Collected for your ease of use: 104 eco-driving tips
Photo by edkohler. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Two months ago, EcoTrekker released a list of 100 ways to green up your driving style. If you missed that list, or just wanted to see someone outdo EcoTrekker by four items, check out this new list on Ecomodder. Of course, most of the items on these kinds of lists are pretty much repeats, with a few new tips thrown in to keep us on our toes. My favorites from the Ecomodder list are:
- Drive like you ride a bike
- Don't let other drivers lead you astray from your driving style
- Key off, then Park
- Parking tactics: pick the periphery
- Make fuel economy a game/challenge
- Combining errands: do the longest leg first
[Source: Ecomodder / Darin @ metrompg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BlackbirdHighway 4:07PM (5/06/2008)
Some of these are useful, a lot of them are really horrible. A great many of them will totally annoy other drivers in rush hour, probably causing many others to burn even more fuel in order for you to save a little. They may even contribute to accidents. When an accident occurs on a busy road in rush hour, a huge amount of fuel is wasted as drivers sit idling for hours.
I'm very surprised that telecommuting 1 or 2 days a week isn't mentioned. If you have a job that can support it, it's a great way to fuel consumption by 20-40%, painlessly.
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steven 4:24PM (5/06/2008)
Some very good ideas, but what century were you last able to by a car with manual steering and/or manual brakes. There are some cars with electric "power steering" and a few with "electric power brakes" (among others, Regal Turbos had then in the 80's), but some of these engine off scenarios are extremely dangerous considering that some cars with automatic gearboxes will require you to put the car in park to restart it. Reminds me of that scene from the movie The World According to Garp. Ouch!
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Benjamin Jones 4:44PM (5/06/2008)
This is not a list of tips to burn less fuel in general, they're a list of tips about driving differently to burn less fuel. You could say "wow, I'm surprised taking a bus" isn't on there too, but then that's not the point of the list, eh?
Anyway, no one does all of them or expects anyone to do all of them, and obviously, no one expects anyone to do anything unsafe? Would you really think that someone would advocate doing something horribly unsafe just to save fuel? You have to use common sense about certain things, and I think most people would say "hey, let's be safe drivers, then try to save fuel" rather than go out and drive like a nutball as your suggesting hypermilers do.
As we say in bike racing, crashing is real slow, so don't do it. I think the same maxim applies to fuel use.
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Whopper 4:31PM (5/06/2008)
There really aren't 100 suggestions here because some are repeated. Many are really flat out dumb. Go ahead and jack up your tire pressure beyond manufacturer's recommendations. Save $2.00 worth of gas and shorten the life of a $100 tire while giving up traction and handling. Let your car coast down hill with the engine off - automatic transmissions depend on the engine to drive the internal pump - engine off, no lubrication and soon, no transmission. I especially like the cross wind drafting #36 - yeah, hide in my blind spot. That will work especially well if the wind is from the left, then you can hide on the passenger side blind spot which is even more of a problem.
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Rick 9:36PM (5/06/2008)
Turn off keys and then put into park? Why?
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Dave 6:01PM (5/06/2008)
Tie your neighborhood dogs to your car so they can pull you around.
Put duck tape over your gril to cut down wind resistance.
Put vasaline on your tires to cut down the drag coefficient.
Remove back and passenger seats, trunk lid and hood to cut down on weight.
Turn off your engine when you are within a quarter mile of your destination and coast the rest of the way.
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fnc 6:28PM (5/06/2008)
I just keep it at about 55-57 in the slow lane on the freeway, avoid the AC, take off reasonably and coast to stoplights and beat the EPA ratings for my vehicle by 15-20 percent easily, tickling the upper 20's in a decade old pickup without having to keep an encyclopedia of techniques in my head. Good enough for me. Now I'm just playing a waiting game with electric vehicle tech.
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philmcneal 4:47AM (5/07/2008)
i pretty use all 104 whenever i can... without pissing too many off, there are some that will always piss you off, but you can't help their personality so take it with a grain of salt.
Its pretty much about a game about who's temper your willing to push first before something goes terribly wrong, I had my fair share of experiences, so its tough to slow down even with the crazy gas prices we are getting ($1.30L avg in vancouver,bc canada)
now cheap is considered under $1.25L
i still don't see people slowing down though, thank the person who invented 2 lanes! I avoid roads with one lane and you must climb uphill, that will tear your mileage apart for sure since you can't drive with load with zippy motorists behind you.
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MikeW 10:34PM (5/06/2008)
What kind of car requires you have an automatic transmission in Park to engage the starter?
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j_jones99 11:04PM (5/06/2008)
steven,
You could buy a car in 2004 with manual steering. My Kia Rio has manual steering, no a/c and about manual everything else. It does have power brakes, but that's about it. So in answer to your question, you could buy a car this century with manual steering, but i think the new rios have it standard.
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Woodenbee 1:09AM (5/07/2008)
I was at starbucks the other day and turned off my engine at the drive thru, when I got to the window the guy (obviously annoyed) asked why i kept turning my engine on and off? he said don't you know every time you start your car you could idle for 15 minutes on the gas you waste!! thats obviously untrue, unless I was driving a model T or something, he even said he thought he'd read it somewhere, wow I'd love to see that. Anyway in case any of our neo con friends are still laboring under this myth (which they so love to cling to) please turn off your engine whenever you're not moving, idling is a waste of gas, starting your car does not use up gas, in case you hadn't noticed with modern cars you don't have to touch the gas pedal...
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Woodenbee 1:27AM (5/07/2008)
Good one Dave, your obviously a deep thinker on this issue!
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Woodenbee 1:27AM (5/07/2008)
Rick, turn off the car first, to save gas, then put it in park, get it? never leave your car idling unnecessarily is the idea.
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jwer 12:14PM (5/07/2008)
A huge problem I have with this list is that it all but comes out and says that living in cities is bad; Use smooth roads? Avoid parallel parking? Don't use your brakes? Good luck doing any of those in Baltimore, or any other city for that matter.
Also, the focus on increasing your personal economy at the expense of everyone around you (back into spots to save a whiff of gas? What about the people idling as you cozy in there? What about the fact that it's quicker to pull in to a tight spot and back into a wide lane than vice versa?) is absolutely horrifying. Nothing but arrogant suburban thinking through and through.
Meanwhile, my 2000 Audi A4 (which I rarely drive as I walk 3 miles to work) must be in park to start it.
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Whopper 2:12PM (5/07/2008)
MikeW, FMVSS Rule No. 102 says that a starter interlock must be in place that prevents the starter from being engaged when the transmission is in forward or reverse. My Silverado will start in neutral, my wifes BMW Z4 will only start in park. My issue of 102 is three years old so it may have been revised since to accommodate the Prius etc.
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Rick C 5:18PM (5/09/2008)
@fnc:
"I just keep it at about 55-57 in the slow lane on the freeway, avoid the AC, take off reasonably and coast to stoplights and beat the EPA ratings for my vehicle by 15-20 percent easily, tickling the upper 20's in a decade old pickup without having to keep an encyclopedia of techniques in my head."
You might find it interesting to start keeping track of your mileage and actually measuring what you get. Until last week I had a '95 Ford Escort, and I spent several years making periodic 1000-mile trips. I found that there wasn't any appreciable variation in fuel economy between, say, 55 and 70-75 mph--in either event, I'd get about 32mpg. Somewhere around 75mph, I'd see a dropoff in economy down to about my city mileage. I'd see these results again and again. The upshot is for that car, there was no downside to going 75 if conditions permitted, and it saved me a pretty hefty chunk of time.
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