Okay, there's this new dance, see? It's called Hypermililing, and it's the bomb. Everybody who is anybody is doing it. If you're still flooring your Suburban or Cadillac or Hummer, you - man, I hate to break it to you, your coolness - but you are sooooo . . . well, Wednesday.
Spilling your wealth into Dick Cheney's friends' pockets - possibly funding the next 9/11 - it's no longer an expression of freedom. But really, was it ever?
Freedom is getting as many miles per gallon as you possibly can. Freedom is driving less. Freedom is saving money rather than spending it. Freedom is NOT going shopping.
The new energy saving craze has many facets. I could easily come up with 100 ideas. I'll limit it to 25. Which of these would you do?
1) Accelerate slowwwwwly. The primary downside here is becoming road rage bait, but I have yet to be honked at, no less shot at. I estimate it takes me 45 to 50 seconds to get from 0 to 50 and then I kick in the cruise control at 53. I do this one. People behind me get it. I tell you; it is the hot new thing, and people get it.
2) Preserve momentum. Once you have expended the energy to get up to speed, guard it jealously. I slow down a bare minimum for curves. I slow well in advance of a stop light, and lay my bet on the best approach to keep from decelerating any more than necessary. How long is the line of cars? How significant of a cross street is it? However, rolling through stop signs - do you just not come to a complete stop, or do you look both ways and roll through at 12, 13, 30(?) miles per hour. That's a bit nuts. I may not come to a complete stop, but I do want to reach my destination.
3) Inflate tires to maximum pressure. Okay. No problem. The less contact with the road, the less resistance. But overinflating? By how much? Frankly, I'm looking forward to the next generation of skinny tires that deliver a rougher ride, but do the job right. I'll wait rather than have a blowout and have to change tires. Buying a new tire is not saving money.
4) Stay out of the ruts. Hypermilers hug the white line. Traffic over the years causes the pavement to sag, and if you ride down in those ruts, there's an ever-so-slight increase in the pavement contacting your tires. In contrast, if you hug the white line, your left tire is riding up on a ridge in the middle of the lane. Less contact area.
5) Avoid obstacles. If you get lost, your mileage goes to hell. It takes a while to plan, but it's worth it. The last time I tested my open road mileage, I ran into road construction that made me backtrack 8 miles. The eventual mileage was impressive, but 16 of those were a very hollow victory.
6) Pick a direct route. Since I couldn't drive 80 on certain roads, I used to avoid them. I'd drive around on the interstates. But if I'm driving 53 miles per hour, I can pick any road I want, and the most direct routes are open to me.
7) Lighten the load. I don't think so. On this point I disagree. If going light, drive a motorcycle, or a bike. Janie and I will be traveling cross country in a couple of weeks, and we'll be using a whole automobile. If there's a 5 MPR difference between an empty car and a car filled with stuff, then viva la freight. One of our primary reasons for going from Minnesota to Colorado is to transport merchandise, and leaving the freight behind to save a few miles per gallon makes no sense.
8) Coast down hills. Sure, but how? Turn the motor off? No, not for me. Most cars these days have power brakes and power steering. Put the car in neutral and touch the brakes a couple of times while the motor idles? Yes. I can live with that.
9) Use a clean air filter. Yes, absolutely. Not only that, carry a spray attachment that goes on the end of an air hose and blow out your filter at each gas stop.
10) Get new spark plugs and wires. Burn all of that gas. Don't let any of it slip by for lack of a spark.
11) Get a new, smaller car. Here too I struggle. I can get 40 MPG with my Saturn, but if I got an Aveo or a Prius, I could get many more. But how much fuel does it take to make a new car? How many miles are left in my car, that would be lost to me if I started over with a car that depreciated like a popped balloon? Today they're making cars that can get 50 with typical driving. Ten years from now - when my car is 20 years old and has 180,000 miles - there will be cars that get 80 (that's 110 if you hypermile it). I'll wait, thank you.
12) Take the bus. We took the bus to dinner the other day, down University Avenue. Yes there were a couple of people talking to themselves, but welcome to the real world. America is not a place of universal wealth and health. Being aware of that is a good thing. Of course, most places don't have any buses at all. My home town is 37 miles away from the larger town where everyone shops, and everyone drives there, with the exception of a senior citizen van. It will be interesting to see how long it will take someone to start a bus service.
13) Park smart. Park on a hill, facing out. If you don't have a hill, at least back into the parking spot, because your warmed up engine will make that stop-and-reverse maneuver more efficiently than the cooler engine will after sitting a while.
14) Don't use the air conditioner. I'm not sure we can do this. Perhaps we can go down the road with the windows open.
15) Keep the windows shut. Open windows cause air drag. I'd like to know which uses less fuel - open windows or an air conditioner.
16) Carpool. Again, an example of the silliness of lightening up the car. You have 4 seats. Fill them!
17) Buy a diesel truck and convert it to vegetable oil. This is soooo tempting, but I'm making the prediction that abundant waste oil from fast food joints is not long for this world. Very soon this oil will be collected and sold as the fuel it is. Maybe it will cost $2 a gallon. It's still not worth buying an entirely new vehicle to make a bit of savings.
18) Video conference. You can now meet face to face without flying across the country. It has the eye contact and body language you need to get the message across accurately. Air travel is unpleasant, (yes it's a downright nasty experience, always has been). Well, you don't have to do it.
19) Ride a bike. I won't ride a stationary bike. I loathe lifting weights. I want to be paid for my exercise. In that spirit, I'm oiling up my bike I haven't ridden for ten years. Biking to the grocery has purpose.
20) Hook your exercise equipment up to a generator. I don't know of any safe way to do this right now, but I think there's great potential if the power companies buy even small amounts of electricity. I would work out on a machine if I knew it was generating electricity.
21) Move closer to work. Recently there has been a lot of apartment and condo construction here in downtown St. Paul. I walk to work. So does Janie. We also have a life outside of our cars. Yes, it's a big move to change where you live, and it's a major shift to ask yourself what you really want out of a home, but we highly recommend living downtown. If you're concerned about safety, the more people that live downtown and get out walking around in the evenings, the safer it is. And in our downtown, it's already safe.
22) Dig up your lawn. Plant vegetables, soybeans, - anything but a vast expanse of senseless grass you have to expend fuel to chop down. If it's going to be work, why not have it be productive. Imagine the change in the economy if we channeled the energy of cutting grass into energy growing food . . .
23) Buy fewer new manufactured goods, especially those made far away. Do you need it? Can it be repaired? Is it something you'd likely find at a yard sale? If you are going to spend money on your thing inventory, how about keeping it closer to home?
24) Reduce electricity usage between 2 and 8 p.m. In order to produce enough electricity for peak usage periods, more power plants need to be built, and that drives up the price of power. Also, the power company charges you more for power used in that window. Call them as ask how much more. I bet you'll be surprised.
25) Vote for an energy plan. Should we force car makers to produce vehicles that get better mileage? Should we loosen environmental laws to allow oil drilling anywhere and the burning of high sulfur coal? (Just to be clear, I think that would be stupid - a twelve-year-old's solution.) Should the patent laws be modified to enforce a use-it-or-lose-it policy on innovations, so energy companies don't buy up fuel efficient ideas and sit on them? What's your candidate's energy policy, and does that have anything to do with why you're voting for him or her?
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Did I miss anything? Are there other hypermiling techniques I'm not aware of? What above strikes you as stupid or smart?
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Comments: 41
7 - Agreed. I now refuse to drive with my husband. Double bonus - keeps the fuel consumption AND arguments down.
11 - Agreed. I am now on a waiting list for a Prius and they gave me an estimated delivery date of Jan 15, 2015. I am counting the days.
20 - Agreed. Well, at least my husband agrees. He thinks this is a very cool idea, so he will spend hours designing the system, but never really build it. It will keep him busy and out of my hair. Not exactly energy efficient, but still beneficial.
21 - Agreed. But I have gone one better than moving closer to work - I now call in sick two of the five days of the week. Cuts my gas usage down by 40%.
22 - Agreed. But I have decided to grow dandelions - not only edible, but a very pretty yellow color, too. Another double bonus.
Now, Number 25 - that one is just TOO outrageous to consider. : - )
Rhonda, there has to be someone out there that can make a very simple generator you can hook up to just about anything. It could have a cord that runs to the house battery, and then maybe it wouldn't even be necessary to send it to the power company . . .
My husband and daughter get less with their heavy feet.
I plan my trips so I can do all my errands that are in the same place at the same time. I'm lusting after a plug-in car that I can charge with my soon-2-b-remodeled home solar panels. I've been wanting an underground cystern but the cost is prohibitively expensive, but I just found a cystern system that I can put on the side of my house so I can use the gray water for my lawn. When I water it's always just before dusk so less water will evaporate.
I replaced my front lawn 12 years ago with xeriscaping, at the same time we began our compost pile. We produce so little garbage that we only have to put our black can out once a month. OTOH our blue recycling can must go out each week because I recycle just about everything I can. I even give my bottles for refunds to the homeless guys who really need the xtra money. I collect water from my downspout on my roof when it rains in barrels and use the water for my garden where I grow veggies that we eat for free all summer long. I also have a worm farm.
I have a feeling you guys don't want me to go on, but this has been my life just about ever since I became an adult. I'm just glad that, finally, everyone is begining to catch on. ;')
I read some tests recently. One result was that tire Pressure effect is negligible on mileage though important for safety.
Mary, speeding is a temptation when the goal is to get to speed and stay there.
Wow, Mandi. I would have expected better mileage, though Saturns have long opted to have plastic bodies on their cars, which reduces the weight considerably (plus it's a lot harder to dent).
Dogs, man you've got some great watering system there. I've wanted to capture grey water from our sinks and use it to flush the toilet. Other than that we have limited uses for it up here on the 15th floor. We're not growing much of anything on our balcony this year, but maybe we'll try next year. Thank you for all the great tips.
I don't have a needle that tells me the miles per gallon that I'm using, although it would be nice if such was required on all vehicles. But the other day I experimented with my fairly useless RPM needle.
I compared the RPM's at different speeds on flat roads with no wind and divided the resulting RPM's by the MPH's in each case to see what the RPM per each MPH worked out to. Surprisingly - to me anyway - I had 37.3 RPM's for each mile per hour at three different speeds - 55, 65 and 75 miles per hour.
The ratio jumped to 38.9 at 45 MPH and 45.7 at 35 MPH.
Now, I only have one question. What does this mean?
Does it mean there is no gas saving by reducing speed from 75 to 55 MPH with this particular car?
Or maybe it has no relevance whatsoever. Anybody got any thoughts on this?
I too want one of those real-time mileage meters. That would be sweet.
http://www.register-pajaronian.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=4719&page=72
0&story_id=4719&page=72
did it get cut off?
Good article Ron.
I've been a poor planner in the past, Wilhelmine. Coordinatinng with others on grocery trips would be a challenge for me, but if it were easy I suppose driving a Hummer and going shopping would be the cure for all our ills after all : )
Also, proven by "MYTHBUSTERS" driving with the windows down is more efficient than driving with a/c. I do not know what type of engine the test vehicles had though. I have my own hypothesis. I would think the bigger your engine the lower the fraction of a load your a/c puts on the motor. If you have a little 4 cylinder engine then the increased load % from your a/c is far greater than say that of a v8.
Also driving out of the ruts of normal travel will suscept your tires to pick up debris that was blown out of the way by previous passing motorists. You may be unlucky enough to pick up a nail or shard of metal or glass and then there goes your few dollars you saved by driving out of ruts.
Now I am glad I have the experience to fall back on. I am also glad that I learned to entertain myself back then. I am never bored and I don't mind staying home. In fact I would rather be home most days then to be out.
Great article Ron. Thanks.
I love your ideas for a car, and as you point out, they are not pipedreams, but rather a reality.
I wouldn't call myself a "hypermiler" but I AM concerned with making my cars run as efficiently as possible. There's an excellent book out there by David Vizard called "Performance With Economy" and there's a LOT of good info in there. For instance: a brand new Fram air filter gives WORSE fuel economy than a brand new Motorcraft filter for the same vehicle. Washable cotton air filters (like a K&N) are better than either of these. Not all air filters are created equal.
I've found that increasing my spark plug gap to .010" over stock improves mid-range fuel efficiency at the expense of a little power at wide-open throttle.
I inflate my tires to 10% over the max. pressure number shown on the sidewall. Never a failure in more than 20 years, even as a pizza driver in the summer.
I record EVERY SINGLE FUEL PURCHASE. Miles traveled since last fuel stop, gallons purchased, octane rating, fuel brand/location are all recorded. Vehicle problems will often hurt fuel economy long before one "feels" any change.
My Subaru gets about 15% better fuel economy on 93 octane fuel than on 87 octane. I live in a very hilly area and I believe the higher octane allows my knock sensor to dial in a bit more spark advance, which gives more power, which means I don't have to stick my foot in it as much to get a given road speed. OR: If I don't USE the extra power to go FASTER, I use less fuel.
My 1973 Toronado with a carb'd 455 (that's about a 7.4 liter) V-8 has delivered 21.7 MPG on the highway on 93 octane fuel but only gives 17 MPG on 87 octane due to the retarded spark timing required with the lower octane fuel. The fuel economy improvement MORE than offsets the higher price per gallon of premium fuel.
Synthetic oil can save fuel: My 1979 diesel VW Rabbit got 12% better fuel economy when I switched to synthetic oil and made no other changes.
I have gotten as much as a 20% boost in fuel economy (and as little as 5%) just by adding plain old acetone to my gasoline at the rate of 1 oz./10 gal. of fuel. Tested this on a 1990 Mazda B2000 truck, 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis (FI 302 V-8), and the 1973 Olds Toronado mentioned above.
On my OLD cars, I adjust the carb. mixture, and spark advance using a vacuum gauge. Higher vacuum means better fuel economy.
Larger diameter tires give lower rolling resistance than smaller diameter ones, all else being equal. (try rolling a skateboard down a gravel road and then try rolling a high-wheel lawn mower down that same road) I always fit the tallest tires I can to my vehicles, then calculate the speedometer error, and adjust my speed accordingly.
I have also gotten good results with SplitFire spark plugs. Others have not, however, so maybe I've just been lucky there.
Wind resistance is one's single greatest enemy, particularly at highway speeds. Bring the front end down just a little lower than the tail end and add an air dam in front if you can. I made one out of a $15 piece of sheet metal once and it helped fuel economy AND highway stability. Nothing fancy required....the air doesn't care how much you spent on it. A lower vehicle has less turbulence going on underneath so go as low as you can without scraping or hurting anything. If a version of your vehicle is used for ANY kind of racing, then wind tunnel data is out there SOMEwhere. It was for my '79 Plymouth Volare' and I used it to adjust the car's "angle of attack" for best compromise between drag and downforce. A set of Bonneville-inspired, "smoothie" wheel covers helped too. Ultimately, I got 27.7 MPG out of that car on the highway, cruising at 75 MPH. Not bad for an old slant-six with a carb and no overdrive.
I guess my point is this: If one's present vehicle is still working fine there's no need to dump it in favor of a newer, more fuel efficient one. The old one just needs some well-planned tuning to do better. Besides, that brand new Prius has already burned a good many gallons of oil before you ever looked at it. How long before it pays THAT oil back, let alone the fuel savings over your present vehicle?
My '79 diesel Rabbit gave me 46-52 MPG no matter HOW I drove it and it wasn't a hybrid. Meanwhile the new SmartCar gives what? 50? 55? Not much progress in the last 30 years or so. The new Ford Edge delivers a whopping 24? Wow, that's just a LITTLE better than my old Toronado with more than TWICE the motor, NO overdrive, NO fuel injection, and all the aerodynamics of a STRIP MALL. Doesn't sound like progress to me.
There is better fuel economy hiding in your old car. You just have to be smart about it. You won't get any HUGE gains from any ONE thing, but you get a lot of small gains from multiple things working together.
Sorry I rambled on so long. I just love cars. I love engines. I love making things work BETTER, and I love sharing what I've learned. I hope someone out there can benefit from it. :)
This has all the makings of a feature in my What You Taught Me group. I did a post, and I got very valuable feedback. I will act on the advice I've received and then do a post about the results.
Jason, here's my take on what you've generously given me:
- I will definitely look into a washable air filter. I've never been able to figure out how air gets through those paper barriers in traditional air filters and I'm interested in seeing the design of the washable kind.
- I almost never use wide-open throttle any more, so if the slight increase in spark plug gap helps mileage at mid-RPM, I'm game. I have a couple questions though.
1) Does the increase in spark plug gap assume the car is running on higher octane gas, or would it also work with lower octane? I'm not saying I wouldn't go to higher octane; I just want to be working with as much info as possible.
2) I accelerate very, very slowly (0 to 60 in 60 seconds or more). What affect does the wider spark plug gap have at very low RPMs?
- I really like the log you keep, incorporating also the gas octane and brand. With the availability of computers, you can really crunch the numbers to make that data work for you. I'm not sure I'll do it, but it's a great idea.
- I too go up some serious hills, both getting over the Rockies and getting up to my parking space (on level 11 of a parking ramp where I live). If higher octane can help me get up hills at lower RPM, and keep my automatic transmission from kicking into a higher gear, I'm all for it. My only concern is whether it takes significantly more oil to make a gallon of premium than a gallon of regular. My primary objective is to save oil, not gas. With gas at only $4 per gallon, this mileage increase project is more of a game than a necessity for me. Yes, gas is cheap, compared to the benefits of personal mobility. The problem we have in this country is people running around a lot and not thinking about whether they're accomplishing as much as they should in those trips. Don't get me started on commuting . . .
Again, I'm running out of time. I'll comment on your other points when I have a little more time.
The washable K&N filters have a million mile warranty too. They're kinda pricey but you'll never have to buy another one...and your old paper ones won't be loading up a landfill somewhere either.
The wider spark plug gap just makes for a slightly larger flame kernel at the very beginning of the ignition process. Octane requirement is not affected by the plug gap increase. Since the wider gap requires more energy to make a spark, I don't think it's a good move for an artificially aspirated (turbocharged or supercharged) engine. Normally aspirated will do fine with the wider gap if the rest of the ignition system is in good shape. I always use the very best plug wires I can afford/get my hands on.
The effect on wide open throttle power output is independent of engine RPM. It has to do with mixture density and the energy required to "jump" the wider gap through a denser mixture. Mixture density is much lower at part-throttle, which is where the fuel economy war is won or lost.
The wider gap has made virtually no difference in the way my cars "feel" at very low RPM. If I didn't know I'd done it, I wouldn't be able to tell. A couple people I know that have made the gap change have reported noticeably smoother running engines.
A vacuum gauge can be a valuable tool when looking for best fuel economy. You might be surprised to learn that you can often back off on the throttle just a hair and not lose any appreciable road speed. When you let up, vacuum goes up and so does your fuel economy. A vacuum gauge can also alert you to problems you might otherwise not be aware of, like a sticking valve or a vacuum leak somewhere in the system. Both of these can affect one's fuel economy, as well as keep you informed about the engine's general overall "health".
Higher octane fuel is generally made by the addition of toluene (145 octane), ethanol (about 130 octane, depending on base stock), and some other "stuff". Toluene is a by-product of oil refining and was, at one time, considered waste. The oil companies just figured out a way to put that "waste" to good use. They don't have to use more oil to create the stuff and typically have a surplus of it. Interestingly, toluene is GOOD for fuel economy, while ethanol is BAD for it.
Your automatic tranny may or may not be able to hold a higher gear with the wider plug gap and other changes. It depends on the data it receives from the rest of the car (road speed, intake vacuum, and a bunch of stuff I'm not privvy to). If your engine is equipped with a knock sensor then the increaed part-throttle power MAY give higher vacuum which MAY allow the tranny to stay in a higher gear.
IF your car can learn to take advantage of a higher octane fuel then your fuel economy will go up and your OIL consumption will go down. If your engine does NOT adjust itself to benefit from higher octane fuel then you'll just be wasting your money. My Suby can benefit from it, as can my grandmother's Taurus SHO. Older cars will have to be tweaked manually in order to deliver any benefits from higher octane fuel.
FYI: Octane and fuel economy do not go hand-in-hand. A flex-fuel vehicle will always deliver poorer fuel economy when running on E85 than when running on gasoline. Why that is is a bit too involved to go into here.
I'm sorry I'm so long-winded. Really I am. I just don't know how to give accurate, useful information using fewer words.
As for wind resistance, my 1997 Saturn sedan is a gem. It's very sleek, and I'm pretty sure that's why I've been able to coax the low 40s in highway MPG. It also comes with an air dam of sorts, though maybe I'm not familiar with that. So here I have a couple of questions:
1) Are air dams typically part of a newer car's design, or is it something that's typically added after-market?
2) What sort of costs are involved in lowering the front of my vehicle closer to the road? Do I need new shocks or other parts?
3) I'm assuming the ride would be a bit rougher when the vehicle is lowered closer to the road. What's your experience with that?
4) I sometimes carry pretty heavy loads in my car, having removed the back seat for additional payload. I'd say a typical cargo on our way out to Colorado is 300-400 lbs, (in addition to the two persons). If I were to lower the entire vehicle, including the rear of the car, would that cause any limitations in load carrying capability?
5) Which would be better - lowering the front of the vehicle, or lowering both the front and back?
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Great discussion, by the way. I'll incorporate it into upcoming posts on the topic.
1) Air dams are often incorporated into most newer vehicles' design. This is due to the "bottom breather" design engineers have begun to favor. "Bottom breathers" draw (or scoop) cooling air for the radiator up from the underside of the car, rather than catching it in a big, wide-open front grill. Compare a '70s Caddy to your Saturn and it's easy to see. Front-facing openings create drag whereas drawing air up from underneath does so to a much lesser degree.
2) Cost depends on method used. Your vehicle has MacPherson struts up front if I'm a good guesser. The strut assembly is like a shock absorber and a coil spring as a single unit. To be quite honest, I'm not very familiar with aftermarket parts availability for your vehicle. On the older cars I'm used to dealing with, lowering the car could be done by just removing the old coil spring, cutting off a coil (or 2), and putting it back in. Since coil spring stiffness is a function of wire diameter and number of coils, the spring got stiffer as coils were removed. ALL coil springs will follow this rule. Not sure how all that works out with a strut assembly though. Cutting coils is free. Old Mopars had torsion bar front suspension systems. You could lower the car just by turning 2 BIG bolts. I used to drop my Volare' down to the bump-stops for the weekend and then crank 'er back up on Sunday night. Chevy & Ford guys hated me.
Tirerack.com may be able to help you find suspension upgrades for your Saturn...at least let you know some of what's out there. After that you can shop around for price. Be honest with yourself about what you want. Shorter springs are often much stiffer for better handling. I LIKE that but you may not. Other short springs give close-to-stock ride quality but can't carry much of a load. Everything's a compromise. The trick is finding the right balance for YOU.
3) Cutting coils will give a rougher ride. Adjusting a torsion has no effect on ride quality. There are "load control" or "load leveler" springs out there that maintain stock ride height and quality but don't sag as much when the car is heavily loaded. They get progressively stiffer as the load goes up. I think they give just a SLIGHTLY stiffer ride than the OEM springs.
4) Depends on suspension design. Leaf springs, coil springs, and strut assemblies all make different choices available to you. I don't know what kind of rear suspension your car has so I can't offer any concrete info there. One handy thing to keep in mind: the shocks, springs, and struts on your care were probably used on a BUNCH of different cars. Any good salvage yard (or auto recycling center, as they seem to prefer being called these days) should have a Hollander's Interchange Manual. This tells what vehicles share which parts. Incredibly handy but too pricey for just casual, personal use. If you contact one of these good salvage yards and tell 'em what suspension part(s) you're looking for, they should be willing & able to tell you from which vehicle(s) you could get the part(s). Depending on what parts you're looking for, the dealer's parts department may be able to help. Just tell 'em what you're up to and you'll often find the person on the other side of the counter to be a "hot rodder" in disguise and eager to share what he/she has learned. Then again, you may find someone who's as adventurous as a cabbage....with about the same IQ. Move on if you find a "cabbage".
5) Lowering the front is better...to a point. Beyond a certain point (or angle of attack), aerodynamic drag goes up as downforce begins to come into the equation. Aerodynamics, like everything else, is a compromise. Downforce is good for highway stability (especially important for lightweight cars), but too MUCH downforce just creates drag and costs you fuel economy. Not ENOUGH downforce and you're wandering all over the road every time a truck goes by. Every weave and correction makes your trip just that much longer. Try this: measure a route you drive very frequently. Measure the mileage down to a tenth of a mile from parking space to parking space for ten times in a row. If you drive exactly the same route every day then why do you end up with six different mileage readings? A little weave here, a correction there, multiplied by hundreds of times on every trip. Bad for rolling resistance.
Same is true in cycling, btw. Practice riding ON the painted line whenever you can for as long as you can. It's 4.5" wide....plenty of room for a bicycle. :)
Aerodynamic drag is your greatest enemy. It also goes up with the square of speed. Meaning this: going 50 mph requires FOUR TIMES as much power as going 25 mph. Rolling resistance, by contrast, is linear: if your speed doubles, rolling resistance doubles too. The easiest way to reduce rolling resistance is with higher tire pressures. The tires on my '97 Suby are rated for 44psi. I run them at 45-50psi all the time. I think Subaru suggests 28 and 30psi for my car. If I lower my pressures to what they suggest, I'd lose a good 10-15% in fuel economy. Did it for a while just to see how things went. 5 tanks of gas was quite enough, thanks. I went back to the higher pressures and never looked back.
My '73 Toronado's tires are rated for 35psi and I run those at 40. Never had a problem.
Hope all this proves useful to you. :)
I am right there with you on not weaving in the lane, and I take that to the extreme. I go dead straight ahead on a straight road, wavering as little each way as humanly possible. If I'm approaching a left curve, I ease over and hug the centerline throughout the curve; if it's a right curve, I'm as far over the white line as I can be comfortable with. If I'm on a two-lane reasonably free of other traffic, I use both lanes. I figure moving one foot to my left adds one foot to my trip; I'm not sure if the math supports that, but it has to make the trip shorter if the driver goes straight. Holding straight and going tight into curves also is a good game, and it keeps me from getting bored, making me more attentive and causing less annoyance based fatigue.