Driving Slow saves far more money than Rebates

[gfh77665]

I drive the way I want to drive. I have a long commute and my time is valuable to me, much more so than saving a few MPG by going 55 instead of 75. (That would not work on I-10 anyways).

What I DO do is inflate my tires! That is a free, easy way to save MPG!

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
I was just reading the rebate section, where people mail-in rebates for oil, tires, whatever to save 10-20 dollars. There's a far easier way to save 100s of dollars:

I slowed my SUV from 70 to 55, and my MPG jumped +10.
Over a year/20,000 miles that will be $400 saved in gasoline.

ASIDE: Another way to save on gasoline is get a Visa from AAA (the autoclub). 3% off gasoline. So a $50 fill is only $48.5 on your credit bill.


As others said, it's much safer driving at the speed of traffic. Lead, follow or get out of the way. It's the variation in speed that's the most dangerous. You may save a few nickels but you are endanger your life and the life of others with this method. Not recommended at all.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
With a new 4cyl CUV if I get on roads where I'm stuck going 40-50 mph I get 35-38 mpg without traffic.
That drops to 27-30 mph on the Interstate going 70 mph
I waste no time on rebates..........
The only rebate I like is an instant one on the jug.....


+1

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Originally Posted By: 1JZ_E46
Nothing is worse than a Prius with a coexist sticker on the back doing 55 in the left lane.

HAHA, SO TRUE!

beat you and raise you:
taxi driver in a prius:
- slows to get behind a truck from lane 3 to lane 1
- then slows even more
after 2 minutes aftermath:

-truck in line 1 is 1/4 in front of him (going at whatever limited speed constantly); yep, the prius got passed by a truck!
-lines 2 and 3 almost hit each other while trying to go around him and try so "see" his intentions (no signal used)
- prius still chugging along at whatever low speed

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: 6starprez
Glad you decided to stop speeding.

But if you're talking about being a slug on the highway, i.e driving 55 in a 70, that's a dangerous way to save money.



+1 speed up or get off the road, taking the chance of getting someone killed is not worth saving $400

 

[veryHeavy]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Virtually all vehicles are the most efficient at 55 mph; if not right there, then very close to there.
No it's actually 40.
In the top gear with the engine
just above idling (1400rpm)
equals the most-efficient point.

My teeny-tiny 1.3 liter Civic Hybrid gives me 80mpg at that speed. Good thing you guys don't drive in California. The right lane is filled with trucks and campers and towing cars that cannot go faster than 55 (even if the max is 70). Lots of variation.

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Virtually all vehicles are the most efficient at 55 mph; if not right there, then very close to there.
No it's actually 40.
In 6th gear with the engine
just above idling (1400rpm)
equals the most-efficient point for an internal combustion car.



6th gear? Must be a much newer automatic. The would work out to be 4th gear/OD in my 2002 to get approx 1400 rpm/40 mph.

6th gear in my SS at 40 mph is about 900 rpm which lugs down the engine...which is not good at all. Driving like that consistently will end up costing you a new engine sooner rather than later. 5th gear doesn't cut it either, especially up hills which would require more gas to keep from lugging it. Would have to drop down to 4th overall.

 

[Malo83]

Somebody answer me this, on my 08 Malibu LTZ with the 3.6, if I cruise 55/60 it will read out that i'm getting 28/29 mpg, but when I bump up the speed to 70/75 it reads out that i'm getting 30/31 mpg???. I have tried this out numerous times on long flat drives with the cruise control on, made several trips to Tucson AZ from Cali on Interstae 10 and the best I got was 31.8 mpg???

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: Sluggo0018
It will take you 77.92 hours extra to drive 20,000 miles at 55 mph versus 70 mph. That works out to a savings of $5.13 per hour. Well below minimum wage. It depends on your financial situation, but not sure if that savings is worth the extra danger of driving so far below the speed limit.

I agree with many of the others. Driving much slower than the flow of traffic is more dangerous than moving along with the flow of traffic.


You will not average 70 mph over those 20,000 miles though, and the real average won't be 15 mph lower just because you don't go over 55... I drive up to 55 mph on my commute, as that's the highest limit on my route, but my average is only 22.5 mph...

 

[gfh77665]

I drive 75 on the interstate daily. My average speed by the cars computer is 68-70 MPH. Very close.

 

[veryHeavy]

IMHO low-rolling resistance tires are a waste. They cost $150 more than equivalent tires. Those cheaper tires can also be inflated to 44psi, and give good MPG returns.
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
5th gear doesn't cut it either, especially up hills which would require more gas to keep from lugging it. Would have to drop down to 4th overall.
Well obviously. 1400rpm is the most efficient point, but clearly lacks the power to climb hills.

- Modern automatics go as high as 8 or 9 gears. They are programmed to maintain 1400 or 1500rpm as much as possible. The engineers want the highest MPG possible to achieve 35 CAFE.
- Modern manual cars have 6 gears in them.
- And then there are gearless systems like the Honda Accord Hybrid. The engine only connects to the wheels at 44 mph or higher, because that is the peak efficiency. Anything slower than that, and you are running pure electric.

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
I was just reading the rebate section, where people mail-in rebates for oil, tires, whatever to save 10-20 dollars. There's a far easier way to save 100s of dollars:

I slowed my SUV from 70 to 55, and my MPG jumped +10.
Over a year/20,000 miles that will be $400 saved in gasoline.

ASIDE: Another way to save on gasoline is get a Visa from AAA (the autoclub). 3% off gasoline. So a $50 fill is only $48.5 on your credit bill.


Not sure the math works out...

You don't say +10 what. MPG jumped 10% or 10 MPG?

Looks like 10 MPG.

Seems dubious that the only thing you changed was top speed and got 10 more MPG.

I get 5% off fuel purchases with my Sam's Club MasterCard, and I'll max out the fuel rebate most likely. I think it's on the first $6k in fuel purchases, FWIW.

Looks like I'm averaging $2k/year in fuel for my 2003 Protege5. Similar fuel purchases for my wife, and then there are the two kids who are still at home probably get me close to the remaining $2k/year

 

[horse123]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Virtually all vehicles are the most efficient at 55 mph; if not right there, then very close to there. So you will always get the best fuel consumption at that speed.

Mostly useful to know so that if you are low on fuel and need to make it to the next gas station, you can at least get the longer range with what you have in the tank.

I would not be the least bit surprised to learn the difference between 55 and 70 could be 10 mpg. It would be very vehicle-specific, but hardly unheard of.

In my Miata, the difference between driving for maximum economy and maximum fun is almost 15 mpg.


That's actually not true... 98% of vehicles are most efficient somewhere between 30 and 40mph. Example: on my car I can get 47mpg going 40 on flat ground, but at 55 I get around 37 on perfectly flat ground. I also only get 26 on a good day in city driving, but that's irrelevant to this conversation.

What you should have said is 55 is a good balance of speed and MPG for most roadways.

 

[MNgopher]

I'm not going to say you don't save fuel. You do. But the economics are not as simple.

Guessing we've found one of the guys who likes to jam the road up on weekends going to or from the cabin doing 55 on a 70mph roadway. Never fails - under heavy traffic, there is always one car that causes a rolling backup for several miles as everyone works to get around them... Its like clockwork. There is an external cost for that.

FWIW, to save the supposed $400, you cost yourself an extra 77+ hours of time over 20,000 miles. Last I checked, I billed out at well north of $100 bucks an hour, so you do the math... Even if I looked at what I earn on the billable, even spread out over the hours I'm not working, the losses are much greater - my time is worth something.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: 1JZ_E46
As long as the speed limit is 55 then go for it (in the far right lane). Nothing is worse than a Prius with a coexist sticker on the back doing 55 in the left lane.


Exactly. My comfortable interstate cruise speed is @80 mph. My 2er and 3ers average over 31 mpg at that speed- which is more than efficient enough for me.

 

[skaughtz]

You pay for it with your life!

I travel 20 miles to and from work each day. Nearly all highway.

20miles / 55mph = 0.36hours * 60minuntes = 21.6minutes * 2trips = 43.2minutes

20miles / 70mph = 0.28hours * 60minuntes = 16.8minutes * 2trips = 33.6minutes

43.2minutes - 33.6minutes = 9.6minutes * 5days = 48minutes * 52weeks = 2496minutes / 60minutes = 41.6hours!

Granted, I will likely spend those extra 42 hours drunk, watching TV, or asleep, but you'll be on the road, sucker!

 

[OVERKILL]

I may have missed it, but if you are that concerned about gas mileage, why are you driving an SUV?

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
I was just reading the rebate section, where people mail-in rebates for oil, tires, whatever to save 10-20 dollars. There's a far easier way to save 100s of dollars:

I slowed my SUV from 70 to 55, and my MPG jumped +10.
Over a year/20,000 miles that will be $400 saved in gasoline.

ASIDE: Another way to save on gasoline is get a Visa from AAA (the autoclub). 3% off gasoline. So a $50 fill is only $48.5 on your credit bill.

If you really want to save, then get rid of the gas hog SUV and get a smaller car that gets even better mileage, even at the speed limit.

Just because you speed all the time does not mean others do. I save money where-ever I can, and rebates is a way to do that, as well as driving the speed limit (it is just dangerous to advise driving 55 mph if the speed limit is 70-75 mph).
And for tire rebates, it is not $10-20, last set I got had a $250 rebate. Oil rebates, well, I have 20 qts of free synthetic oil after rebates and clearance, so that is an easy $100 there. So this year I have saved an actual $350 by using rebates, vs your hypothetical $400 (which since I drive 1/2 of what you do would not ever happen).

 

[cmhj]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FE...=A3NS6TZZMK98NO

 

[Tman220]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
I'm not going to say you don't save fuel. You do. But the economics are not as simple.

Guessing we've found one of the guys who likes to jam the road up on weekends going to or from the cabin doing 55 on a 70mph roadway. Never fails - under heavy traffic, there is always one car that causes a rolling backup for several miles as everyone works to get around them... Its like clockwork. There is an external cost for that.

FWIW, to save the supposed $400, you cost yourself an extra 77+ hours of time over 20,000 miles. Last I checked, I billed out at well north of $100 bucks an hour, so you do the math... Even if I looked at what I earn on the billable, even spread out over the hours I'm not working, the losses are much greater - my time is worth something.


I especially agree with the bold. Being from MN and traveling up to the lake on the weekends I share that pain where someone decides to impede the flow of traffic.

Dont know where you live OP and Im sure MNgopher knows this, but you better not go that slow on the major highways like 35, 169, 494, etc or you are going to find some road rage. There is no such thing as minnesota nice when you're cutting into someone else's time to either get to work, get home, get to vacation etc. If you want to go 55 there are plenty of ways to get anywhere you want (and more scenic) by avoiding major highways.