saves gas and is also a lot safer when the engine is doing some braking.

Going fast in neutral down a steep hill is bad news and UNSAFE ! There is lessened traction between your tire contact patches and the pavement, leaving everything up to you and your proper (hopefully) application of the brakes.

Another Tip: Don't use the Cruise Control in the rain, especially where there are likely to be puddles of water present. This can be dangerous when a wheel(s) under power hit a puddle and then a drier spot of pavement, resulting in an upset of the car's position, as in: from aquaplane to sudden braking, where Cruise Control becomes an enemy. The higher the speed, the greater the danger. (Will try to find this information on the Internet, where I first saw it, then post it here.)

[foolio_67]

Originally Posted by Tybeedon

NO. In neutral, the engine is at idle speed, meaning the throttle is OPEN. Leaving the tranny in the proper gear according to steepness of the grade means the throttle is CLOSED if your foot is completely off the gas pedal. That saves gas and is also a lot safer when the engine is doing some braking.

Going fast in neutral down a steep hill is bad news and UNSAFE ! There is lessened traction between your tire contact patches and the pavement, leaving everything up to you and your proper (hopefully) application of the brakes.

Another Tip: Don't use the Cruise Control in the rain, especially where there are likely to be puddles of water present. This can be dangerous when a wheel(s) under power hit a puddle and then a drier spot of pavement, resulting in an upset of the car's position, as in: from aquaplane to sudden braking, where Cruise Control becomes an enemy. The higher the speed, the greater the danger. (Will try to find this information on the Internet, where I first saw it, then post it here.)

Sorry but I still don't get how having the car in neutral is worse then having it in gear(for gas mileage). Could you or somebody else explain it differently? Thanks:)

[leakslikasieve]

Originally Posted by foolio_67

Sorry but I still don't get how having the car in neutral is worse then having it in gear(for gas mileage). Could you or somebody else explain it differently? Thanks:)

buy a vacuum gauge. install it. and check for yourself. when your in gear and off the gas the vacuum is greater then if your in neutral and idling. greater vacuum will equate to better gas mileage. theoritically i know this is correct, but because my current car is turbo with a gauge i see it first hand all the time.

[leakslikasieve]

Originally Posted by Tybeedon

NO.

Another Tip: Don't use the Cruise Control in the rain, especially where there are likely to be puddles of water present. This can be dangerous when a wheel(s) under power hit a puddle and then a drier spot of pavement, resulting in an upset of the car's position, as in: from aquaplane to sudden braking, where Cruise Control becomes an enemy. The higher the speed, the greater the danger. (Will try to find this information on the Internet, where I first saw it, then post it here.)

sorry for double post. i had a friend who totalled his car doing that exact thing. cruise control was on, and he hit a puddle, tires slow down when aquaplaneing, and the computer actually hits the gas, who now your floating on water with the gas pegged to the floor, he went out of control and hit the center median and then rebounding across the road and hit a tree on the shoulder of the road.

[benmunger]

thanks for the info

[Tybeedon]

Originally Posted by foolio_67

Sorry but I still don't get how having the car in neutral is worse then [than] having it in gear(for gas mileage). Could you or somebody else explain it differently? Thanks:)

Here's some more information that should help. :)

From a Post by “NeverNZ” – 07/25/06

“if you allow your car to slow you down, you do 2 things, first you are not wasting energy by using your brakes, and when the engine slows you it goes into a super lean mode (usually air fuel ratios above 17:1, sometimes far higher). this does no damage your engine, so don’t worry. However, if you put the car into neutral, the engine must maintain itself so it usually goes into a 14.7:1 air fuel ratio, therefore using more fuel while idling to a stop then [than] while engine breaking.”[braking].


From a post by “psyschack” - -7/30/06

(NOTE: His posts on driving for fuel economy are VERY interesting!)

Engine off, in netural [neutral] coast uses no fuel.
Engine on, in 5th gear coast is next best on fuel useage.
Engine on, in netural [neutral] is dead last in fuel savings.

Note: [xxxx] my ‘edits.’ (Tybeedon. 09/24/06)

[BLU BY U]

if i stick with using the same gas (sunoco) i get great mileage. as does the 2001 accord. if i put in a different brand.......yuck.

[foolio_67]

Originally Posted by Tybeedon

Here's some more information that should help. :)

From a Post by “NeverNZ” – 07/25/06

“if you allow your car to slow you down, you do 2 things, first you are not wasting energy by using your brakes, and when the engine slows you it goes into a super lean mode (usually air fuel ratios above 17:1, sometimes far higher). this does no damage your engine, so don’t worry. However, if you put the car into neutral, the engine must maintain itself so it usually goes into a 14.7:1 air fuel ratio, therefore using more fuel while idling to a stop then [than] while engine breaking.”[braking].


From a post by “psyschack” - -7/30/06

(NOTE: His posts on driving for fuel economy are VERY interesting!)

Engine off, in netural [neutral] coast uses no fuel.
Engine on, in 5th gear coast is next best on fuel useage.
Engine on, in netural [neutral] is dead last in fuel savings.

Note: [xxxx] my ‘edits.’ (Tybeedon. 09/24/06)

Okay that makes sense, but I go down a pretty long hill (8-10minutes @ 110km/h) and I don't use my brakes until near the bottom. But at the bottom I put it into 6th to slow me down. Would this still be using more gas? Sorry if this was anwsered in your post, I just don't see it

[si_civic]

Originally Posted by leakslikasieve

buy a vacuum gauge. install it. and check for yourself. when your in gear and off the gas the vacuum is greater then if your in neutral and idling. greater vacuum will equate to better gas mileage. theoritically i know this is correct, but because my current car is turbo with a gauge i see it first hand all the time.

a litlel of topic. butt. where're you're frum! just wondrin cause u no alot bout vacuums.

[Mikagami]

You want to put it into a lower gear to slow you down...Not a higher gear.

[Janizary]

Using non-anecdotal evidence, coasting down the hill from the Pahrump hills down into vegas (about 8 miles all down hill) using my OBDII port Scangauge II for accurate measurements of GPH (actual fuel consumption rates) and MPG, GPH of consumption at idle and coasting was 0.2GPH. Brakes are required to keep speeds under 75mph.

The same road, coasting in 6th resulted in a 0.3 to 0.4 GPH consumption rate. Additionally, active input was required to maintain speeds of 65 during portions of the downhill trip (less grade), increasing GPH consumption to between 0.5 and 0.7 for limited periods.

Net calculated MPG on the 'coast' from the Scangauge II was 270MPG average for the 8 mile 'coast'. Using the 6th gear coast with minimal input was just over 120MPG for the repeat run.

(Manual transmission, 2006 Civic Si)

[gbae007]

Janizary, you are saying you saw higher MPG while in coasting vs. while in-gear? Please clarify.

[Janizary]

Yes, MPG and GPH (gallons per hour) readings from the ScangaugeII show that coasting, out of gear, returns higher mileage and lower GPH consumption, by quite a fair margin. GPH consumption is 2X when in gear (6th) coasting than it is out of gear coasting.

Now, that is for my Si manual transmission. For an auto I have no idea what the returns will be. However, if you have access to an OBII 'real time' reader that supports GPH reading, MPG (based on speed and GPH), then anyone with one can easily check these figures on their own.