Good news! Americans are happy with gas prices
 

I've been experimenting to determine how my speed affects my gas mileage. Both on a recent long distance road trip and during my daily driving, I've been setting my cruise control at or a few miles under the speed limit. I've found that doing this plus being careful about acceleration and limiting my use of the AC, I can get 15-20% better gas mileage without significantly increasing the amount of time it takes me to get from place to place. Right now I am getting 17.5mpg in the city and 21.5 on the highway.

During these times driving barely under the speed limit, I have tried to notice how many vehicles are driving at or under the speed limit and how many are exceeding the speed limit.

With the exception of a few garbage trucks and beater cars that probably can't get up to speed, I am being passed by EVERYONE and everyone is speeding.

Personally, I am not pleased with the current price of gas, but I feel that anybody who is unwilling to modify their driving habits even slightly has no right to complain about the price they are paying at the pump.

There is no reason to run out and buy a Prius, but if people would simply check their tire pressure, ensure that they have a clean air filter, and back down to the speed limit, we as a country could make a very significant decrease in the demand for oil.

But as long as Americans refuse to do one darn thing to make a difference, they must be happy with the price of gas today.

I think it's cheaper to buy a Prius than to get a new air filter, isn't it? :thinking:

American public as a whole has decreased the amount of miles driven this year by several billion miles. Thus costing the oil companies some loss in revenue. Seems like we have finally reached our breaking point. I for one have stopped driving my jeep altogether. I ride my motorcycle everywhere I go. Sure it sucks to be hot as balls and smell like gas, but I am saving upwards of $400 a month in gas. Just with my wife commuting to and from work we are spending $520 a month in gas just for her. I think everyone is feeling the pinch and most are doing what they can to ease it up as much as possible.

Yes, the hypocrisy is amazing:yup:

I have slowed down some, and your right it barely increases the travel time. I have noticed that more people have slowed down during my commute. But of course there will always be someone driving 20 mph over the limit.

I have to agree with Yucca Patrol. The number of people blowing by me is unreal. Maybe they just don' know any better.

you ain't kiddin'
 

Seems like everyday I hit the highway some jack*** is a Suburban or an H2 or heck even the civics fly past me like I'm standing still. People just don't get it. Everybody is so self-absorbed now.

Same here.
Doors off, top down, doing 55 on the freeway to/fro work in the slow lane.
Between me and the wife (Yukon XL) we are spending $800 a month on petrol :doh:

yep :rotflmao2::rotflmao2: add me to the list :yup: I ve been driving like the people I use to criticize :eek2: well with current gas prices what do you expect :dontknow2: .. I am driving between 45 to 50 on the highway and the people are flying pass me :sad2: that reminds me I have to change my air filter today....

I don't think it going to make any difference top up or down. The Jk is so not areodynamic as it is.

But as you say, you can enjoy the ride. Besides you're not worried about the next speed trap.

I never could see the logic in hurrying to cover basicly short distances.

When I commuted to and from NJ to King of Prussia PA. I saw that on average it took 20 minutes at 55mph to get to 30th street in Phila. To cut that time in half I'd have to go 110mph. And then I'd only save 10 minutes if I didn't get killed or locked up.

On a 1000 mi trip speeding will save substantial time. But in most local driving speeding is just a waste of gas

And the guy you drive by who is commuting to work on a bicycle thinks the same or worse of you.

I carpool 3 days a week, just so I can blow by you on the 2 days that i do drive! :eek2: But in all seriousness, I have slowed down on the freeway, and no more jack-rabbit starts.

A 100 mile each way commute two days a week at a steady 55, I'm lucky to pass 2 other vehicles the whole trip. Averaging 21 MPG with 35's and 5.13s so I'm doing my bit. The truckers up my ass would be intimidating if I had any rear visibility.

Actually put away my Valentine radar detector that I have used for years. Stay at the limit or below just to get the 17.5 mpg around town.

Gas prices are bad enough but then you think about everything else in the universe going up because of per barrel oil pices and nobody doing anything about it. We need a moon shot type national effort in the energy fields (all energy from oil to nuclear). Seems critical to our national security. :crazyeyes:

In 5 years when you hear the term “THE BIG 3” they won’t be talking about DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors. They’ll be referring to OIL, COAL, and WIND…

My drive one way to work is 26 miles. It averages me 50 dollars a week to just go to work. The jeep is for riding around after work. I fill it up twice a month. Gas and insurance wear me out every month. I set the cruise at 55mph and drive slow to and from work. I took the whole family 266 miles to beach today in the jeep. You only live once, I'm breaken a little better than even.

:what?: Why should any of you care if someone else drives faster than you?

I never ever under any circumstances drive under the speed limit (unless my vehicle CAN'T). If you do some research the number one cause of accidents is not speed but unexpected difference of speed. If I am on a 4 lane highway with a 65 MPH speed limit, I would not expect to find someone in a normal car going 50. That is dangerous. In most states if you go 10 or less under the speed limit you are required to have your 4-way flashers on.


For the record I don't like the price of Gas what it is. However I drive 35 miles each way to work. As it is it takes me about 45 minutes to get home. I spend usually 9-10 hours at work. So that's about 11 hours of my life gone every day. Why would I want to drive slower and loose more of my life. They day I will slow down is the day I can't afford to pay. The price of gas has just made me cut back on luxuries. I haven't bought the big screen TV I want, or the extension to the garage.

I don't like the high prices but everyone slowing down to 55 isn't going to lower the price of gas. The less we use the more China will use. We are stuck. Our only hope is if the Chinese government were to stop all subsidy of gas. Let their people pay the same price we are and maybe they will cut back demand.

EVERYbody's entiteled to an opinion... there like arseholes: everybody's got 'em.... So while you're opinion is shared by some, lets not forget there are those ALSO that would look at you and YOUR driving habits and just say-- For the luv of God~ why not just walk...get a bike, etc.....


So while my driving habits are essentially my own, the insurance company & the laws; to worry about..........I aint happy with the price of Gas,,,but WILL complain loudly about it- thanks:rollingeyes: If you bought a Jeep for *Good* gas milage..well, that was your first mistake.

Just one Other man's opinion..........

There definitely are people like that. . . . . I see them every day in my rear view mirror lined up bumper to bumper behind me as I drive at 30 mph on the 30 mph main road through my neighborhood that leads to the highway. . . . :rotflmao2::rotflmao2::rotflmao2:

Dont forget, use cruise control...also saves on gas.

Well I hope ya' didn't take what/how I said what I said the wrong way: I agree in principle on the logic: but heck..... you know dang well you might be the 1 in 10000000000 that actually does the speed limit ALL the time.....

Now I'm NOTTTTTTTTT talking about speeders: I'm talking those confangled nuances that drive 30 in a 45...or 50 in a 65...or do 55 in the FAST lane while the slow lane's moving 70.

I VERY easily could live with EVERYONE driving the proscribed speed limit...if they'd actually Drive it-- not 50% of it and slowing everyone else down, making tempers sore....driving licencenedly clueless of thier actions having a HUGE impact on thier fellow drivers:

Case in point: out here in CA a few years back we had them nutt jobs that STOPPED Bridge traffic in hopes for a lot of things-- one of which was to reduce the amount of Gas peeps used in a day-- hoped all the peeps would stay home... but nope: silly nonsense had some astronomical pricetag in the Millions of dollars in lost revenue and UNproductivity of sooooo many people just stopped. Or how about the *Dont buy Gas Day!* net result was still the same-- Gas STILL was bought, the day before of the day after for those that *tried* or *Cared*-- the net result was Epic Failure.

Wanna reduce Gas consumption in the US? Stop making guzzlers vs. gutless stooopid wonders----- there's that dude outta the midwest making 800 hp (EIGHT HUNDRED) horsepower motors adn they get...... get this...they make 100 MPG-- Thats 100 Miles per gallon in case anyone thinks I mistyped; Some combo of desiel and turbine....And they FIT IN MOST VEHICLES.

So why aint Detroit adopted that? So why hasnt THAT been ALLLLLLLLLLL over the US? Why not ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL over the planet.

Simple: there's a LOT more going on than Americans love of gas: if you think we're addicted to it....think about all them twerps producing it-- they've a truly vested interest in seeing newer techknologies FAIL......

And That... has nothing to do with driving the speed limit.

No worries Deconstructionist :yup:

I just doing an experiment to see what it takes for me to be as efficient as possible with this new Jeep.

In our household, we have the Jeep, a modified MINI Cooper S, and an unmodified base model MINI Cooper.

It turns out that the fast MINI driven like it was made to be driven only achieves a little better mileage than the Jeep driven like an insane penny pinching slow-poke. And since it requires premium gas, my cost per mile is essentially the same. My wife's base model Cooper is the only thing we have that even approaches being fuel-efficient.

My need for gas isn't affecting my ability to buy groceries, and I didn't buy the Jeep for its efficiency, but it is an interesting challenge to squeeze the most mileage I can out of the Jeep.

I am grateful for what I have and haven't had to go without something I wanted because of the price of gas. However, I know that a lot of the people who are blowing by me in the highway really could help their monthly budget just by make a few minor changes to their driving style, especially driving around town where things like traffic and stoplights determine the time you arrive at a destination more than the speed you choose to travel when moving.

I think we are entering into some very interesting times when it comes to how we use and think about energy, and I look forward to seeing what comes of it. :yup:

Surely you are not serious, if you are your mom should smack you upside the haid! :yup:

Really, what is the point to all of this? We have huge amounts of oil in the lower 48, if we don't use if we're fools. We can drive the price down just like before and still sell it for a profit.

We have more oil then all of the middle east, one state has well over a trillion gallons available. If it were gold would you suggest leaving it there too? We are increasing the efficiency of our vehicles every year, our environement is the cleanest in the world.

Fuel is good for the economy and to those who foolishly state we are addicted to oil, I say fine, then don't eat since you are addicted to food. It makes just as much sense. 8)

Newsweek just ran an article on/about this. Actually the U.S. DOES produce alot of its own oil....just not enough to keep up with our OWN demand. We use summin' like 20 Million Barrels a day--- but we produce only 8 million per day. By contrast- China IIRC is *only* at needing 6 million per day for right now....but she is growing fast.

Though we have the oil....its gonna take a miricle to change the minds of all the enviro's for us to be able to open more rigs....and peeps that would normally be for more oil rigs suddenly often change thier minds when they find there's gonna be one in thier own neighborhood.

Wish they would put a Nuclear plant down the street from me. :thumbsup: If the Chinese can drill off the coast of Florida why can't we????????? :crazyeyes:

I agree just keep it slow and steady. gas saving equal more mods:thumbsup:

:what?::thinking::what?::dontknow2:

Yep! aint NOTHUN" like having 2 headed frog or double-tailed trout for dinner!!!!!!!!!! LOL! No, seriously--- peeps ALWAYS take it the worng way-- but die slow or die fast...we allare gonna die: So i personally dont care if one's down the dtreet from me.

But yeah: until we either open MORE oil rigs....or have some sci-fie flux-capacitor device with the levitation option hits the market--- we're screwededed with the price of gas

late to the convo but I can relate to the observations. I have driven my unlimited lightly from the start and get 20 mpg. I set my cruise no more than 60 on normal roads and at 70 on the highway portion. I keep wanting to go lower than 60 on normal roads (posted is 55) but for whatever reason I usually do 60. I'm willing to bet the people riding my ass from stops...if they even stop... and the people zigzaging like trunken idiots are the ones bitching the most about their cost of fuel. I have however taken notice that on the highway more people are cruising at or below 70 in the "slow" lane and I'm happy to file right in with them.

I glanced over an article today saying the our Gov. (MI) will "look at" a suggestion by representatives to lower speed limits. I think it would be waste of time and effort...Americans have to REALLY want to help themselves...seems like most want the government to make changes but are unwilling to make changes themselves.

Umm,, no,, On some vehicles its more efficient under 55,, most cars/trucks are best around 65mph. as that is the average highway speed,, I found my wife's liberty is most efficient at 24oo rpm's and likes to be pushed a bit.. I get 23mpg on the highway in hers at that rpm at 80 mph.. at 55 I get 18 as the od goes in and out.. My jk seems best at 70 sitting just under 2k rpm's and the cruise is good on flat roads but in the hills it likes to hit the gas hard.. and pulls hard uphill.. I can control it better in the hills.. play with the cruise and remember to hit reset of your mileage reader, it will reset and give you true time readings as in how you are driving right now,, down hills I have hit in the 30's and up in the low teens.. I've learned a softer foot driving style but.. every vehicle has a different sweet spot due to ratios and fuel management systems,,, learn your vehicle.. Also yes top down on highway does drop your mpg.. but not under 50 mph.. and a/c doesn't put much drag on the engine.. The hard top is smoother than the soft top and even tho its heavier has less drag, more mpg on the highway..
Have fun.. every little bit helps.. If you get a used moped off CL for errands around the corner and such you'll have more gas to waste playing..

Here in SoCal, folks are still running 80 mph on the freeways. This seems especially true for the larger SUVs. BTW, this morning I paid $4.63 for gas.
My wife and I have shifted our driving habits during the past month. About 95% of our driving is now in our Prius, 50+ mpg, and we seldom go out in the new JK, about 19 mpg. I have always been "OC" about vehicle maintenance and check everything weekly. The only thing I will do to get an extra mile or two out of a gallon of gas is switch to Mobil 1 at their next oil changes. I have already removed tools, spare parts etc from the JK and now only carry a first aid kit, flashlight and fire extinguisher. While many folks on this board are making mods to their Jeeps for better off road performance, each one has the potential of lowering their MPG which, in the long run, may limit the time they can afford to run off road. As a consumer group we need to pressure Jeep into a paradigm shift in future design that will result in a Wrangler that gets
25+ MPG on the road and still offers classic Jeep capabilities off road.

I know the price of gas is ridiculously high and I really wish it wasn't so. However if you can't afford to pay for the gas then you probably should not have bought your JK to start with.

My Jk is my primary vehicle. My wife has a 99 escort Zx2 she drives to work. I do have an 82 CJ7 which I drive to work one day a week. It gets about 12 MPG :eek2:.

I drive 35 miles each way to work. If I didn't drive my CJ at all it would be 350 miles a week at about 19 MPG. That's 18.4 Gallons at $4 a gallon that comes to about $74 a week or just under $300 a month. I know I hate that but I don't have much choice. If I traded it in on something smaller I would hate myself and loose my A@# on the deal. Taking several years to break even. And by driving slower I might get another MPG out of my jeep. That would save me a whopping $20 a month.

Now 10 MPH slower will take you an extra minute every 6 miles. That would take me an extra 11.6 minutes extra every day I go to work. That comes to 3.8 hours a month. Now that comes to $5 an hour to get that extra 3.8 hours with my wife and family. To me I doesn't make an sense to slow down.

If money was that tight that I couldn't spend the extra $20 a month to drive a "Normal" Speed then I should not have bought the JK to start with.

Take it or leave it the numbers don't Lie. Also if you don't drive as much as me it won't even cost you as much to drive faster.

I don't like the price of fuel. The extra cost is a burden on my wallet but I'm not getting rid of it and I'm not driving below 65mph on the highway. That's about it

Why not drive the Cooper-S like a penny pinching slow poke? I'm sure you could get into the mid to upper 20's. Or is it so modified it doesn't work for daily driving anymore?

We just got an 03 base Cooper for commuting, it gets about 33mpg @ 70 vs the JK's 17ish. Wife drives 120+ miles each day so no matter how slow she drove gas was killing her.

As for the speeding issue, I agree that everyone should slow down some to save overall consumption and those of you doing the speed limit are fine. However I also agree with those complaining about people doing excessivly slow speeds, that is (in my opinion) worse than speeding as far as general safety. Especially if some ignorant ass is doing it in the fast lane. That just pisses everyone off and then you start getting irrate drivers who are likly to do something drastic.

Everyone is entitled to drive how they wish as long as they consider other drivers, even if I'm doing 20 over in the fast lane I keep an eye out for someone behind me, if they want to go faster then fine, i'll move over before they even get close and let them be on there merry way. If I just want to lollygag down the freeway then I make sure im in the right lane but still watch to make sure i'm not causing a giant rolling roadblock by making sure there is a way to get around me if they wish.

Just remember the cars built today are not geared for the best mileage at 55,, more like 65-75.. and doing 55 in a 55 is just stupid and asking for trouble.. I drive 120 miles a day commuting.. In the wife's liberty at 65 I get 17-18 mpg, that's 6.6 gallons of fuel, at 4.10 a gallon, 27.06 per day, plus the 2.50 toll each way.. Now at 80 I get 23 mpg. 5.2 gallons, at 4.10, 21.32 per day. And I get to work about 10 minutes earlier.. but its all limited access toll highway,, I go three exits. And during the golfing season,, I usually drive a company service truck which gets 9 to the gallon,, worse the faster you go due to its shaped like a cinder block,, but they pay the fuel on that one..

I lost my company car 2 months ago. Then the gas prices spiked. Now I'm carpooling with another guy in the same situation. Just riding in his car 2 days a week (& vice/versa) will save each of us $2,000 a year, plus 10,000 miles of wear on each car. Yeah, it's a bit of a pain, but how can you not do it. And I don't drive my Jeep to work anymore - not enough MPG. It's strictly for around town and fun time.

The new EPA mileage test includes a high speed test that goes up to 80 MPH.
Check the Info Here.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml



This has led auto makers to pay attention to a range of speeds nut just 55. I have been trying different things and noticed that driving slow does lower my gas mileage. The engine has less power for hills with the lower RPM. This causes it to have to downshift more often to maintane speed.

However what I have noticed is that I have been getting better mileage lately by just driving more smoothly. If you are seeing a differnce driving slower you are probably also driving smoother, you need to drive the same way just a little faster and see what you find. You will probably see the same gains if you live in a area with any amount of hills. If you live where its 100% flat you might get better driving slower I would just make sure its not just your driving style.