The Number One Gas Robbing Problem!
Scott Siegel
There is an activity that is the single biggest gas robber. You must constantly battle this gas robber to prevent it from stealing your gas. Any time you drive your car you encounter this problem.
The number one gas robbing problem is running your car when your car is not moving. In other words, allowing your car to idle. Idling is the largest single factor in lowering your gas mileage.
When your car is running and you are stopped you are getting zero miles per gallon. This is worth repeating. When your car is idling meaning the motor is running but you are not going anywhere, you are getting zero miles per gallon.
If you are driving on the freeway for 10 minutes and you are getting 30 miles per gallon, and then traffic stops and you idle without moving for 10 minutes your average miles per gallon just dropped from 30 down to 15. The longer you idle, the lower your average miles per gallon gets.
There are several factors that contribute to conditions that cause you to waste fuel idling. The biggest culprits are red lights. Every time you stop at a red light, you are forced to idle your car and burn gas at a rate of zero miles per gallon. Please note that I am not advocating not stopping at red lights! I am just pointing out one condition causing idling.
Another factor that contributes to situations of excessive idling is rush hour. The high volume of traffic on the road during rush hour forces you to drive slower and stop more often. As a result you end up idling more during rush hour than in non rush hour periods.
Rush hour exaggerates the red light problem. With the higher traffic volume, you are forced to spend more time at red lights than you would in non rush hour periods. Normally, you may get through a particular red light in one cycle, but at rush hour it make take two, three or even four cycles of the light to get through it. So your idling time is increased two, three or even four times.
The increased idling is stealing your fuel, and lowering your average mpg or miles per gallon. But it gets even better! There is even another major cause of increased idling time:the hated orange barrels. Road construction stops traffic. This increases your idling time. Add rush hour to the mix and it makes it worse, producing even more traffic delays and more idling time.
How can you fight this excessive idling? The short answer is planning. You have to plan your driving trips to avoid as many idling situations as possible. I don't advocate not stopping at red lights but you can reduce your idling by planning your travel routes to minimize red lights. Avoid lights that you know have long wait cycles. Plan to avoid areas where you know there is construction. Avoid driving during rush hour if at all possible. Arrive earlier at work to avoid the heavy traffic or stay later at work. Try to stagger your work hours so your commute takes advantage of non rush hour times.
Minimizing the time you find yourself sitting in an idling car will help you maintain better fuel economy. Avoiding idle producing situations will go a long way towards achieving better fuel economy, thereby saving you money and saving you gas.
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