OK, I know - so this isn't about fishing, dogs, guns, or hunting. But hey, we all have to drive in order to enjoy these things, right? With fuel prices as high as they are, and no relief in sight, the added cost of fuel to our hunting and fishing trips might be enough to keep us home.
Maybe...
I drive a 2002 Chevy 2500 HD with the Duramax diesel, with the Allison five speed automatic transmission. I've been tracking my fuel costs and usage since January, and up until the end of April my cumulative average fuel economy was 15.3 mpg. I spent a fair amount of time on the internet researching ways to improve my fuel economy.
What did I find? If you want to spend money on CPU programmers, ECM reprogramming, turbo kits, exhaust systems, air filter kits, etc. etc. you can do it pretty easily. They all say you will see fuel economy gains. The reputable guys tell you they'll boost horsepower and performance, but make no guarantees about improving fuel economy. But I did notice a universal thread of advice, floating around the various truck and diesel forums.
I took this advice, made the recommended changes, and saw immediate results. My fuel economy has increased to an average of 18.3 mpg. That's an improvement of over 16%! How much did it cost me to make these modifications? Nothing! Free! Nada! Zip!
Want to know what I did? What these modifications are I'm talking about?
It's just two things:
1. Make sure your tires are fully inflated.
2. Change your driving habits.
The first one is easy, and anyone can do it. Just stop at the local gas station, and fill those tires to whatever pressure is indicated on the sidewall as the maximum pressure. What does this do? It reduces the rolling friction of the tire, so your engine doesn't have to work as hard to move your vehicle around.
The second one might not be so easy, depending on the kind of driver you are. But let's break part #2 down a little:
2.1. Easy does it: When the light turn green, go easy. It's not a race, so no point in drag racing the guy next to you. Is he gonna chip in for your fuel? Nope, so let him go.
2.2. While accelerating, try to keep the rpm's below 2000. Your shift point will vary depending on your vehicle, but with my '02 Duramax, 2000 is about right.
2.3. Slow down: Do the speed limit, and again, keep those rpm's below 2000. For my truck, this is about 70 mph. I used to go 80 mph everywhere I went on the big road, but now when cruising on the highway, I scale back a little to about 66-68 mph which puts me at about 1900 rpm.
2.4. Learn where your auto trans shifts, and if it means going a little over the speed limit to get those lower rpm's, do it. My truck shifts on the sevens - 27 mph, 37 mph, 47 mph, etc. So in a 35 mph zone, I ease up just past the speed limit until it shifts, and as long as I'm more or less on the level, I can ease back down to the speed limit and plug along at about 1200 rpm.
2.5. Coast where you can: When that light turns red up the road, let off the gas and coast. In my truck, as long as I'm doing under 45, it drops to idle. At higher speeds, it doesn't drop out as much. But just let 'er coast. You'll save wear on your brakes this way too.
What's the down side?
With your tires fully inflated, you reduce the contact patch where the rubber meets the road, and there may be some loss of traction, especially when the road is wet. We're talking pavement here, but the same goes for off road. If you want traction in mud, snow, dirt, or sand, you should be thinking about airing down those tires to keep from getting stuck. But when you hit the road again, you ought to fill those round rollin' rubber puppies back up.
Just to put it all in perspective:
What does a 16% increase in fuel economy mean? In my case, it means I'll save over $1000 per year in fuel costs. That means just by inflating my tires fully and changing my driving habits, I'll have saved enough money to pay for a long weekend of hunting grouse in Maine this fall.
And that means one more hunting trip I can leave marked on my calendar.
No comments:
Post a Comment