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Old 01-22-2014, 06:57 PM   #63 (permalink)
briank
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The Chevy Suburban owner will be rewarded with more $ savings for minimal effort compared to a Prius owner. That is a 1 to 2 mpg improvement with a Suburban is often more $ (gas) saved than 5 mpg or even 10 mpg improvement in a Prius. A Suburban owner may give up their effort thinking a 1 mpg is not worth it. A Prius owner may delight in a 5 to 10 mpg improvement where the opposite is the case when one looks at the $ saving for the effort.

Reducing brake use on a Suburban could give large fuel saving, that is the amount of stopping energy absorbed by the brakes, is the amount of extra accelerating energy that one would otherwise not need if they were at a constant speed for the same distance covered. That braking energy loss is why that city mpg figure is often half the highway mpg figure, even though your average speed is slower. Or to put it more bluntly throughout their life, the brake pads in a Suburban will consume upwards of a 1,000 gallons of fuel, depending on the amount of stop and go city driving, by turning your momentum into useless heat. Multiply that by the number of times you replace your brake pads.
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