Low Fuel Economy:the Number One Reason!
There is an activity that is the single biggest gas robber. You must constantly battle this gas robber to prevent it from stealing your gas. Any time you drive your car you encounter this problem.
The number one gas robbing problem is idling. That is running your car when your car is not moving. This is the biggest single factor in preventing good gas mileage.
When your car is running and you are stopped, you are getting zero miles per gallon. I cannot emphasize this enough: you are getting ZERO MILES PER GALLON when your car is idling.
If you are on the freeway for 15 minutes and getting 20 miles per gallon, and all of a sudden traffic stops and you idle without moving for 15 minutes your average miles per gallon just dropped from 20 down to 10. The longer you idle, the worse your average fuel economy gets.
There are several factors that create conditions that cause you to idle excessively. The most common culprits are red lights. When ever you stop at a red light, you are forced to idle your car and burn fuel. Remember that your miles per gallon is zero when idling. Please note that I am not advocating running red lights! I am merely pointing out a gas robbing factor.
Another factor that contributes to situations of excessive idling is rush hour. The high volume of traffic on the road during rush hour forces you to drive slower and stop more often. As a result you end up idling more during rush hour than in non rush hour periods.
Rush hour exaggerates the red light problem. With the higher traffic volume, you are forced to spend more time at red lights than you would in non rush hour periods. Normally, you may get through a particular red light in one cycle, but at rush hour it make take two, three or even four cycles of the light to get through it. So your idling time is increased two, three or even four times.
The increased idling is stealing your fuel, and lowering your average mpg or miles per gallon. But it gets even better! There is even another major cause of increased idling time:the hated orange barrels. Road construction stops traffic. This increases your idling time. Add rush hour to the mix and it makes it worse, producing even more traffic delays and more idling time.
In order to fight this gas robbing condition, you need to plan your trips to avoid these situations as much as possible. Plan your routes to minimize red lights. Try and avoid lights that you know require long waits. Plan to avoid areas where you know there is construction. Try the best that you can to avoid driving during rush hour. Stay later at work, arrive earlier at work. If you can, try to stagger your regular work hours.
Avoiding as many idle producing situations will help you maintain better gas mileage. If you can minimize situations where you have to sit idling your car, you will go a long way towards increasing your fuel economy, saving gas and saving money.
The number one gas robbing problem is idling. That is running your car when your car is not moving. This is the biggest single factor in preventing good gas mileage.
When your car is running and you are stopped, you are getting zero miles per gallon. I cannot emphasize this enough: you are getting ZERO MILES PER GALLON when your car is idling.
If you are on the freeway for 15 minutes and getting 20 miles per gallon, and all of a sudden traffic stops and you idle without moving for 15 minutes your average miles per gallon just dropped from 20 down to 10. The longer you idle, the worse your average fuel economy gets.
There are several factors that create conditions that cause you to idle excessively. The most common culprits are red lights. When ever you stop at a red light, you are forced to idle your car and burn fuel. Remember that your miles per gallon is zero when idling. Please note that I am not advocating running red lights! I am merely pointing out a gas robbing factor.
Another factor that contributes to situations of excessive idling is rush hour. The high volume of traffic on the road during rush hour forces you to drive slower and stop more often. As a result you end up idling more during rush hour than in non rush hour periods.
Rush hour exaggerates the red light problem. With the higher traffic volume, you are forced to spend more time at red lights than you would in non rush hour periods. Normally, you may get through a particular red light in one cycle, but at rush hour it make take two, three or even four cycles of the light to get through it. So your idling time is increased two, three or even four times.
The increased idling is stealing your fuel, and lowering your average mpg or miles per gallon. But it gets even better! There is even another major cause of increased idling time:the hated orange barrels. Road construction stops traffic. This increases your idling time. Add rush hour to the mix and it makes it worse, producing even more traffic delays and more idling time.
In order to fight this gas robbing condition, you need to plan your trips to avoid these situations as much as possible. Plan your routes to minimize red lights. Try and avoid lights that you know require long waits. Plan to avoid areas where you know there is construction. Try the best that you can to avoid driving during rush hour. Stay later at work, arrive earlier at work. If you can, try to stagger your regular work hours.
Avoiding as many idle producing situations will help you maintain better gas mileage. If you can minimize situations where you have to sit idling your car, you will go a long way towards increasing your fuel economy, saving gas and saving money.
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