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Price of Gas Affecting You, Too?

GoFride

GoFride

New member
I've been trying to spend less on gas, and came across an app called GasBuddy that looks pretty good. Is anybody here using it? What strategies are you using to cut costs?
 
I got this new model, doesn't require gasoline at all. It's called a TwoFeet. Now I laugh every time I walk past the gas station.
 
I have a 40 mile (round trip) commute for 5 days a week, and also drive places on my 2 days off, so I burn up a tank of gas pretty quick. My old job was 2 miles away so it's quite a change! I try to minimize costs by filling up every time I get gas (less trips to the gas station = less waste) and only going into certain parts of the city when I have several errands to run in the same area.
 
It's affecting me. My last fill-up was the most expensive ever. I drive 18 miles one way to work. My boyfriend lives 850 miles away! I _do_ have and use and like the Gas Buddy app.

I don't make trips I don't have to. I schedule shopping, etc. for on the way home from work. If I need something on the weekend, I wait till Monday.

Remember the last gas shortage? Remember hypermiling? I started then and haven't quit. I have a Scangauge installed in my truck. It gives me real-time feedback about how many mpg I'm getting as I drive, for that trip, and for that tank.

Things I do to increase gas mileage:

Accelerate slowly
Coast to red lights/stop signs- try to time stop lights so they change before I get there
Pull through parking spots so I don't have to back out
Drive slower- makes a HUGE difference in mpg and stress
Keep tires inflated
Run a slightly lower oil pressure/lower weight oil
Keep air filter clean
Draft big trucks (at a safe distance)
Go around corners with minimal braking
Coast down hills, often in neutral
Idle at stop lights in neutral
Shut off if waiting at a drive-through
Shut off and coast into parking spots
Don't start till I'm ready to drive off
Don't sit with the motor running
Don't "warm the truck up" no matter how cold it is out
Avoid using AC/fan/lights/wipers (of course unless necessary!)
Avoid braking/try to keep a constant speed in traffic/keep a larger following distance to allow this/anticipate actions of drivers ahead of me to avoid braking

Driving with these habits has allowed me to increase my mileage from the EPA Estimate of 15/19 (16 combined) to 22/24 and up into the 24-26 range for a long trip. And that's with a clogged EGR valve- cleaning that will get me 5-7 mpg more! (Whenever I have a spare $350...)
 
I had a $90 fill up yesterday. I'm gonna have to get a more fuel efficient vehicle soon.
 
I try to fill it up on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. The majority of the fill up stations around here seem to charge more on Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon.
 
Good point, Dave. I always try to barely make it till Friday- which is probably when prices are highest.
 
Well, this ethanol laced crap certainly doesn't help matters much. I've been playing around with the tuning of one of my cars, and one of the base constants you have to enter is the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio of the fuel you are using. Stoichiometric is the point where air and gasoline are burned at the most optimum point possible. Gasoline has a stoich ratio of 14.7:1. If you are using Flex fuel (E85) that value is more like 9.7:1. So you are using about 30 percent MORE fuel to reach the level of efficient burning of the fuel. For E10 gasoline, the AFR ratio will need to be 14.1. Meaning MORE fuel is needed to reach the optimum burning mixture of air and fuel.

So any car with oxygen sensors, which will drive the computer in the car to try to reach the proper air/fuel mixture, will cause the engine to use MORE fuel with any of the ethanol laced gasolines, in order to reach optimum fuel burning in the cylinders.

Not to mention that ethanol is corrosive to various materials, and is notorious for leaching moisture out of the air and causing water to then get into the gasoline, possibly causing damage to the fuel injectors.

So how in the world (or more importantly, WHY in the world), did the government foist this crap upon us?
 
Rich Z said:
So how in the world (or more importantly, WHY in the world), did the government foist this crap upon us?
Click to expand...

Oh, haven't you heard Rich..............it helps the ozone due to less emissions.

You are absolutly right though, the ethanol does cause moisture buildup in tanks. I've seen it AND tested it. I was working for friends who own a business selling and repairing yard equiptment and 98% of the equiptment brought in for repairs to the engine was due to ethanol usage. It also causes rubber gaskets, diaphragms and o-rings to expand (and not contract) closing up important fuel ports.

Yes they sell fuel stabilizers you can ad to your fuel to help these things, but that's only more $$$ you have to dish out on top of the high fuel prices.

There are (well around my area) stations that still sell 100% gasoline, but it runs around 10 cents more per gallon. Gotta love our government huh :roflmao::roflmao:

Walter
:crazy02:BOUT' CORNS !!
 
Yeah, I've found one Sunoco station nearby selling 93 octane ethanol free gasoline, which I have been using in my blue vette. I had to replace the rubber lined fuel hoses that had been installed in it with teflon lined ones. I used a UV inspection light and could actually see residue from gasoline seeping through those rubber lined hoses. Since putting in the teflon lined ones, that pervasive gasoline smell is now gone that was pretty much overpowering in my garage. I was probably driving a potential torch down the road.

So I guess the REAL question is, WHO is making money off of this ethanol edict that was shoved down our throats? That is normally what it all boils down to, doesn't it?
 
I drive an 18 wheeler. Grossing 2000 miles a week, 7.2 miles per gallon and two 100 gallon tanks. Do the math haha. Fillings up costs approximately $600 for about 100 gallons at $4.22 a gallon.
 
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