Gas prices are crazy right now. I hope this can help someone who forgot about taking off those add-on roof racks or removable cross-bars. They cause additional drag, which lowers your fuel efficiency, maybe by as much as 15%. I see a lot of vehicles with the add-on cross bars, with no rooftop cargo, and just smh.
Also, I think about how most gas places in our area sell gas with 10% ethanol, which also contributes to lower gas mileage. There are only two gas places near us that sell no-ethanol-added, but I'm pretty sure they are more than 10% more expensive than Costco, so it's not a good option for us.
Edit if this isn't important to you, great. I dropped this here in case people who are trying to be frugal are looking at a simple way to save, and forgot about the removable roof rack. For some people, the savings will add up.
I don't know who needs to know this, but if you have add-on roof racks, they are probably lowering your gas mileage.
byu/kilamumster inFrugal
Posted by kilamumster
10 Comments
Ok
By how much?
Your ethanol math is wrong. 10% ethanol is only 3-4% less energy than non ethanol. So from an energy perspective 10% ethanol fuel is always worth using in your car unless non ethanol is less than 3% more expensive.
While I’m all for that if you very rarely use them and can easily remove/add them.
Driving habits are generally a much easier thing to change and can have a substantially bigger impact.
Notably.
1. Slowing down, drag is a square function so the drag at 75 is more than twice it is at 50.
2. Take your foot off the gas well before a known or expected stop, and coast there. Also helps prolong brake life.
3. Adjust based on terrain, feel free to slow down a bit up a hill and coast down (unless you have a hybrid and can harvest that energy with regeneration).
Since I’m already getting 40 mi to the gallon, adding an additional 5% efficiency or something is not going to make a big difference.
Why you don’t buy a diesel if you are so concerned about fuel efficiency? Diesel Vs benz is night and day fuel efficiency.
Also, reduce the weight in your car if you can. If you’ve got a bunch of unnecessary stuff kicking around in your trunk, take it inside. 50 pounds of cargo can reduce your MPG by about 1%, which doesn’t seem like much but can add up over time.
The much simpler way to keep from wasting gas is driving your car like it’s manual. Don’t gas it to have to brake, let it coast as much as possible, and ease the speed up instead of ever gunning it. Your mileage will instantly be better.
I remember realizing the crossbar on my Rav4 had two positions. One for in use, and another for better fuel efficiency. I didn’t realize it mattered for several years.
Everything counts. Being able to see engine load also helps via a cheap OBD2 Bluetooth reader and an app for it like Torque.