side streets vs freeway
 

I've been trying the hypermiling advice since I recently purchased a new car... so far so good, but I'm sure I can do better. Question though... I've noticed that if I take the freeway to work I'm able to maintain a constant speed, but there are quite a few inclines.... if I take side streets it's exactly half the distance and I'm able to cruise on neutral for a good amount of time, except of course for the occasional red lights and braking. What should I do?

Half the distance is always my choice. I can usually beat my freeway MPG on side streets.

The only negative would be if the side streets were a plague of untimed red lights of stops signs at every block.

regards
Mech

Generally speaking, the lower your average speed, the better your mpg, all other things equal. If your city streets route doesn't involve too many starts and stops, you may beat your highway route for mpg avg. The easiest way to find out is use your iFCD or Scangauge to compare the routes.

sofunkyitsfresh -

Even if your MPG is lower, 1/2 the distance is probably going to mean less $ spent at the pump :

40 miles at 40 MPG = 1.00 Gallons
20 miles at 30 MPG = 0.67 Gallons

It sounds like you have a good opportunity to crunch the numbers and see if it pans out. Over time you will perfect your route and learn the lights. Different cities can have different timing. It seems to be a function of the wealth of the city.

CarloSW2

I'm with Carlos: it's not the MPG's that count, it's the amount of fuel used. If you have a ScanGauge or other MPG-instrumentation, then you can set it to show you the fuel used for the trip, or calculate it by dividing the distance by MPG. Try both routes for a few days and compare.

I would take the bus, but I get off from work really late and I'm a young lady in a ghetto neighborhood, that just doesn't workout here all that well. Thanks for the advice though.