Drive Smart
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gasoline. It can lower your MPG by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent cruising around town. Smart driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money.
MPG Benefit: 5% to 33% improvement | Equivalent Gasoline Savings: $0.19 to $1.23 per gallon
Obey the Speed Limit
While each vehicle reaches its optimal MPG at different speeds (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases swiftly at speeds over 60 mph.
You can assume that for each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like coughing up an additional $0.26 per gallon for gasoline.
Obeying the speed limit is also safer (though, self-admittedly, very difficult).
MPG Benefit: 7% to 23% improvement | Equivalent Gasoline Savings: $0.26 to $0.86 per gallon
Avoid Excessive Idling
Idling will earn you 0 miles per gallon. Cars with larger engines will waste more gas at idle than do cars with smaller engines. Turn the engine off if your are going to be sitting long!
Use Cruise Control
Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gasoline.
Note: Cost savings are based on an assumed fuel price of $3.74/gallon (which should be enough today: 9/24/08, but could be fun to look at in the future).
Credits
Estimates for fuel savings from drive smart are based on Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc., Owner Related Fuel Economy Improvements, Arlington, Virginia, 2001.
Estimates for the effect of speed on MPG are based on a study Development and Verification of Light-Duty Modal Emissions and Fuel Consumption Values for Traffic Models, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, March 1999.
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