There is one driving condition that is the single biggest gas robber. You must constantly fight this gas robber to keep it from stealing your fuel. When ever you drive you experience this problem.
The number one gas robbing problem is running your car when your car is not moving. In other words, allowing your car to idle. Idling is the largest single factor in lowering your gas mileage.
When your car is running and you are stopped, you are getting zero miles per gallon. I cannot emphasize this enough: you are getting ZERO MILES PER GALLON when your car is idling.
If you are on the freeway for 15 minutes and getting 20 miles per gallon, and all of a sudden traffic stops and you idle without moving for 15 minutes your average miles per gallon just dropped from 20 down to 10. The longer you idle, the worse your average fuel economy gets.
There are several factors that create conditions that cause you to idle excessively. The most common culprits are red lights. When ever you stop at a red light, you are forced to idle your car and burn fuel. Remember that your miles per gallon is zero when idling. Please note that I am not advocating running red lights! I am merely pointing out a gas robbing factor.
Another factor that contributes to situations of excessive idling is rush hour. The high volume of traffic on the road during rush hour forces you to drive slower and stop more often. As a result you end up idling more during rush hour than in non rush hour periods.
The red light problem is increased during rush hour. Because of the higher traffic volume in the rush hour period, you spend more time at red lights. As an example, you may be able to make it through a red light within one cycle during normal driving conditions, but that same red light may actually require two, three or even four cycles to safely get through in the rush hour period. Your idle time is increased up to two, three or even four times.
All that increased idling is robbing you of fuel, and lowering your average miles per gallon. In addition to red lights and rush hour there is one more major cause of idling time. The dreaded orange barrels. Road construction that slows and stops traffic increases your idle time. Of course, rush hour also exacerbates this problem causing even more traffic delays and more idling.
In order to fight this gas robbing condition, you need to plan your trips to avoid these situations as much as possible. Plan your routes to minimize red lights. Try and avoid lights that you know require long waits. Plan to avoid areas where you know there is construction. Try the best that you can to avoid driving during rush hour. Stay later at work, arrive earlier at work. If you can, try to stagger your regular work hours.
Minimizing situations where you have to sit idling your car will help you maintain better gas mileage. Avoiding as many idle producing situations as possible will go a long way towards getting better fuel economy, thereby saving you gas and saving you money.
Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/
Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page manual of industry insider information on saving gas and money at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
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