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8 Geeky Ways to Save Gas

pcmag.com — Yes, we know —if you only had a nickel for every "save money on gas" article you've read or seen in the past year. And to add to the confusion, many of the tips in these stories are in fact based on superstition, junk science, or grandfather wisdom that doesn't really apply to today's automobiles....

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  • digjam, on 07/02/2008, -2/+30#0. Take a bus?
    • gavinhudson, on 07/03/2008, -1/+10"Riding a bicycle is a pretty [healthy, fun, exciting, outdoors] way to save gas"
    • bunnii, on 07/03/2008, -1/+3"What do you expect me to do...take a bus?.......you take a bus!"
    • callmejordy265, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2or...walk?
    • tacojohn48, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2My college advisor told me to quit my job, sell my car, and ride the bus. I told him there was no bus out where I live. He had no solution for me.
    • senfo, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2With all due respect, I looked into mass transportation a few months ago and not only was it horribly inconvenient (increased my hour long trip to work by over two hours) it also cost more. I'd love to be able to make use of mass transportation, but the truth is, it still sucks in my area of Maryland.
  • cashman57, on 07/02/2008, -5/+8My pickup runs on vegetable oil and gets very good MPG. We have a car that is a 30MPG from the factory but have tweaked it about 6 MPG using simple aftermarket items. Replacing the engine management chip, replacing the air filter with one that is re-usable, adding a fuel enhancer that completes the combustion in the combustion chamber, and using a "tornado" insert were used as well as adjusting our driving habits and using synthetic oil. Top MPG per tank was 40 on a long drive through Kansas. The only time we saw a big fall-off in MPG was when we were stuck in rush hour traffic when I went to see a specialist in Denver. Even their side streets were a mess with mistimed traffic lights which created a flow problem for traffic.
    Since January of this year that car has been in our garage and the pickup has been our main transportation due to the cost of fuel.
    • boot20, on 07/03/2008, -1/+9Uh, the Tornado does nothing to improve fuel efficiency.
    • jnordb, on 07/03/2008, -1/+6Oh yeah, well my Delorean runs on banana peels and empty beer cans...oh wait, that's just for the flux capacitor...the engine still runs on gasoline. Darn.
    • cashman57, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1boot20 according to what we recorded there was an increase in fuel mileage from using the tornado insert. Perhaps your vehicle did not, mine did.
      Each one of the modifications increased mileage or we would have discontinued its use.
      • boot20, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1Uh, no. The Tornado does nothing to improve fuel economy, for anyone, anywhere.
  • mag7, on 07/02/2008, -2/+7If only people wouldn't use their car(s) all the time
    (I know there's some exceptions) and could use their bikes or simply walk a little instead.

    Not only they would save a significant amount of cash in gas but would also reduce the chance of paying thousands for the treatment of their future heart disease.
    • jamesdew, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4But that would involve a small amout of extra effort
  • Buttercup, on 07/02/2008, -1/+4this is probably the worst nickel i didn't get for reading this crappy article.

    sums up the best of the worst ways to make you feel like you're saving gas. and the obvious "carpool with a buddy"

    if you want to save gas, buy a car that doesn't use as much, if any of it.
  • watklax, on 07/02/2008, -0/+19Geeks usually don't leave the house so there's really no need to save gas.
  • BelatedHero, on 07/03/2008, -0/+6I wish the link gave more info on replacing the engine computer chip. I've never heard of this before. And to be honest, it sounds kind of gimmicky. Anyone know more about this?
    • SVOboy, on 07/03/2008, -0/+8It is kind of gimmicky. Some gains can be had out of a good engine tune, but that's something you need to do with a pro and some special tools, not something you can buy on ebay.
  • ArmenTamzarian, on 07/03/2008, -1/+10Buy a horse.
  • bullsfan03, on 07/03/2008, -2/+6I juse use my epic and flying mounts, and zeppelins, not cars! Ahhhh i damn you WoW!
  • snapshot54323, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2...bike?
  • Alex2, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1Segway for the Ubergeek.
  • masterm1nd, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2Play video games instead of going somewhere?
  • FreeTalkLIve, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2Make fake gas cards.
  • onreact, on 07/03/2008, -2/+1Save gas? Huh? Why? Others don't do it either:
    http://digg.com/autos/Just_Like_Bush_McCain_Doesn_ ...
    • zacharytelschow, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1He was asked what the price of gas was the last time he filled up and he didn't know. So what? If I hadn't filled up yesterday ($4.199/gal), I wouldn't know what I last paid for gas either.
  • Shootfast, on 07/03/2008, -0/+3VPN?
  • CletusTSJY, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2That all sounds like a lot of work.
  • JNudda, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4We need open source gas.
  • idc5, on 07/03/2008, -4/+2#9 Drafting, Shifting into Neutral to coast, Avoiding coming to a complete stop (roll slowly to red lights hoping it turns green while you are still rolling)
    • secrity, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2Buried for drafting, tailgating is not a Good Thing to do.
      • Tabris, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2Neither is neutral coasting. Have fun chewing up your transmission when you re-engage it.
  • kipmartin, on 07/03/2008, -0/+8i have a car that runs on nothing but Python and WiFi signals. its not great in the desert but once i upgrade to a pair of quads running four 5-billion-instructions-per second AMD +4700 processors, ill do 0-60 in 12 nanoseconds and simply coast from Death Valley to Barstow.
  • benguild, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1Ride mah mount.
  • warlokaz2004, on 07/03/2008, -2/+4#10 Change your entire lifestye -- do you really need to drive into town to see a movie when you can just down load it (and you know you can) at a later time? Do you really need to go to the drive thru at McDonalds when you can just stock up on food at the grocery store once a week (or 2) , do you really need Starbucks in the morning when you can just fire up some maxwell house? Do you really need to go to the mall when you can try ordering online and have THEM ship to you? In short, aside from work and groceries, just hole up in your house. Let entertainment venues and retailers implode...let the suburbs become ghost towns, move to a city with mass transit, sell your car, buy a scooter, laugh at idiots driving 2 hours to work.
  • chaos7, on 07/03/2008, -4/+5#9 don't vote for republicans
  • Lionsroar, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1At this point anything helps.
  • jnordb, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2I've been commuting with my Bell Rocket Belt....it uses no gas, but the range sucks.
  • Ryan166, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4#11 Call your mom to pick you up.
  • troon, on 07/03/2008, -0/+0Don't accelerate, but when you do, accelerate hard:

    http://mark.tranchant.co.uk/2008/06/driving-more-e ...
  • onux16, on 07/03/2008, -0/+0In no way did I find that geeky at all. In fact, it seems more Fast and Furious to me, how they modify cars for better performance.
    Now, if the article told you to replace your current vehicle's computer software with Linux, then we'd be talking geeky!
  • dfekke, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2Uh, Don't drive.

    Seriously, stay at home and play video games.
  • Antwan718, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1Driving a 3.5 Ton truck I can manage 21.5 Hand Calc'ed running B99, Im eco freaking freindly.
  • MadroxKran, on 07/03/2008, -0/+0Spend more money elsewhere to save at the pump. There, article done.
  • dracostimpy, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1They forgot a real simple one that many of us already use in the bathroom: Just put a brick in your gas tank!
  • AlKo, on 07/03/2008, -1/+1Change your car's engine computer? That's so '90s... now it's a simple flash. But most people flash for performance, not fuel economy. Though I have seen attempts at it... I haven't heard of anything huge since most people don't mess with open loop programming.

    Two mods that actually work to increase fuel efficiency (it typically ends up at around 2-4mpg gain) are replacing the air filter with a higher flowing aftermarket one and opening up the exhaust with a freer flowing muffler and mandrel bent pipes.

    PC geek talking cars? That's like asking an actor about AIDS research.
  • jgoodman22, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1Change your oil routinely and keep your tires inflated! http://www.carsforgirls.com/index.php/10-tips-to-i ...
  • JJMickelsen, on 07/08/2008, -0/+0TFB is oil additive you add once every 70,000 miles or so that increases your gas mileage and decreases friction which means less wear and tear on your car ... average increase is 15-25% in gas mileage.
    The comp plan will be structured so that everyone is on the same team and helping each other succeed..not one team against the other. sponsor 3 people in 30 days and receive full compensation for 11 levels.. There is no autoship.
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