MPG's or Drive Less?

[DifferentPointofView]

Alright, so I've figured out something.

This doesn't apply to everyone, but I've noticed a pattern in my driving habits that caused me to use more gas when I got better MPG's, than when I didn't pay attention to when I drove.

Why?

Because it seems that, when I went all out just for higher MPG Numbers at the pump, I found myself taking the twice as long route with no stops than taking the other route with stops. Even though I got 24mpg, Getting 21 driving half the distance counteracted the whole 3 mpg part of the equation.

Also, when I don't think about how I'm driving, I still drive efficiently, I'm just not monitoring things like, DWL and etc. as closely but essentially I'm still driving effectively.

And when I don't think about it, I drive less. I don't have the urge to get those groceries, or buy all of that stuff to see if I can pull over 25mpg.

And, when I'm not noticing how far I've gone compared to my gas gauge, I'm constantly thinking, I better get this stuff done and get back and not drive more than I have to, because I need the gas to last x amount of days. Which consequently makes me drive less.

So, instead of going 2 weeks then filling up at 23-24 mpg, I'm settling for 20-22mpg and going 3 weeks before filling up. My numbers are worse as far as MPG's go, but my Costs have gone down.

Thoughts?

[cfg83]

DifferentPointofView -

Egg-salad point. Ya gotta do the math. I admit to "cheating" here and there, but it's usually for saving time or relieving stress. On the way home tonight I did my "non-optimum" route in terms of miles. But, I stay on the freeway the whole way instead of getting off and driving the last 8+ miles on the streets. This is about 9 miles over my "optimized" route, from ~39 miles to ~48 miles.

However, if I wasn't an Ecomodder, I would probably do the "non-optimum" route all the time, and I would be driving 70+ MPH like everybody else.

CarloSW2

[Piwoslaw]

Keep a list of your usual routes with info such as miles, average time, mpg, and gallons for each route. Then you see it each time you have to decide. The question isn't "More mpg's?", it's "Less gallons?"

[SVOboy]

I agree with piwoslaw.

Anyway, getting good FE can lead you into the trap of driving more, but you have to remember that driving is a pain and just pretend that no FE is ever good enough so you are always trying to avoid using the car. It is what I do :P

[DifferentPointofView]

I still take my mpg every tank, but so far it's much less important to me. I've been changing to the GPW or gallons per week routine.

Would it be possible to have, with the current ecomodder MPG signature things, to get a "gallons Burned" chart and log going?

I mean, I'd pay much more attention to how much I drove if I could see how many gallons of fuel I've burned this year. I could compare it to other's gallons burned and see how I stack up. There's not much I can do right now as far as getting the Jeep to get better mileage, but if I can compare someone with a vehicle that gets 40 mpg and see if I can beat them in the gallons burned section, I'd burn less fuel, and have a better chance keeping up than just comparing mileage. no sense in bragging about MPG's if your burning more fuel than everyone else right?

[joey]

If your ultimate goal is spending less (money on) fuel (and not simply scoring high mpg numbers), there is no better hypermiling technique than not driving at all. Someone getting 10 mpg and driving 100 miles a month still spends less, both in fuel and money on fuel, than someone getting 50 mpg and driving 1000 miles a month.

So if you really want to save money, gas, or both, find ways to do what you need without using your personal fuel. For me, that's cycling. I haven't driven since June 2nd, yet I've covered 150 miles in trips to work, groceries, errands, and plain fun rides. Even if my car got 150 mpg, it would still have cost me more to drive it than it's cost to ride.

Like DifferentPointofView, I would also be interested in a signature reflecting fuel spent, as it's much more interesting for me to read of people's efforts to absolve themselves of fossil fuels than to merely travel farther with them.

As someone else's signature here says, even if every car on the road were replaced with a Prius tomorrow, 99% of the essential problems with car-based transportation would still be present--including the 45,000 people who lose their lives annually due to motor vehicles. We need to move from a mindset that cars are still OK as long as they get a few more mpgs to an understanding that one car per person is neither feasible, nor desirable, in this country, nor in any other.

[Big Dave]

Maybe the metric should be gallons per year instead of miles per gallon.

This iswhy I always use the same route for my MPG tests. If road construction forces me off my route I abort the test.

There's other ways to "cheat". Cut your errand driving by shopping over the Internet and let them deliver to your door. Of course, UPS burns the fuel instead of you.

I've always thought that honest MPG testing is possible only on a speedway. A dyno doesn't get aero right, and "real world" testing is subject to traffic and weather. If one rented one of these mile-and-a-half tri-ovals you could put a couple or three cars on the track at a set speed (say 70 MPH) and let them make 100 km actual runs. Use highly accurate fuel weighing devices to arbitrate fuel usage. Viola! Accurate MPG.

[aerohead]

I've been trying to hold to a 3-task minimum.If I can't accomplish at least three tasks while in town,I won't go.For work days,I'll combine as many errands as I can while the engine is warm.Vacations are usually combined with testing of some sort,and I also hunt for historical artifacts along the route for a project I've been working on.Photo-ops for EcoModder,anything I can think of.I did 90 no-drive days last year.

[gascort]

I'm only tempted to drive extra in order to test mods; haven't done any this summer yet, but I'm sure I will soon. Pretty much now I won't drive (I can bike anywhere I need to in the summer) unless I'm testing mods or moving a different car to the garage/driveway to work on it.

[Frank Lee]

I bicycle and trip-combine like a madman. Usually results in having to fill less than once/month. I'm not motivated to drive more to chase an fe number or (almost always) for doing experiments. My experiments can prove or disprove themselves on regular trips... except for the cylinder cut-off one.