Reply #2: Tips for maximizing fuel economy

[Ricdude]

1) Don't drive so fast. Wind resistance becomes the dominant friction force around 45 mph, and goes up with the cube (i.e v*v*v) of velocity. I dropped my highway speed from 80 to 70, and get about 5% better mileage as a result.

2) Don't accelerate so quickly. Generating power to accelerate quickly uses more fuel than accelerating slowly. It's one thing if you need to merge into faster traffic, its another if you do it all the time.

3) Coast where possible. By coasting up to stoplights, and when approaching turns, I acheived another 5% increase in fuel economy.

4) Keep tires properly inflated. The extra contact area from underinflated tires increases rolling friction, and reduces mileage.

I drive a '03 VW New Beetle, with the TDI (diesel) engine, and regularly get 45-48 mpg mixed city/hwy driving. I go about 650-700 miles on 14-15 gallons of fuel. If I drive the extra distance, I can do so on renewable biodiesel, grown by my local farmers. If fuel prices keep going up, there won't be much difference between petrodiesel and biodiesel for long.

The sticker from my car says 42 city/49 hwy. If I could keep my speed down to 65 mph, I could probably crack 50 mpg. I know some people who drive really slow all the time (i.e. never break 55 even on the highway), that regularly do 60 mpg and better.