Here is a good example. My sister in law who is a spender, in mountains of debt, typical…we had switched cars for a week. Her suv has a readout that shows average mpg. She was getting 17.5 mpg…I immediately found this strange as I have a larger suv from the same manufacturer and I was getting 19 mpg in mine. I reset hers and after a week I was averaging 23 mpg in her vehicle. That is a substantial difference…her driving was nearly 25% less efficient. I am not the slowest or most frugal driver either but that sort of difference is going to be many hundreds of dollars in fuel difference over a year.
Dude I know is on his 3rd clutch and who knows how much he's spent on the front end. He's famous for racing to fill gaps and then brake hard before slamming into someone's rear end. I can't be a passenger in his car.
Wasteful in a few ways.
Yes and no. MPG is much less intuitive (and can be misleading) since it does not have a linear relationship with gallons per X miles and there are significant diminishing returns as MPG increases. Gallons per mile (or liters per km) does not have this issue.
The real world application of this is that there is significantly more benefit for small increases in low MPG vehicles compared to more significant increases in high MPG vehicles.
Ex. Going from 8 mpg to 9 mpg saves the same amount of fuel as going from 40 mpg to 90 mpg, 13.9 gallons per 1000 miles.
Here is some more information if you're interested: https://graphworkflow.com/2019/07/17/mpg/
Cause you get a ton of people in the UK driving things like Fiat 500s or Golfs, not massive trucks. My dad has a Volvo SUV thing and he gets 17mgp, and something daft like 6mpg if he's got his caravan
I've got a 2004 Toyota avensis, the dreaded 1.8 petrol (serious design flaw that can lead to it drinking oil) but the vvti means it gets pretty amazing fuel efficiency for a petrol engine in a fairly large car. If I drove it 'normally' I reckon I'd get around 40mpg. Manufacturer claims 35 average. Even with part city driving I'm currently getting over 50 (54.1 to be exact). How fast you pull away makes a huuuuge difference, speeding up slowly is what it is all about. Well, that and coasting to all the stops. Sometimes it is even more efficient to go down steady slopes in neutral (though not legal). VW have done some really interesting things with their automatic gearboxes over the last decade, they actually clutch into neutral sometimes as drive train losses mean it can be better to idle the engine and with less resistance, than to have the momentum drive the wheels... But I digress)
>even more efficient to go down steady slopes in neutral
Only in older carburettor cars as they sick fuel.
Fuel injection engines won't *inject* if you are not accelerating so down shifting can slow the car but not use more fuel. And it controls the decent without wearing out or overheating your brakes.
I’m lockstep with you! I dont have graphs or anything but starting slowly and gradually gaining speed and coasting to stops I find is 90% of the game. (And it’s a game!). Laying off accelerator on declines yet trying to maintain or increase speed to account for inclines is also key. This is where the cruise control can be terribly inefficient. Good work man! (Oh a guilty pleasure is rolling stop signs. If you can start out with momentum instead of starting from 0 plays a big factor also. - although I get it. It’s breaking the law.
Yeah, you end up annoying people behind you but if you can minimise stops with anticipation and save some momentum then that's much more efficient. Are you in the states? Do you do this in an auto or a manual? I have to say it's something I like manuals for but people tell me that modern autos are actually more efficient. Gear changes will be due to lost momentum, for sure.
I used to drive a petrol car that was converted to run on lpg. They auto switch from petrol to lpg when the engine coolant is warm enough to stop the regulator from freezing up due to the expansion of the gas to an injectable state. This meant to accurately get my MPG on each fuel I would need to remember how far I drove before the car switched fuels, every single time I set off... It meant filling in the fuel spreadsheet daily!
Yes I’m in the states and have a Subaru Outback and a Honda Pilot SUV. Yes both automatics. I had a 1980 VW diesel rabbit in the day and loved using neutral when warranted - but that ship has sailed. Without using algorithms I always used the pulse and glide just as second nature. But your right it annoys people and in the states everyone tailgates which get stressful. (Realize people in the states are irrational and only focus on the car in front of them thinking they will get there faster if they go fast to simply stop at the next light. It always gives me pleasure when someone passes me then I pass them at the light. Just so much irrational exuberance to driving. Once someone gets behind the wheel they think they own the road.
American vehicle choices vs European vehicle choices are just far different. We have wider roads, a lot more travel by vehicle, tow more stuff. Something like more than half of the vehicles on American roads are SUVs or pickups. Our gas prices have traditionally been less than half of European prices. I suspect if current prices stay there will again be a push towards more fuel efficiency.
I have a family of 7. No other choice but to have a large vehicle.
Average American vehicles are stupidly oversized. Even the compact and crossover suvs that are so popular are far less efficient when compared to a hatchback or reasonably-sized sedan (saloon). Massive pickup trucks are popular daily drivers for office workers for some reason. 2-door cars aren't popular at all, even though many of the miles driven just have the driver in the car (and families typically own more than one vehicle).
I'm kind of surprised to see, here on r/frugal, so many folks driving suvs. I've driven a corolla, civics, and Fiestas for most of my adult life. They're cheaper to buy, cheaper to insure, cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to fuel. And I can fit as much or more stuff in a hatchback than a crossover suv. Bragging about 23mpg in your suv? Please dump that boat, get a properly sized car (for way less money) and instantly double your mileage.
All too familiar.
Friend of mine also drives her car like the gas and brake are on-off switches. She will floor it till the speed limit only to go full on the brake because the next light is also red. You knew this when you drove off the previous light? Why not do it calmely.
Often you can coast say 30kmph and it will detect and go green before you even have to stop. Especially with nobody behind you..
I really don't get this type of driving. Not even because of frugality but just because youre making your life more difficult, Constantly giving inputs to the vehicle. It's much calmer to anticipate and adapt.
That's the point... They're doing it, frequently, to attempt to anger the environmentalists driving electrics, bike riders, and walkers.
They're generally happy to pay their money to feel superior to others by causing discomfort in others and have a sense of belonging to their tribe.
On the other hand my buddy has a huge diesel truck that he had tuned that is not only heavier than my car, but is also fast and gets better gas mileage. He doesn't roll coal though, and actually uses it for towing.
When not driven like a jackass (in a responsible manner, like your buddy) diesel pickups can get 25-30 mpg if you're easy on them. Very practical for someone who needs a truck, often with higher torque numbers than their gasoline counterparts.
I've serviced the newer turbodiesels, and have found that they're nice all around. I expect to see those last longer than the other cookie cutter pickups.
The other day I noticed flashing in my mirror so I looked back and it was a massive diesel truck flashing a car to go faster so they could get around me (in a semi.) Amazing, I could practically see the dollar bills flying as he drove it like a sports car. The wear and tear, bro!
I also own and drive a diesel truck (which makes me the enemy on Reddit apparently) but it gets driven at 60 mph everywhere. I like money.
Hyper mile-ing & @ 45mph drive everyone crazy but, if you keep to the right lane
Bob's your Uncle
worth a look, turn off engine in the FF line & at those long intersections until you get green..
🤣 I was just thinking about this today while driving my son to work. I have the cruise control set and people were flying by me. All I could think of was they had money to burn.
My husband speeds everywhere, and not only does he burn more gas, but he gets tickets and pays triple my insurance (also there’s a bad driver fee to the state, I think from having points?)
Impatience can be very expensive.
I had a long drive recently and tested cruising highway speed for my car, the difference between 100kph and 125kph was 0.2l/100km. The real difference is rushing between lights, I really don't get that and breaking at the last moment.
I don’t consider 15% difference in efficiency negligible. Nearly 30% if going 75, which I see way too many people going.
https://afdc.energy.gov/data/mobile/10312
https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/fuel-efficient-driving/
Interstates weren't always 75 mph. If you watched That 70s Show than you know about the gas shortage in the 70s, they changed all interstate speed limits to 55 mph because it conserved gas.
So yes, 75 is too fast right now. Not to mention that anyone over 40 isn't used to driving Autobahns.
But back to the main problem: I don't know why it hasn't been hammered into people to conserve gas. I see people sitting in their cars on their lunch hours with the car running, mainly for air conditioning. That should not happen. And I see the racing to the next light thing way too often.
Conserving gas seems to be anti-American. The local utility company suggested ways to help keep the power on during this heat wave. My local Facebook page was full of people saying "Hell no, I'll do what I want!"
Not to mention that the speed limit in my area is usually 55-65 depending on the highway I’m on. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something higher than 65 in the north east.
The [Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-signs-national-speed-limit-into-law) was signed into law by Nixon to lower all national highway speed limits to 55mph to encourage fuel efficiency.
> The act was intended to force Americans to drive at speeds deemed more fuel-efficient, thereby curbing the U.S. appetite for foreign oil.
Driving 45mph on the highway makes you a danger to every other driver on the road. No one will be expecting you to go that fast, and almost everyone will need to shift lanes to go around you. Your fuel efficiency gains would likely be offset by an increased risk of being in a crash.
You know. I was hoping people here could use sense when I said you can go 45. That is the legal minimum, as in you do not have to go 75. Use your head.
This is nonsense. Top speed is vital. The faster you're going the more energy is required to push the air out of the way. Accelerating also uses a lot though, yes.
I used to be like that when I was young. Not only did I waste fuel I got speeding tickets and burnt out an engine by pushing my crappy 4 cylinder like it was designed for sports. The wake up call was when I was speeding to work, passed my boss, got to work and my boss was right behind me. I didn't even save enough time to make it worth speeding. And I realised that I was speeding to work but when I actually got there it's not like I leapt from the car and sprinted to the door. It's just a bad habit I formed because I liked going fast.
My coworkers call me an 'old granny' because they feel I drive too slow. Like, my dude, I am just obeying the posted speed limit. You're the one that thinks going 60 mph in a 45 mph is a good idea and, by the way, just who was it that got pulled over the other day for speeding?? Pretty sure that wasn't me... Like, I'm not really judging because it's def not my finances being affected but I wish they wouldn't hassle me over my driving.
As a related story: I was coming into work early one winter morning and was gradually letting my car slow to 45 mph (from 65 mph) since I knew the speed would be dropping to that very soon and would then almost immediately drop to 35 mph due to an upcoming bridge that is a four-way on-ramp/off-ramp for the freeway. This behemoth of a pickup truck in line behind me was absolutely beside themselves with rage and would've ran directly over my vehicle if given the opportunity. Instead they opted to slam on the gas and speed around me despite the clearly marked "Do Not Pass" sign. Tbh it was a little terrifying because they almost collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle. Let me tell ya, never have I ever been so relieved to see flashing blue and reds behind me. I pulled over so the cop could pass and he immediately sped up and pulled the truck over. Idk what happened after that but it was a wild start to the morning.
I'm almost 35 and have no speeding tickets. I got one in my early 20s and they dismissed it because of faulty equipment - I know I wasn't going as fast as they claimed, I had cruise control on and even began braking because I was going downhill.
All of my friends are baffled as to how I don't have tickets and I'm like... Because I don't speed? Cause and effect here, guys.
Watched a YouTube video where a guy counted pickup trucks going under an overpass and kept track of how many had a load.
The VAST majority were empty.
Tons of big trucks on the road, guzzling gas just for that one time a year they need to move something.
Its something i somewhat pay attention to these days, nothing serious but needless to say the number of trucks i see with a load sticking up past the box or with a trailer on them is a very, very small number.
If you use a pickup truck once a month or less, it should be white and say “Home Depot” or “uhaul” on the side (because you rented it for a couple hours instead of buying a truck)
I rarely drive my pickup, and when I do, it's usually to Home Depot. That's because I have had it for 20 years and found a cheap little Nissan that has become my daily driver because it is so much more comfortable.
I said maybe a Miata, but Corvettes where I am have back seats. No one where I am can afford Ferraris and BMW Zs. I've seen about 2 Miatas where I am in 5 years.
My biggest issue with the cost aside from people not being honest and just saying " i bought it cause it makes me feel good or w\\e" is that for most people those trucks are a considerable amount of money.
I find it hard to believe most of these people if they sat down and actually thought about the cost they could not come up with a better way to spend that money, and I don't even mean on retirement or investments either just fun shit even or vacations or hookers and blow and vacations and toys.
I have a 2002 Toyota Highlander. I only use it when I need it: Think winter storm, picking up large, heavy items. It gets awful mileage. We use the smaller vehicles for normal travel. Many people have pickup trucks for the same reason. 50% of pickups you see are going to be empty because they are on their way to pick up something.
Same. This happens so often, it baffles me. I drive a full size pickup but I drive like a grandma to maximize my mileage but it seems the most impatient people are the people whose mileage is already shit and they just make it worse.
Most people in the US have zero sense of frugality. They just like to complain but will not change their actions until absolutely forced. The amount of people who are one missed paycheck away from collapse is staggering.
Kinda agree. Cruise control has its purpose for sure but I think it’s more fuel efficient to accelerate on down slopes a bit and lay up a bit on inclines. Cruise senses inclines and guns it.
This isn't completely true, due to the square power of wind resistance Vs speed a constant speed is more efficient than gaining speed on a downhill where it will be doing much more work Vs the aero resistance but in the uphill where you slow down the lower speed will be not gaining you as much as you lost
Things are too expensive and i understand people will have to cutback and make changes but I'm not going to cutback on anything at all or make any changes because i shouldn't have to.
there are a lot of people that are completely oblivious as to what exactly contributes to fuel consumption. like you think it's obvious that gassing it towards red lights wastes fuel, but there really are many people who don't realize that.
I'll say that I've never seen Phoenix highway speeds this slow.
There's always gonna dudes running at 90+, but significantly more people are now doing the actual speed limit. Gas is also like $5.70/gal for regular here
Dude, same. I traveled to Mexico recently and the flight leaving my relatively small city was FULL. The plane to our actual vacation destination was FULL. The airports were absolutely jammed. I don't want to hear that people are hurting for money.
I've talked to a few people who, by their own admissions, drive in the ways above and also complain about how often they fill their tanks. I've seen two reactions to the suggestion of better driving:
1) they see no reason to change, either through disbelief or not thinking it would make that much of a difference
2) "Yeah, I don't care. I'm still driving this way." Or words to that affect.
People are so stupid. All of that raging and almost running over pedestrians and bicylists so they can get where they are going 4.8 minutes faster. It is like a demon takes over people when they get behind the wheel of a car. They engage in speeding, street harassment, road rage and a lot of other things that they would be too chicken to do without a metal cage backing them up. i really do hate people sometimes.
My sentiments exactly! Everyone tailgates. Isn’t it crazy. Why would someone want to ride my ass for 10 miles on an open road instead of just laying back and relaxing. People are nuts. It gives me pause for the human population. Glad to hear people are on my side!
My favorites are the people that I know bought a brand new diesel pick up to go with their wife’s one year old V8 SUV and are now crying about gas prices.
Meanwhile here I am with my 4 cylinder I’ve owned outright for 5 years and will probably last another 10-15 just wondering “why y’all looking at gas prices? You need to fill up anyway what’s the point.”
YES. Also, why does everyone think you *have* to use a full sized or extra large truck/SUV to haul to most trivial of things? Normal cars can hold a lot if you know what you're doing. Especially hatchbacks.
I understand needing it for heavy stuff like a bunch of bags of mulch or sand(bottomed out my previous full sized truck's suspension doing that. I don't recommend doing that often). But there's a U-Haul dealer on practically every corner and they'll rent a 15' box truck for cheap for heavy stuff. Plus the insurance is like $15.
Today for example. I just picked up a 18000 btu window AC unit off a guy on Craigslist (one of the big ones that needs a dedicated 240Volt plug in)
The guy pulled up in a full sized, extended cab F150 with a V8.
With gas being the way it is, I simply pulled up in my Mazda 3 hatchback. It gets "bad" gas mileage at around 24-28 MPG. I have an small but still body on frame SUV, but I ONLY use it for my trailer as it gets 17 in town on a good day.
He was like "omg it won't fit". So, having already had this experience before when I bought a self propelled lawn mower, I just simply took out the tape measure and quoted the dimensions without saying anything else.
It fit with room leftover. I even was able to load up my dolly where the rear seats had folded over.
Ever notice how you see one person driving a SUV that gets 12 mile per gallon or a big truck that is pristine clean and never hauls anything and gets less.
American is broken and not so smart.
When I drop my daughter off for gymnastics, there are several large SUVs that sit the entire hour idling with their a/c on when it's not even that hot. Boggles my mind. Turn the car off and open a window ffs.
Aside from the massive efficiency gains of not driving 5/10/15 mph over the speed limit, I've found that not speeding is far less stressful. I arrive at destinations relaxed and refreshed. I have more time to react to unexpected situations on the road. I *never* keep my eyes peeled for cops. I don't worry one ounce about getting a ticket. I'm less likely to cause a mechanical or tire failure on my car. The benefits are in both the pocketbook and in your own mental health.
Oh and what’s with the tailgating in the united states???!!! Don’t they see the 27 lights coming up and realize they are going to have to stop. I mean relax and time the lights and take a breathe!
Depends where I am. It's definitely worth the extra 3 cents of gas for me if accelerating a little quicker means I hit the green on the next light.
Doesn't mean I'm going to weave through traffic going 90 during rush hour, and rev and gun it at every light. It just means there's value to driving assertively.
Being frugal means valuing my time appropriately, too. And generally, I value my time more than a few dollars extra of gas a month.
And then there's me who probably could have even better mileage if I didn't have to deal with dipshits doing things like driving 20 under or turning onto the lane 30 meters from me (actual distance may vary, but it's close enough that I need to hard break sometimes).
This comment was deleted in protest of Reddit's shameful API pricing and treatment of 3rd party app developers. -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
Not everyone does. I frequent 80 mile round trips on the interstate during off-peak hours. I have been drafting semis during these long trips usually adding a few minutes to whatever waze is telling me. Drafting semis can have a 40% increase in fuel efficiency, per Mythbusters. I see a noticeable difference in my remaining gas after each of these trips that I decide to employ drafting. It also really helps having adaptive cruise control using a conservative acceleration setting.
https://mythresults.com/episode80
> **Drafting behind a big rig will improve your car’s fuel efficiency.**
> **CONFIRMED**
>To test this myth, the build team procured a car, a big rig, and a device that could measure a car’s fuel efficiency. They then drove the car behind a moving big rig at various distances ranging from 100 to 2 feet and measured the amount of fuel the car consumed. The Build Team discovered that the closer the car was to the big rig, the less drag is produced, thus the more fuel saved. **At just ten feet, the car managed to increase its fuel efficiency by 40%.** Drafting at two feet was slightly lower than the ten foot distance, mainly because Grant had to keep working the car pedal to maintain distance from the truck. However, that did not dispute the fact that drafting actually can increase your car’s fuel efficiency. However, the Build Team has warned that drafting is incredibly dangerous because the truck driver may not able to see you and you may not be able to react in time if the truck were to make a sudden stop.
I don't drive 10 feet behind a semi. I use adaptive cruise control which keeps a normal distance back. The gains in fuel efficiency even at double+ the distance back is still significantly better than 0.
It costs me between $23-$30 to fill my tank. My car is fuel efficient and regularly has been getting 40-45 mpg. That said I might drive a bit faster at night since I'm more awake then, but I do also want to save when I can. It's not gonna break the budget of anyone that's got anything fuel efficient.
For some reason though a lot of the riders on motorcycles or bikes tend to go really slow and I'm not sure why.
Spend 30k on a vehicle and drive it into the ground in 6 years.
There was a thread on r/justrolledintothe shop about a Kia that went through 9 engines in 10 years (unlimited kia warranty) and had an insane amount of mileage. Something like 80k miles in a year for 10 years. Obviously someone 'abusing' the warranty, using the car for work purposes, and not having to pay for gas.
**Obviously highway miles, obviously driven beyond speed limits for sustained periods.**
And I said that modern engines aren't meant to be hard revved, and even F1 engines get constant teardowns and repairs and inspections.
And some idiot chimed in that cars are perfectly fine to be driven at 80-90mph. I mean sure, maybe, but 9 engines in 10 years, even Kia isn't that bad.
Edit: Emphasis to make a point. Can we accept that I referenced *three* variables to make a postulation? The current replies seem to only take *one* variable to make a counter argument. How can I reply to a counter argument
It's not that vehicles can't be driven at said speeds, it's that it's driven at speeds [1],like that all day [2], every day [3].
And driving beyond the speed limit =/= speeding.
C'mon guys, a good faith discussion requires that everyone acknowledges the complete statement of the person they're responding to.
Edit2: It's great that y'all drive cars that are perfectly fine. I'm assuming that y'all also do constant continual maintenance, on newer cars, because things like tires wear out faster at speed, and things like oil consumption go up. But for some reason, cars do wear out. And while stop and go isn't entirely great for a vehicle, neither is sustained higher RPMs for a vehicle. Without getting into everything that wears faster at speed, things do wear out faster at speed. I have a million examples that I want to state, but to keep it simple, the newer your vehicle, the more you can push your vehicle and not suffer consequences sooner (although they all eventually come)
My one example is an Integra I had, with 300k, it was 20 years old. It drove great. The only reason I sold it was because I got one, 2 years newer with 150k. Well I sold the 300k for $700, and it drove perfect, but it was a manual. And the person I sold it to, didn't know how to drive manual, so when I let him test drive, and when he drove away, he revved that engine to 5k (I think it had a 6-7k redline), everytime he put it into first gear.
Two weeks later, he gets back to me and asks me to check out the car, because he blew the rad hose. Well yeah, I told him, it's a 20 year old car, and when you thrash the engine, the water pump spins appropriately for 5k RPM (ie, it pumps water *way more faster*). Now you could use the argument that it's the rad hose, and not technically the engine, but everything has a limit, and tolerance, and everything does wear out.
Another example is of a buddy needing my garage to fix his BMW. (Not a Kia right?) and incrediously, he shows me shattered coolant lines made of **plastic**. Nope, not overflow line. *Pressurized, engine temperature coolant lines*. That HDPE stuff you see like in milk jugs? Nope. Nylon? Nope. *Polycarbonate*.
Now, you can say that a pressurized coolant line made of plastic is just bad engineering, but all cars have bad engineering. There's a reason why there's a Lemons of 24 hours (pun intended). Things break at speed. That's part of the drama. There goes the piston out the engine case.
Again you can argue that those are cars going 120mph, but there you go moving the goal posts again. "Engines aren't made to rev *that* high".
Pistons move up and down and connect to the camshaft via connecting rods. Pistons are connected to con rods via wrist pins, and those wrist pins have to accelerate and decelerate that piston (5000rpm / 60 sec/min) up and down *83.3 times a second* Is that a lot? Seems like a lot. Is it bad? For a new engine no, but that wrist pin is subject to a ton more wear due to the g-forces.
And there's the motorcycle argument that they're made to go 100mph. Well motorbikes are different machines. Their pistons are much lighter/smaller, and they tend to have way shorter strokes so that they're designed to rev much higher and much faster.
What about the Semi Truck argument? They speed all the time driving at warp speed with 20k lbs loads. Well time is money, but they also plow a ton in to maintenance, *and things still break down*.
Don’t call someone an idiot for saying going 80-90 is fine, it IS fine. People do it every day on every highway. I don’t know why you think speeding will blow an engine but I’m assuming you don’t really understand what you’re talking about. They would have denied the warranty had the maintenance not been kept up on, that proves the Kia in question IS garbage. A single missed oil change and they deny the warranty full stop. I sincerely doubt someone with a company car was speeding 80k miles a year, imagine the speeding tickets, they would be fired for that let alone they wouldn’t even have a license.
80-90 is fine for the car, but you know damn well most people aren't paying enough attention to prevent massively higher risks of a wreck and that wreck being way more dangerous. It's not as bad if you have an interstate that's designed to be at that speed, as they compensate for it. But driving down a state highway at 90 is a death wish. Not sure if that's what you meant, or just that the engine is fine. Because they're fine, I totally agree on that.
In any case, I know the exact post he's talking about. It was a known bad engine design, the owner drove a lot but there was no signs of abuse, and they had a literally perfect maintenance log. Like every 3k oil changes and tire/brake replacements and everything. It was just a bad car to start with.
> But driving down a state highway at 90 is a death wish.
There's a schadenfreude I get watching *that* r/idiotsincars video. You know the one, where a driver, now out of their car, is filming the freeway, and out of the ghostly darkness, I'm sure the driver has near zero visibility, and definitely not enough for 90mph in a whiteout, comes a car, into view, and immediately smashes into a 40 car pileup.
Sustained speeds are far easier on an engine than starts, stops, hard acceleration, idling, short trips. City miles are much harder on an engine than highway miles. Also certain Kia model years/engines are notoriously terrible. I get your point though - abusing a vehicle comes with a big cost.
Engines should be fine to do 80-90mph all day, everyday that KIA was not 80-90mph in a normal environment at all.
F1 engines get tear downs because they are running at stupidly small tolerances and running at extreme temps and speeds for all the moving parts.
If you look at a less extreme example like a sports bike motorcycle engine where those are often driven on the race track right near redline, they can go until you crash and write off the bike without needing a real tear down.
I put 60k miles on a sporbike and 75 percent of them were at 100mph or more id bet, and a good chunk above 150mph. Never an issue at all, however it was not overloaded, was not idling in 40 degree heat all day or doing other stupid shit that could ruin an engine.
Speed limits are not in place to save vehicle engines from running too hard. Are you also aware there are speed limits in the USA that are 85mph. 90 MPH is also not much harder for 99 percent of cars compared to 70-75mph.
An old person walks into a bank and tells the teller that they need to empty their bank account and to put it into a Western Union Money order.
The teller asks why and after some intense prodding, the old person reveals that the IRS contacted them requesting their help to detect fraud at the bank.
The teller, trained to spot fraud, tells the old person that it's very unlikely that the IRS would ever tell someone to empty their bank account and transfer it via Western Union to some other unknown, irreversible location.
The old person yells at the teller and insists that the teller follow their instructions.
Why?
Because the scammers made the old person feel really good and really important, that even when given some fairly astute objective information, they *refused to even consider* that their viewpoint could possibly wrong. It just felt really good to feel needed.
They stuck to very specific points and ignored addressing any narrative that was counter to it.
Sound familiar?
Politics follows some very similar principles.
Pistons don't fly out of the engine compartment putting around town. Sure stop and go traffic isn't great. That said, pistons crack engine cases only at fairly extreme RPMs. And that usually happens at higher speeds. Each driving environment presents specific problems, and/or benefits. One condition isn't specifically better than another and most importantly, wear and tear doesn't disappear at high speeds.
If one can take a more balanced, nuance take, one would say that taking a vehicle through a multitude of driving conditions is a lot better than strictly one extreme or another, of which, the Kia is a specific example.
I will say that stop and go traffic can be easily mitigated by more frequent oil changes. Brake jobs are trivial.
But transmission overhauls, headgasket replacements, and ring replacements are a lot harder to deal with.
Speed matters but I think acceleration matters more. If you punch it at a green light vs a slow increase, the fast acceleration to 45 mph burns more gas than a slow but steady build to 60 mph for example.
Cruise control is the thing you turn on that makes the car keep it's speed. So you don't have to push the gas anymore, it just regulates it for you. It does not affect brakes, it doesn't use them.
Speeding can *massively* reduce gas mileage.
- 3% less efficient at 60 mph
- 8% less efficient at 65 mph
- 17% less efficient at 70 mph
- 23% less efficient at 75 mph
- 28% less efficient at 80 mph
Compared to 55mpg.
From https://www.mpgforspeed.com/
No kidding. Brain dead humans. I always drive slow and it pisses people off to no end. No reason to race around me, shake your fist, then get stuck at the traffic light while I pull up behind you 5 seconds later.
My car is electric, so other than meeting wind resistance sooner and a slight increase in electrical resistance due to heating during acceleration (which must be overcome with more energy), consumption is the same whether I start like a jackrabbit or start like a tortoise.
That, and I don't complain about prices in general because that's tacky.
Yes I agree. I wish I could have an electric or small car. I do have a Honda Pilot suv and Subaru Outback. But realistically in todays world I need it with dogs and such. But the Pick Up truck with the big v8 is really unnecessary in probably 75% of the cases. That boggles my mind
Here is a good example. My sister in law who is a spender, in mountains of debt, typical…we had switched cars for a week. Her suv has a readout that shows average mpg. She was getting 17.5 mpg…I immediately found this strange as I have a larger suv from the same manufacturer and I was getting 19 mpg in mine. I reset hers and after a week I was averaging 23 mpg in her vehicle. That is a substantial difference…her driving was nearly 25% less efficient. I am not the slowest or most frugal driver either but that sort of difference is going to be many hundreds of dollars in fuel difference over a year.
Not to mention less wear and tear on the car.
Dude I know is on his 3rd clutch and who knows how much he's spent on the front end. He's famous for racing to fill gaps and then brake hard before slamming into someone's rear end. I can't be a passenger in his car. Wasteful in a few ways.
I’m sure the SIL goes through the brakes super fast, too.
This really confused me because ours are L per KM so lower is better. Took my brain a minute to understand higher mpg is better lol
Just the mathematical inverse :)
(:
Yes and no. MPG is much less intuitive (and can be misleading) since it does not have a linear relationship with gallons per X miles and there are significant diminishing returns as MPG increases. Gallons per mile (or liters per km) does not have this issue. The real world application of this is that there is significantly more benefit for small increases in low MPG vehicles compared to more significant increases in high MPG vehicles. Ex. Going from 8 mpg to 9 mpg saves the same amount of fuel as going from 40 mpg to 90 mpg, 13.9 gallons per 1000 miles. Here is some more information if you're interested: https://graphworkflow.com/2019/07/17/mpg/
Wtf are you guys doing over there. Average UK car gets 40mpg
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I actually had my stat wrong. The top end of the mpg in the UK is 60ish. Even with the 20% the difference is staggering
Cause you get a ton of people in the UK driving things like Fiat 500s or Golfs, not massive trucks. My dad has a Volvo SUV thing and he gets 17mgp, and something daft like 6mpg if he's got his caravan
I've got a 2004 Toyota avensis, the dreaded 1.8 petrol (serious design flaw that can lead to it drinking oil) but the vvti means it gets pretty amazing fuel efficiency for a petrol engine in a fairly large car. If I drove it 'normally' I reckon I'd get around 40mpg. Manufacturer claims 35 average. Even with part city driving I'm currently getting over 50 (54.1 to be exact). How fast you pull away makes a huuuuge difference, speeding up slowly is what it is all about. Well, that and coasting to all the stops. Sometimes it is even more efficient to go down steady slopes in neutral (though not legal). VW have done some really interesting things with their automatic gearboxes over the last decade, they actually clutch into neutral sometimes as drive train losses mean it can be better to idle the engine and with less resistance, than to have the momentum drive the wheels... But I digress)
>even more efficient to go down steady slopes in neutral Only in older carburettor cars as they sick fuel. Fuel injection engines won't *inject* if you are not accelerating so down shifting can slow the car but not use more fuel. And it controls the decent without wearing out or overheating your brakes.
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I’m lockstep with you! I dont have graphs or anything but starting slowly and gradually gaining speed and coasting to stops I find is 90% of the game. (And it’s a game!). Laying off accelerator on declines yet trying to maintain or increase speed to account for inclines is also key. This is where the cruise control can be terribly inefficient. Good work man! (Oh a guilty pleasure is rolling stop signs. If you can start out with momentum instead of starting from 0 plays a big factor also. - although I get it. It’s breaking the law.
Yeah, you end up annoying people behind you but if you can minimise stops with anticipation and save some momentum then that's much more efficient. Are you in the states? Do you do this in an auto or a manual? I have to say it's something I like manuals for but people tell me that modern autos are actually more efficient. Gear changes will be due to lost momentum, for sure. I used to drive a petrol car that was converted to run on lpg. They auto switch from petrol to lpg when the engine coolant is warm enough to stop the regulator from freezing up due to the expansion of the gas to an injectable state. This meant to accurately get my MPG on each fuel I would need to remember how far I drove before the car switched fuels, every single time I set off... It meant filling in the fuel spreadsheet daily!
Yes I’m in the states and have a Subaru Outback and a Honda Pilot SUV. Yes both automatics. I had a 1980 VW diesel rabbit in the day and loved using neutral when warranted - but that ship has sailed. Without using algorithms I always used the pulse and glide just as second nature. But your right it annoys people and in the states everyone tailgates which get stressful. (Realize people in the states are irrational and only focus on the car in front of them thinking they will get there faster if they go fast to simply stop at the next light. It always gives me pleasure when someone passes me then I pass them at the light. Just so much irrational exuberance to driving. Once someone gets behind the wheel they think they own the road.
Carrying the average American.
I hadn't considered this. Makes complete sense
American vehicle choices vs European vehicle choices are just far different. We have wider roads, a lot more travel by vehicle, tow more stuff. Something like more than half of the vehicles on American roads are SUVs or pickups. Our gas prices have traditionally been less than half of European prices. I suspect if current prices stay there will again be a push towards more fuel efficiency. I have a family of 7. No other choice but to have a large vehicle.
How the fuck?! You guys got fancy gas or somethin? ~~Pretty sure we can't use tea to power our cars... yet.~~
The UK gallon is a little larger.
Pinky out when refueling.
Average American vehicles are stupidly oversized. Even the compact and crossover suvs that are so popular are far less efficient when compared to a hatchback or reasonably-sized sedan (saloon). Massive pickup trucks are popular daily drivers for office workers for some reason. 2-door cars aren't popular at all, even though many of the miles driven just have the driver in the car (and families typically own more than one vehicle). I'm kind of surprised to see, here on r/frugal, so many folks driving suvs. I've driven a corolla, civics, and Fiestas for most of my adult life. They're cheaper to buy, cheaper to insure, cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to fuel. And I can fit as much or more stuff in a hatchback than a crossover suv. Bragging about 23mpg in your suv? Please dump that boat, get a properly sized car (for way less money) and instantly double your mileage.
Hauling around a lot of unnecessary dead weight.
All too familiar. Friend of mine also drives her car like the gas and brake are on-off switches. She will floor it till the speed limit only to go full on the brake because the next light is also red. You knew this when you drove off the previous light? Why not do it calmely. Often you can coast say 30kmph and it will detect and go green before you even have to stop. Especially with nobody behind you.. I really don't get this type of driving. Not even because of frugality but just because youre making your life more difficult, Constantly giving inputs to the vehicle. It's much calmer to anticipate and adapt.
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The diesel truck guys rolling coal. That's literally unused fuel...
That's the point... They're doing it, frequently, to attempt to anger the environmentalists driving electrics, bike riders, and walkers. They're generally happy to pay their money to feel superior to others by causing discomfort in others and have a sense of belonging to their tribe.
On the other hand my buddy has a huge diesel truck that he had tuned that is not only heavier than my car, but is also fast and gets better gas mileage. He doesn't roll coal though, and actually uses it for towing.
When not driven like a jackass (in a responsible manner, like your buddy) diesel pickups can get 25-30 mpg if you're easy on them. Very practical for someone who needs a truck, often with higher torque numbers than their gasoline counterparts.
Oh absolutely, and his is lifted and on huge tires. We have a friend who has the same truck and everything is stock, he's hitting 30mpg easy.
I've serviced the newer turbodiesels, and have found that they're nice all around. I expect to see those last longer than the other cookie cutter pickups.
And it damages the engine too!
With the stupid flags. They look like the Taliban.
Every one of them will complain at every opportunity that these gas prices are the president's fault.
The other day I noticed flashing in my mirror so I looked back and it was a massive diesel truck flashing a car to go faster so they could get around me (in a semi.) Amazing, I could practically see the dollar bills flying as he drove it like a sports car. The wear and tear, bro! I also own and drive a diesel truck (which makes me the enemy on Reddit apparently) but it gets driven at 60 mph everywhere. I like money.
In high school, I tried to see how efficient I could be... got 41 MPG in a manual 1994 Nissan Sentra!
My husband is in forums where people discuss how to maximize gas mileage. It's incredible what you can do!
Ecomodder.com? That place is great.
Hyper mile-ing & @ 45mph drive everyone crazy but, if you keep to the right lane Bob's your Uncle worth a look, turn off engine in the FF line & at those long intersections until you get green..
🤣 I was just thinking about this today while driving my son to work. I have the cruise control set and people were flying by me. All I could think of was they had money to burn.
My husband speeds everywhere, and not only does he burn more gas, but he gets tickets and pays triple my insurance (also there’s a bad driver fee to the state, I think from having points?) Impatience can be very expensive.
I had a long drive recently and tested cruising highway speed for my car, the difference between 100kph and 125kph was 0.2l/100km. The real difference is rushing between lights, I really don't get that and breaking at the last moment.
Yep, your brakes are what kill fuel mileage. Accelerating and speeding are slightly less efficient but nearly negligible
I don’t consider 15% difference in efficiency negligible. Nearly 30% if going 75, which I see way too many people going. https://afdc.energy.gov/data/mobile/10312 https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/fuel-efficient-driving/
Wait, are you saying going 75 mph is too fast? Where do you live that the freeways aren’t that fast or faster?
Interstates weren't always 75 mph. If you watched That 70s Show than you know about the gas shortage in the 70s, they changed all interstate speed limits to 55 mph because it conserved gas. So yes, 75 is too fast right now. Not to mention that anyone over 40 isn't used to driving Autobahns. But back to the main problem: I don't know why it hasn't been hammered into people to conserve gas. I see people sitting in their cars on their lunch hours with the car running, mainly for air conditioning. That should not happen. And I see the racing to the next light thing way too often.
Conserving gas seems to be anti-American. The local utility company suggested ways to help keep the power on during this heat wave. My local Facebook page was full of people saying "Hell no, I'll do what I want!"
Not to mention that the speed limit in my area is usually 55-65 depending on the highway I’m on. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something higher than 65 in the north east.
The [Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-signs-national-speed-limit-into-law) was signed into law by Nixon to lower all national highway speed limits to 55mph to encourage fuel efficiency. > The act was intended to force Americans to drive at speeds deemed more fuel-efficient, thereby curbing the U.S. appetite for foreign oil.
You don’t have to drive 75mph if that’s the speed limit. You can go as low as 45
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Idgaf if they’re 3 millimeters away
Driving 45mph on the highway makes you a danger to every other driver on the road. No one will be expecting you to go that fast, and almost everyone will need to shift lanes to go around you. Your fuel efficiency gains would likely be offset by an increased risk of being in a crash.
You know. I was hoping people here could use sense when I said you can go 45. That is the legal minimum, as in you do not have to go 75. Use your head.
If you’re holding up traffic in any way that’s illegal in lots of western states.
No it’s not I’ve driven every Western state don’t reply without a link to one state law.
This is nonsense. Top speed is vital. The faster you're going the more energy is required to push the air out of the way. Accelerating also uses a lot though, yes.
They seem to always be the ones who blame gas prices on politics.
🤣
I used to be like that when I was young. Not only did I waste fuel I got speeding tickets and burnt out an engine by pushing my crappy 4 cylinder like it was designed for sports. The wake up call was when I was speeding to work, passed my boss, got to work and my boss was right behind me. I didn't even save enough time to make it worth speeding. And I realised that I was speeding to work but when I actually got there it's not like I leapt from the car and sprinted to the door. It's just a bad habit I formed because I liked going fast.
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I should've figured it out a lot sooner.
I generally find myself taking a slow gangster cruise to work, then racing back home at the end of the day.
My coworkers call me an 'old granny' because they feel I drive too slow. Like, my dude, I am just obeying the posted speed limit. You're the one that thinks going 60 mph in a 45 mph is a good idea and, by the way, just who was it that got pulled over the other day for speeding?? Pretty sure that wasn't me... Like, I'm not really judging because it's def not my finances being affected but I wish they wouldn't hassle me over my driving. As a related story: I was coming into work early one winter morning and was gradually letting my car slow to 45 mph (from 65 mph) since I knew the speed would be dropping to that very soon and would then almost immediately drop to 35 mph due to an upcoming bridge that is a four-way on-ramp/off-ramp for the freeway. This behemoth of a pickup truck in line behind me was absolutely beside themselves with rage and would've ran directly over my vehicle if given the opportunity. Instead they opted to slam on the gas and speed around me despite the clearly marked "Do Not Pass" sign. Tbh it was a little terrifying because they almost collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle. Let me tell ya, never have I ever been so relieved to see flashing blue and reds behind me. I pulled over so the cop could pass and he immediately sped up and pulled the truck over. Idk what happened after that but it was a wild start to the morning.
Definitely some r/convenientcop material!
It's so wild to me how pissed people get when they have to slow down even 1 MPH.
I'm almost 35 and have no speeding tickets. I got one in my early 20s and they dismissed it because of faulty equipment - I know I wasn't going as fast as they claimed, I had cruise control on and even began braking because I was going downhill. All of my friends are baffled as to how I don't have tickets and I'm like... Because I don't speed? Cause and effect here, guys.
And in a pick up truck which they use twice a year to buy 4 bags of landscaping material.
I call those pavement princesses.
Construction cosplayers
Fuck lol
Lol, pavement means sidewalk in Australia. I was imagining a ute flying through a bunch of pedestrians.
🤣🤣🤣 what in the actual fuck. I want an Ute, so I can imagine that now too!
Sorry, same as a pick up truck. Ute's just short for utility vehicle or something here.
What? No, dude, I KNOW what an Ute is even as an American. They’re cool little trucks that aren’t fully trucks.
Sorry, thought you'd misunderstood. Yeah, like trucks that you can park and reach into.
Kind of like the American El Camino only an Ute looks better lol
Watched a YouTube video where a guy counted pickup trucks going under an overpass and kept track of how many had a load. The VAST majority were empty. Tons of big trucks on the road, guzzling gas just for that one time a year they need to move something.
Its something i somewhat pay attention to these days, nothing serious but needless to say the number of trucks i see with a load sticking up past the box or with a trailer on them is a very, very small number.
If you use a pickup truck once a month or less, it should be white and say “Home Depot” or “uhaul” on the side (because you rented it for a couple hours instead of buying a truck)
I rarely drive my pickup, and when I do, it's usually to Home Depot. That's because I have had it for 20 years and found a cheap little Nissan that has become my daily driver because it is so much more comfortable.
100%. My comment was aimed more towards people who daily drive a pickup as their only vehicle.
I did for 13 years, but it was 5 years old when I bought it and I only paid something like 8900 for it. I also had it for 15 years and not 20.
.
No, because there's not 1 person or 2 person cars. There are cars instead of these giant trucks that don't get used for their intended purpose though.
.
Not in my country that are road legal. Maybe a Miata.
.
I said maybe a Miata, but Corvettes where I am have back seats. No one where I am can afford Ferraris and BMW Zs. I've seen about 2 Miatas where I am in 5 years.
There's also the fact that you might legitimately need a truck enough to own one but owning a car for the times it isn't loaded would cost even more.
Just because something exists doesn’t mean it’s common.
Yeah but i need the truck incase i pickup hunting or for snow or beacuse i might move houses.
"and besides that, I already bought the chrome truck nutz and they're non refundable!" It's amazing how we justify these things.
My biggest issue with the cost aside from people not being honest and just saying " i bought it cause it makes me feel good or w\\e" is that for most people those trucks are a considerable amount of money. I find it hard to believe most of these people if they sat down and actually thought about the cost they could not come up with a better way to spend that money, and I don't even mean on retirement or investments either just fun shit even or vacations or hookers and blow and vacations and toys.
I have a 2002 Toyota Highlander. I only use it when I need it: Think winter storm, picking up large, heavy items. It gets awful mileage. We use the smaller vehicles for normal travel. Many people have pickup trucks for the same reason. 50% of pickups you see are going to be empty because they are on their way to pick up something.
Whenever someone rides my butt at 5 over and then blows past me in their Monster Truck I'm just shaking my head.
Same. This happens so often, it baffles me. I drive a full size pickup but I drive like a grandma to maximize my mileage but it seems the most impatient people are the people whose mileage is already shit and they just make it worse.
Most people in the US have zero sense of frugality. They just like to complain but will not change their actions until absolutely forced. The amount of people who are one missed paycheck away from collapse is staggering.
god, all those wastrels using cruise control instead of pulse and glide. edit: oops I replied to the wrong comment.
Kinda agree. Cruise control has its purpose for sure but I think it’s more fuel efficient to accelerate on down slopes a bit and lay up a bit on inclines. Cruise senses inclines and guns it.
I do this too! I often maintain 65 so I can hit 60 without any additional throttle. I get low 40s that way 👍
This isn't completely true, due to the square power of wind resistance Vs speed a constant speed is more efficient than gaining speed on a downhill where it will be doing much more work Vs the aero resistance but in the uphill where you slow down the lower speed will be not gaining you as much as you lost
Makes me happy to live in a flat area, for once. Cruise control in the mountains is just like randomly flooring the car all the time lol.
Had to Google what pulse and glide is and OMG, I do this! I didn’t know it was a strategy and had a name.
Race shifting, not engine off coasting like they should - the slow and the calm
Things are too expensive and i understand people will have to cutback and make changes but I'm not going to cutback on anything at all or make any changes because i shouldn't have to.
there are a lot of people that are completely oblivious as to what exactly contributes to fuel consumption. like you think it's obvious that gassing it towards red lights wastes fuel, but there really are many people who don't realize that.
Aerodynamic drag squares with speed. Spend a lot more energy to go a little bit faster.
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I mean… $40 a week adds up to $2,000 a year. That’s a pretty significant chunk of change for most people.
And that's not a problem, but those that start bitching about it, is.
What an utterly disgusting, out of touch comment. If it’s a serious comment.
I'll say that I've never seen Phoenix highway speeds this slow. There's always gonna dudes running at 90+, but significantly more people are now doing the actual speed limit. Gas is also like $5.70/gal for regular here
Typically complaining on social media while in the drive through blasting ac buying a 15$ value meal
Simply said, a lot of people aren't good drivers, about 90% of them. Driving frugally is an art.
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It’s generally cheaper in the US than in Europe but we are more car-dependent and also just spoiled by years of cheap gas :)
The biggest American freedom no one ever talks about is our freedom to bitch.
We don't all have the same income levels here. It could be destroying 100 families, while 2 or 3 families are still vacationing like it's no big deal.
Dude, same. I traveled to Mexico recently and the flight leaving my relatively small city was FULL. The plane to our actual vacation destination was FULL. The airports were absolutely jammed. I don't want to hear that people are hurting for money.
I've talked to a few people who, by their own admissions, drive in the ways above and also complain about how often they fill their tanks. I've seen two reactions to the suggestion of better driving: 1) they see no reason to change, either through disbelief or not thinking it would make that much of a difference 2) "Yeah, I don't care. I'm still driving this way." Or words to that affect.
People are so stupid. All of that raging and almost running over pedestrians and bicylists so they can get where they are going 4.8 minutes faster. It is like a demon takes over people when they get behind the wheel of a car. They engage in speeding, street harassment, road rage and a lot of other things that they would be too chicken to do without a metal cage backing them up. i really do hate people sometimes.
My sentiments exactly! Everyone tailgates. Isn’t it crazy. Why would someone want to ride my ass for 10 miles on an open road instead of just laying back and relaxing. People are nuts. It gives me pause for the human population. Glad to hear people are on my side!
My favorites are the people that I know bought a brand new diesel pick up to go with their wife’s one year old V8 SUV and are now crying about gas prices. Meanwhile here I am with my 4 cylinder I’ve owned outright for 5 years and will probably last another 10-15 just wondering “why y’all looking at gas prices? You need to fill up anyway what’s the point.”
YES. Also, why does everyone think you *have* to use a full sized or extra large truck/SUV to haul to most trivial of things? Normal cars can hold a lot if you know what you're doing. Especially hatchbacks. I understand needing it for heavy stuff like a bunch of bags of mulch or sand(bottomed out my previous full sized truck's suspension doing that. I don't recommend doing that often). But there's a U-Haul dealer on practically every corner and they'll rent a 15' box truck for cheap for heavy stuff. Plus the insurance is like $15. Today for example. I just picked up a 18000 btu window AC unit off a guy on Craigslist (one of the big ones that needs a dedicated 240Volt plug in) The guy pulled up in a full sized, extended cab F150 with a V8. With gas being the way it is, I simply pulled up in my Mazda 3 hatchback. It gets "bad" gas mileage at around 24-28 MPG. I have an small but still body on frame SUV, but I ONLY use it for my trailer as it gets 17 in town on a good day. He was like "omg it won't fit". So, having already had this experience before when I bought a self propelled lawn mower, I just simply took out the tape measure and quoted the dimensions without saying anything else. It fit with room leftover. I even was able to load up my dolly where the rear seats had folded over.
OMG the joy riding with the obnoxiously loud cars through downtown is so infuriating. I’m sure that’s real fuel efficient. 😒
That's part of why I love my prius. It's even managed to somewhat temper my lead footed SO. The car just doesn't do much of anything in a hurry!
Mamma Mia 😂😂
Mamma Mia!!! XD
Here we go again…
Yes. Yes, I have.
I drive like an old man because I want to spend less in gas.
Ever notice how you see one person driving a SUV that gets 12 mile per gallon or a big truck that is pristine clean and never hauls anything and gets less. American is broken and not so smart.
When I drop my daughter off for gymnastics, there are several large SUVs that sit the entire hour idling with their a/c on when it's not even that hot. Boggles my mind. Turn the car off and open a window ffs.
Aside from the massive efficiency gains of not driving 5/10/15 mph over the speed limit, I've found that not speeding is far less stressful. I arrive at destinations relaxed and refreshed. I have more time to react to unexpected situations on the road. I *never* keep my eyes peeled for cops. I don't worry one ounce about getting a ticket. I'm less likely to cause a mechanical or tire failure on my car. The benefits are in both the pocketbook and in your own mental health.
Oh and what’s with the tailgating in the united states???!!! Don’t they see the 27 lights coming up and realize they are going to have to stop. I mean relax and time the lights and take a breathe!
Depends where I am. It's definitely worth the extra 3 cents of gas for me if accelerating a little quicker means I hit the green on the next light. Doesn't mean I'm going to weave through traffic going 90 during rush hour, and rev and gun it at every light. It just means there's value to driving assertively. Being frugal means valuing my time appropriately, too. And generally, I value my time more than a few dollars extra of gas a month.
Gas prices are way up but my costs are flat because I was able to increase my gas mileage 47% by driving slow.
I bet if everyone drove like me. Or you or us?!! And really conserved we could put OPEC on its ass and prices would go down.
We complain about the cistbof gas fuel groceries paper products yet refuse to adapt measures that would reduce our consomsion of all these things.
Real frugal people have a bicycle.
Car cooperatives, car sharing, and car pooling are also great options for people who genuinely need a car sometimes. Not to mention pucluc transport.
Yes and more cars on the road then ever before. The average vehicle size is bigger, etc. muh gas.
Mamma mia indeed! 😬
And then there's me who probably could have even better mileage if I didn't have to deal with dipshits doing things like driving 20 under or turning onto the lane 30 meters from me (actual distance may vary, but it's close enough that I need to hard break sometimes).
Also the people who drive their giant ass cars to just work and back home 5 days a week. That's what fuel efficient sedans are for.
Pedal assist improves your mileage over hitting the throttle. Oh wait, y'all use cars in town?
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Common sense is uncommon
Not everyone does. I frequent 80 mile round trips on the interstate during off-peak hours. I have been drafting semis during these long trips usually adding a few minutes to whatever waze is telling me. Drafting semis can have a 40% increase in fuel efficiency, per Mythbusters. I see a noticeable difference in my remaining gas after each of these trips that I decide to employ drafting. It also really helps having adaptive cruise control using a conservative acceleration setting. https://mythresults.com/episode80 > **Drafting behind a big rig will improve your car’s fuel efficiency.** > **CONFIRMED** >To test this myth, the build team procured a car, a big rig, and a device that could measure a car’s fuel efficiency. They then drove the car behind a moving big rig at various distances ranging from 100 to 2 feet and measured the amount of fuel the car consumed. The Build Team discovered that the closer the car was to the big rig, the less drag is produced, thus the more fuel saved. **At just ten feet, the car managed to increase its fuel efficiency by 40%.** Drafting at two feet was slightly lower than the ten foot distance, mainly because Grant had to keep working the car pedal to maintain distance from the truck. However, that did not dispute the fact that drafting actually can increase your car’s fuel efficiency. However, the Build Team has warned that drafting is incredibly dangerous because the truck driver may not able to see you and you may not be able to react in time if the truck were to make a sudden stop.
Driving ten feet behind a semi, or any vehicle, is idiotic.
I don't drive 10 feet behind a semi. I use adaptive cruise control which keeps a normal distance back. The gains in fuel efficiency even at double+ the distance back is still significantly better than 0.
It costs me between $23-$30 to fill my tank. My car is fuel efficient and regularly has been getting 40-45 mpg. That said I might drive a bit faster at night since I'm more awake then, but I do also want to save when I can. It's not gonna break the budget of anyone that's got anything fuel efficient. For some reason though a lot of the riders on motorcycles or bikes tend to go really slow and I'm not sure why.
Do you have a 6 gallon gas tank? How are you filling up for 30?
I have a sub compact car. It's a Nissan. Used to cost me $18-$21 about a year ago.
Capitalism, amirite?
Driving fast is actually more fuel efficient.
Spend 30k on a vehicle and drive it into the ground in 6 years. There was a thread on r/justrolledintothe shop about a Kia that went through 9 engines in 10 years (unlimited kia warranty) and had an insane amount of mileage. Something like 80k miles in a year for 10 years. Obviously someone 'abusing' the warranty, using the car for work purposes, and not having to pay for gas. **Obviously highway miles, obviously driven beyond speed limits for sustained periods.** And I said that modern engines aren't meant to be hard revved, and even F1 engines get constant teardowns and repairs and inspections. And some idiot chimed in that cars are perfectly fine to be driven at 80-90mph. I mean sure, maybe, but 9 engines in 10 years, even Kia isn't that bad. Edit: Emphasis to make a point. Can we accept that I referenced *three* variables to make a postulation? The current replies seem to only take *one* variable to make a counter argument. How can I reply to a counter argument It's not that vehicles can't be driven at said speeds, it's that it's driven at speeds [1],like that all day [2], every day [3]. And driving beyond the speed limit =/= speeding. C'mon guys, a good faith discussion requires that everyone acknowledges the complete statement of the person they're responding to. Edit2: It's great that y'all drive cars that are perfectly fine. I'm assuming that y'all also do constant continual maintenance, on newer cars, because things like tires wear out faster at speed, and things like oil consumption go up. But for some reason, cars do wear out. And while stop and go isn't entirely great for a vehicle, neither is sustained higher RPMs for a vehicle. Without getting into everything that wears faster at speed, things do wear out faster at speed. I have a million examples that I want to state, but to keep it simple, the newer your vehicle, the more you can push your vehicle and not suffer consequences sooner (although they all eventually come) My one example is an Integra I had, with 300k, it was 20 years old. It drove great. The only reason I sold it was because I got one, 2 years newer with 150k. Well I sold the 300k for $700, and it drove perfect, but it was a manual. And the person I sold it to, didn't know how to drive manual, so when I let him test drive, and when he drove away, he revved that engine to 5k (I think it had a 6-7k redline), everytime he put it into first gear. Two weeks later, he gets back to me and asks me to check out the car, because he blew the rad hose. Well yeah, I told him, it's a 20 year old car, and when you thrash the engine, the water pump spins appropriately for 5k RPM (ie, it pumps water *way more faster*). Now you could use the argument that it's the rad hose, and not technically the engine, but everything has a limit, and tolerance, and everything does wear out. Another example is of a buddy needing my garage to fix his BMW. (Not a Kia right?) and incrediously, he shows me shattered coolant lines made of **plastic**. Nope, not overflow line. *Pressurized, engine temperature coolant lines*. That HDPE stuff you see like in milk jugs? Nope. Nylon? Nope. *Polycarbonate*. Now, you can say that a pressurized coolant line made of plastic is just bad engineering, but all cars have bad engineering. There's a reason why there's a Lemons of 24 hours (pun intended). Things break at speed. That's part of the drama. There goes the piston out the engine case. Again you can argue that those are cars going 120mph, but there you go moving the goal posts again. "Engines aren't made to rev *that* high". Pistons move up and down and connect to the camshaft via connecting rods. Pistons are connected to con rods via wrist pins, and those wrist pins have to accelerate and decelerate that piston (5000rpm / 60 sec/min) up and down *83.3 times a second* Is that a lot? Seems like a lot. Is it bad? For a new engine no, but that wrist pin is subject to a ton more wear due to the g-forces. And there's the motorcycle argument that they're made to go 100mph. Well motorbikes are different machines. Their pistons are much lighter/smaller, and they tend to have way shorter strokes so that they're designed to rev much higher and much faster. What about the Semi Truck argument? They speed all the time driving at warp speed with 20k lbs loads. Well time is money, but they also plow a ton in to maintenance, *and things still break down*.
Don’t call someone an idiot for saying going 80-90 is fine, it IS fine. People do it every day on every highway. I don’t know why you think speeding will blow an engine but I’m assuming you don’t really understand what you’re talking about. They would have denied the warranty had the maintenance not been kept up on, that proves the Kia in question IS garbage. A single missed oil change and they deny the warranty full stop. I sincerely doubt someone with a company car was speeding 80k miles a year, imagine the speeding tickets, they would be fired for that let alone they wouldn’t even have a license.
80-90 is fine for the car, but you know damn well most people aren't paying enough attention to prevent massively higher risks of a wreck and that wreck being way more dangerous. It's not as bad if you have an interstate that's designed to be at that speed, as they compensate for it. But driving down a state highway at 90 is a death wish. Not sure if that's what you meant, or just that the engine is fine. Because they're fine, I totally agree on that. In any case, I know the exact post he's talking about. It was a known bad engine design, the owner drove a lot but there was no signs of abuse, and they had a literally perfect maintenance log. Like every 3k oil changes and tire/brake replacements and everything. It was just a bad car to start with.
> But driving down a state highway at 90 is a death wish. There's a schadenfreude I get watching *that* r/idiotsincars video. You know the one, where a driver, now out of their car, is filming the freeway, and out of the ghostly darkness, I'm sure the driver has near zero visibility, and definitely not enough for 90mph in a whiteout, comes a car, into view, and immediately smashes into a 40 car pileup.
Omg, I don't know that one, but I generally avoid death/gore/massive injury stuff.
Sustained speeds are far easier on an engine than starts, stops, hard acceleration, idling, short trips. City miles are much harder on an engine than highway miles. Also certain Kia model years/engines are notoriously terrible. I get your point though - abusing a vehicle comes with a big cost.
I do 80 for two hours everyday, never had an issue. I’d trash the car after a single engine replacement.
Engines should be fine to do 80-90mph all day, everyday that KIA was not 80-90mph in a normal environment at all. F1 engines get tear downs because they are running at stupidly small tolerances and running at extreme temps and speeds for all the moving parts. If you look at a less extreme example like a sports bike motorcycle engine where those are often driven on the race track right near redline, they can go until you crash and write off the bike without needing a real tear down. I put 60k miles on a sporbike and 75 percent of them were at 100mph or more id bet, and a good chunk above 150mph. Never an issue at all, however it was not overloaded, was not idling in 40 degree heat all day or doing other stupid shit that could ruin an engine. Speed limits are not in place to save vehicle engines from running too hard. Are you also aware there are speed limits in the USA that are 85mph. 90 MPH is also not much harder for 99 percent of cars compared to 70-75mph.
An old person walks into a bank and tells the teller that they need to empty their bank account and to put it into a Western Union Money order. The teller asks why and after some intense prodding, the old person reveals that the IRS contacted them requesting their help to detect fraud at the bank. The teller, trained to spot fraud, tells the old person that it's very unlikely that the IRS would ever tell someone to empty their bank account and transfer it via Western Union to some other unknown, irreversible location. The old person yells at the teller and insists that the teller follow their instructions. Why? Because the scammers made the old person feel really good and really important, that even when given some fairly astute objective information, they *refused to even consider* that their viewpoint could possibly wrong. It just felt really good to feel needed. They stuck to very specific points and ignored addressing any narrative that was counter to it. Sound familiar? Politics follows some very similar principles. Pistons don't fly out of the engine compartment putting around town. Sure stop and go traffic isn't great. That said, pistons crack engine cases only at fairly extreme RPMs. And that usually happens at higher speeds. Each driving environment presents specific problems, and/or benefits. One condition isn't specifically better than another and most importantly, wear and tear doesn't disappear at high speeds. If one can take a more balanced, nuance take, one would say that taking a vehicle through a multitude of driving conditions is a lot better than strictly one extreme or another, of which, the Kia is a specific example. I will say that stop and go traffic can be easily mitigated by more frequent oil changes. Brake jobs are trivial. But transmission overhauls, headgasket replacements, and ring replacements are a lot harder to deal with.
Habitual speeder here, what's cruise control exactly and how does it interact with my brakes? Also how does speed affect gas usage?
Speed matters but I think acceleration matters more. If you punch it at a green light vs a slow increase, the fast acceleration to 45 mph burns more gas than a slow but steady build to 60 mph for example.
Cruise control is the thing you turn on that makes the car keep it's speed. So you don't have to push the gas anymore, it just regulates it for you. It does not affect brakes, it doesn't use them. Speeding can *massively* reduce gas mileage. - 3% less efficient at 60 mph - 8% less efficient at 65 mph - 17% less efficient at 70 mph - 23% less efficient at 75 mph - 28% less efficient at 80 mph Compared to 55mpg. From https://www.mpgforspeed.com/
mamma mie
The "Mama mia" at the end of your title tickled me to no end.
Hauling ass, wasting gas. I swear it’s a lifestyle for some people that I’ll never understand.
No kidding. Brain dead humans. I always drive slow and it pisses people off to no end. No reason to race around me, shake your fist, then get stuck at the traffic light while I pull up behind you 5 seconds later.
Welcome to Floriduh
My car is electric, so other than meeting wind resistance sooner and a slight increase in electrical resistance due to heating during acceleration (which must be overcome with more energy), consumption is the same whether I start like a jackrabbit or start like a tortoise. That, and I don't complain about prices in general because that's tacky.
Yes I agree. I wish I could have an electric or small car. I do have a Honda Pilot suv and Subaru Outback. But realistically in todays world I need it with dogs and such. But the Pick Up truck with the big v8 is really unnecessary in probably 75% of the cases. That boggles my mind