Have higher fuel prices affect how you drive?

fatchowmein

Have higher fuel prices affect how you drive?
I'm not so heavy footed on the acelerator and I'm a bit slower if I'm not in a hurry.

mdaudioguy

Nope, not yet. I still have places to be and no other way to get there.

treitz3

Maybe not how I drive but definitely how much I drive. I drive and accelerate faster to get around the slowpokes is how I voted. Unless it's at $9.00 a gallon, I doubt that will ever change. Especially when you have a Corvette engine under the hood....besides, how else are you gonna let the horses run?

inspiredsports

mdaudioguy wrote: »

Nope, not yet. I still have places to be and no other way to get there.

I'm accelerating more slowly, not pushing as hard on inclines, taking advantage of hills and timing lights better. My fuel economy is up.

Interestingly, my departure and arrival times are IDENTICAL over both 9 and 22 mile drives that I make routinely.

JimKellyfan

I changed jobs, so as to not be stuck in traffic.
I used to drive an hour away, which, if there were wrecks, would sometimes be a three hour drive that day.
Now, I am 10 minutes from the house, 12-15 minutes in rush hour.
And never leave my hometown.
I drive the same though.
I drive it like I stole it.
;>)

JustinHEMI

I voted "what price increase" because I assumed that meant that I don't change how I drive, although I am aware of the price increase.

I simply can't drive slow.

mrbiron

Gas goes up, gas goes down....i just drive

nooshinjohn

treitz3 wrote: »

Maybe not how I drive but definitely how much I drive. I drive and accelerate faster to get around the slowpokes is how I voted. Unless it's at $9.00 a gallon, I doubt that will ever change. Especially when you have a Corvette engine under the hood....besides, how else are you gonna let the horses run?

This...

Fireman32

Im from Jersey we don't know how to drive slow. My commute is only 2 miles and my car averages 38 MPG so i am very lucky that I do not have to fill up to often.

inspiredsports

Fireman32 wrote: »

Im from Jersey we don't know how to drive slow. My commute is only 2 miles and my car averages 38 MPG so i am very lucky that I do not have to fill up to often.

If you only commute 2 miles, your car cannot possibly warm up enough to get 38 mpg, or is it a hybrid?

Also, condensation forms and is not "burned off" when an engine doesn't reach full operating temperature for several minutes. I don't know about extremely new cars, but this kind of drive-cycle used to wreak havoc with motor oil and exhaust systems. It's also hard for the charging system to but back the energy the battery expends to initially cold-start a car in 2 miles.

I guess it's good you guys are always running WOT in Jersey :biggrin:

mantis

I'm so sick and tired of the gas pump game. No reason to have to pay so much for a gallon of gas. My next vehicle will be less dependent on fossil fuel.

They get richer and I get poorer.

67jason

i get 30-32 mpgs like clockwork in my 63 bug no matter how I drive. I do drive less when I dont have the cash for gas, but how I drive has been the same for the last 16 years...push every ounce of power out of that little 1.6 liter slightly modified air-cooled engine.

megasat16

I accelerate slow to moderate. I don't usually press hard on the pedal unless I really need to. I usually drive around the highest speed limit but goes higher if the traffic is going at a faster speed. But I wouldn't be driving like 80mph where traffic is going around 70-75.

Here in CA, you pay a lot a lot more for the citation than the increase in gas.

ben62670

I coast on long downhills. There are a lot where I am.

hearingimpared

Drive slower and accelerate slower. Also when coasting or going down hill I throw it in neutral.

Ron-P

"What price increase". I need gas, I love to drive. I have not changed my driving habits at all, and I only buy Chevron so I don't pay any attention to prices. So, no change for me, and no plans to.

Jstas

Not at all.

Tour2ma

Driving habits... no.

Buying habits... yes.

Excepting "road trips", since retirement I drive so little that the Texas summer heat was breaking down the "gas" before I could use up a tankful. So had to back off to about 3 gallons per fuel stop.

hearingimpared

Tour2ma wrote: »

Driving habits... no.

Buying habits... yes.
Excepting "road trips", since retirement I drive so little that the Texas summer heat was breaking down the "gas" before I could use up a tankful. So had to back off to about 3 gallons per fuel stop.

A big amen to that.

Hiya Bruce how are you my good brother?

Willow

No change here what so ever

bobman1235

I experimented for a few weeks with my car ('04 Outback Sport 5-speed), accelerating more slowly, shifting really early, etc. Saw absolutely no change in the MPG. SO I drive normal. I definitely think twice about going out if it's far away though - I have a lot of friends who live an hour plus away, and would sometimes go hang out after work or something.... gas prices make me think twice about that once in a while.

hearingimpared

bobman1235 wrote: »

I experimented for a few weeks with my car ('04 Outback Sport 5-speed), accelerating more slowly, shifting really early, etc. Saw absolutely no change in the MPG. SO I drive normal. I definitely think twice about going out if it's far away though - I have a lot of friends who live an hour plus away, and would sometimes go hang out after work or something.... gas prices make me think twice about that once in a while.

Wow Bob I would think that accelerating slowly consistenly over time would definitely save in gas.


BTW how you doing my good brother? PM me back!

Fireman32

inspiredsports wrote: »

If you only commute 2 miles, your car cannot possibly warm up enough to get 38 mpg, or is it a hybrid?

Also, condensation forms and is not "burned off" when an engine doesn't reach full operating temperature for several minutes. I don't know about extremely new cars, but this kind of drive-cycle used to wreak havoc with motor oil and exhaust systems. It's also hard for the charging system to but back the energy the battery expends to initially cold-start a car in 2 miles.

I guess it's good you guys are always running WOT in Jersey :biggrin:

i let the car warm up for a few minutes before I drive anywhere. I drive a Toyota Yaris and I do drive more than back and forth to work so the car gets to strech its legs. When I filled up the other week i averaged 37.8 MPG since my last fill up.

fatchowmein

treitz3 wrote: »

Maybe not how I drive but definitely how much I drive.

That's a good point. With higher prices, some folks may not change the rate at which they drive but how often, how far, and whether they look for alternative means such as public transportation and carpooling. I'm guessing fuel prices will need to be north of $4 before we start seeing some serious changes.

My wife and I have already started to discuss cutting back on weekend trips around the DFW metroplex which means less dollars going out, translating to an economic impact on businesses. So far, we're paying in the neighborhood of $3.39/gallon. Our threshold is $3.50 before we start making changes.

Fuel prices impact us because my commute is 80-90 miles per day, Mon-Fri, and my truck gets 24mpg. I'm not considering a new vehicle at the moment because both of ours are paid for.

Ricardo

Joe, I see you posting again like nothing happened. I assume everything has been cleared to Larry's satisfaction?

RuSsMaN

mrbiron wrote: »

Gas goes up, gas goes down....i just drive

Pretty much sums it up for me.

Jstas

From AAA Twitter feed:

Nat'l avg price of gas went DOWN slightly for the third day in a row to $3.546/gallon. FuelGaugeReport.AAA.com

http://twitter.com/AAAauto/status/48390179228094464

http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/

pdxfj

I just drive. When the weather gets a bit nicer I'll change from four wheels to two wheels. If prices get too bad I will likely take the smaller two wheeled machine that gets 55+mpg on the highway.

bobman1235

hearingimpared wrote: »

Wow Bob I would think that accelerating slowly consistenly over time would definitely save in gas.

I was really trying; my car, in the warm months, gets just below 30MPG, and I drive hard-ish (not like a maniac, and I don't, like someone said on here the other day, "push my car to the redline every time I drive" because that's retarded), so I figured driving easier, and not going as fast on the highway (I capped myself at 70 instead of the more "standard" 75-80) I would save a bundle, and after two or so weeks I still didn't crack 30MPG, so... feh.

hearingimpared

Ricardo wrote: »

Joe, I see you posting again like nothing happened. I assume everything has been cleared to Larry's satisfaction?

Well Ric first off I don't know which Larry you are referrring to and if there was a problem I'm not aware of it. I've been away for 2 1/2 months and just got back on the forum.

I sent you a PM buddy.

Jstas

bobman1235 wrote: »

I was really trying; my car, in the warm months, gets just below 30MPG, and I drive hard-ish (not like a maniac, and I don't, like someone said on here the other day, "push my car to the redline every time I drive" because that's retarded), so I figured driving easier, and not going as fast on the highway (I capped myself at 70 instead of the more "standard" 75-80) I would save a bundle, and after two or so weeks I still didn't crack 30MPG, so... feh.

Dude, you want to see a difference, don't pay so much attention to speed. RPM is more important. Travel at your typical speeds and note your RPM at that speed. Then slow to the 70 MPH and note your RPM again. To see a difference in fuel mileage, you are going to have to see more than a 500 RPM difference.

If you are traveling at a higher RPM, you are likely more in the meat of your power band which is why you can travel at 70 or 80 and not be too far off in the RPM. The engine is making more power at that RPM level and it's volumetric efficiency is up as close to it's peak as it gets so a minor adjustment in throttle can make for a significant gain in speed.

The other factor is aerodynamics and the faster you go, the more air you have to move out of the way quicker. Makes big high-pressure air pockets on the leading edges. Go faster, they get bigger and cause more drag. The engine can easily over-come that at those speeds though. It does have to work a bit harder but it won't be appreciable in the standard MPG method of efficiency measurement. If you went with a gallons per hour service time on the engine, it would show up as a significant difference.

I'll bet that to see just a 1 MPG increase, you'll have to drop down to 60-65 MPH from your 75-80 MPH 'cause that will end up being close to a 1,000 RPM drop at speed.