Gas-Saving gadgets

What Can I Do to get Better Gas Mileage?

 The best way to use less fuel is to park your car, but short of that there are many things that can affect fuel economy. Besides getting a more economical car, they fall into two groups; The condition of the vehicle and driving habits.

    Optimizing the Car

Keep the tires inflated to proper pressures. Under inflated tires create more drag and use more fuel.

Use your air conditioning only when necessary. Roll down the windows or open the air vents to keep your car comfortable on not-so-hot days. Many vehicles will run the air conditioning in the defrost mode. If you don’t need defrost, put the controls in heat or vent to reduce engine load and improve mileage.

Replace the engine’s thermostat every three years. Thermostats tend to lose efficiency as they wear and will start opening too soon, not allowing the engine to reach the normal operating temperature. On-board computers won’t put the engine into optimum economy operation until normal operating temperature is reached.. Most car engines are designed to run at 195 –220 degrees and will not run as efficiently until it is reached.

Use overdrive. If your car is equipped with overdrive gearing (on 5-speed manual transmissions and 4-speed automatic transmissions), be sure to make use of the overdrive gear as soon as your speed is high enough. If you have a manual transmission, the lower the shift speed, the better the fuel economy. Your owner's manual will give you further information

Use Synthetic Oil. Synthetic oil creates less drag when the engine is cold and there is less engine friction all of the time, which can increase mileage by as much as 15%. Also the use of a fully synthetic oil results in less fossil based oil being consumed for lubrication. 

Use quality fuel. Newer cars have the ability to adjust to lower quality fuels to a certain degree to prevent pinging or knocking. This is accomplished by not advancing the ignition timing as much, which leads to poor mileage. The money you save on the fuel may disappear from lower mileage and performance. Also, cheaper fuels using ethanol for octane enhancement have less BTU's which translates into poorer performance and mileage. (click here for more information).

Keep the vehicle in tune. As spark plugs wear and filters get dirty, mileage slowly decreases. Older cars need periodic adjustments, newer computer controlled cars need their systems inspected occasionally for proper performance.

 

   Optimizing the Driver

Go easy on the brakes and gas pedal. Avoid "jackrabbit" starts by accelerating gradually whenever possible. Heavy acceleration puts the fuel system into a high enrichment mode and uses much more fuel.

Anticipate stops to avoid sudden braking. When approaching a red light or stop sign, let off the gas and use deceleration as soon as you know you will need to stop. Most cars shut off fuel delivery to the engine under deceleration conditions to reduce emissions and save fuel.

Avoid prolong idling. Turn off the engine if you anticipate a lengthy wait. Instead of idling at a drive-up window, park the car and go in. Idling burns more gas than restarting the engine.

Limit car warm-ups in winter; your vehicle is designed to start driving after a 10-second warm-up if it is running properly. Avoid freeway speeds for the first couple of miles if possible.

Avoid tailgating. The car in front of you will keep you switching from the brake and gas pedals instead of using light throttle and deceleration for control. Braking wastes fuel used to regain desired speed.

Combine errands into one trip. Consolidate trips to destinations that are near one another. Once you arrive, park and walk between destinations. Save errands for one afternoon and plan your trip so you don't retrace your route. You not only save gas this way, but reduce wear-and-tear on your vehicle.

Use overdrive and Cruise Control. Overdrive gears reduce both fuel consumption and engine wear. Also, using cruise control on highway trips helps maintain a constant, steady speed rather then a variable speed and as a result helps reduce fuel consumption.

Avoid carrying unneeded items in the trunk. Extra weight decreases gas mileage. Place items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks to reduce wind drag.

 

Car Care.org  fuel saving tips

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Gas-Saving gadgets

Whenever gas prices rise we see an increase in those Gas saving gadgets flooding the market. Most of them are the same things in a new package; a unit that gives off ultra sonic frequencies to the fuel, fuel atomizers in the PCV hose, magnets, intake vortex, etc.

Recently Popular Mechanics conducted tests on 7 of the most popular at the Universal Technical Institute in Houston, Texas.

Four full-size pickup trucks were chosen for the tests. They strapped the trucks down to chassis dynamometers and ran them dry of gasoline. A measured quantity of gas was added and then they ran four dyno pulls to determine horsepower and torque. Next, they set the cruise control to 70 mph, to keep the speeds consistent and ran the trucks dry again. Then they put the same measure of gas in the trucks, installed the gas-savers and repeated the tests.

The inexpensive ones produced no change, but the more expensive ones reduced horsepower and mileage by differing percentages. One even caught fire during the tests.

Fuel combustion today typically exceeds 97 percent, that means 97% or more is used in the combustion process and not wasted. The problem is our engines aren't very efficient - only 20 to 35 percent of the fuel energy is converted to useful work - that's mostly due to heat loss (through the engine block, out the exhaust pipe) and unavoidable energy loss during burning itself.

High mileage is never the result of a single miraculous component, it's accomplished through electronics, new engine designs, lightweight materials, low-friction tires, improved aerodynamics, "ultra-lean-burn" engines, continuously variable transmissions or hybrid technology. 

Automobile manufactures are required to meet certain mileage quotas, it costs them if they don’t. Teams of engineers spend years designing everything to work for the best possible mileage on each engine platform. You can sometimes increase performance by moving something from stock, but changes to really increase mileage is unlikely unless you’re prepared to spend thousands of dollars. Keep the car in good operating condition, use synthetic oils and good driving habits is the best way to keep mileage up.
Click here to read the article at Popular Mechanics

 

Federal Trade Commission: Magnetic Devices Are Bogus 

WASHINGTON (Aug. 22. 2006) - In a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), International Research and Development Corp. and its principal, Anthony Renda, the manufacturer of magnetic "fuel-saving" and emissions-reduction devices known as FuelMAX and SuperFuelMAX - will pay $4.2 million intended for consumer redress. The company also will submit to a lifetime ban on the sale or manufacture of these types of devices. 

The FTC has established a consumer hotline. Consumers who believe they are entitled to a refund should call 877-382-2020 for more information about obtaining a refund.

The FTC alleged that the magnetic devices do not save fuel, increase gas mileage or reduce emissions. The Agency had charged that the false claims violate the FTC Act and alleged that by providing promotional materials with false claims to affiliates, the defendants provided them with the means to violate the FTC Act.

"Consumers are looking for ways to increase fuel efficiency and save money at the pump," says Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "There are some practical ways to do that, like following the maintenance schedule in your owner's manual, combining errands and avoiding jack-rabbit starts. The fact is that many products that claim to save fuel don't work, and worse yet, may damage your car and end up costing you more."
(Source: FTC)

 

Be wary of ‘fuel-saving’ devices for your car
By JONATHAN WELSH
The Wall Street Journal

High gas prices have produced a bountiful supply of one kind of product: fuel-saving gadgets for your car.

These devices, which cost anywhere from $35 to $300, are pitched as simple ways to improve fuel economy. While not all of the devices are new, $4-a-gallon gasoline has increased consumer interest and inspired new ad campaigns — often evoking hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels.

A kit called Water4Gas, for example, has instructions for converting your car into a “water hybrid” that uses “the atomic power of hydrogen” for less than $150. The Magnetizer offers to save fuel by rearranging the ions in your fuel line. The maker of the Fuel Saver 7000 says the $170 device boosts fuel economy by treating gasoline to a “three-stage” vaporization process.

One familiar type of fuel saver looks like a fan or turbine made of sheet metal or plastic and ranges from $35 to $65. Installed in a vehicle’s air-intake such products, with names like Turbonator, Spiral Max or CycloneFuelSaver, are supposed to improve fuel combustion inside engines by causing incoming air to swirl.

Another type of device works on the fuel to make it burn more efficiently. Some systems inject air, water or other vapors or liquids into the fuel mixture before it enters the engine or infuse fuel with tiny amounts of platinum. Others use heaters to expand the fuel or employ magnets attached to the fuel line to modify the fuel.

But auto-industry officials and federal energy experts say most fuel-saving add-ons don’t work. The Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Trade Commission have tested products that claim to boost fuel economy and found they generally don’t improve vehicles’ efficiency — and they sometimes actually harm performance and increase emissions. The dozens of products tested include some air-swirling gadgets, magnetic devices and liquid-injection systems, though not specifically the FuelSaver 7000, Water4Gas, Magnetizer, Turbonator, Spiral Max or Cyclone. And drivers, beware: In some cases, installing certain devices can void cars’ factory warranties.