Driving Slow saves far more money than Rebates

[BHopkins]

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.


Glad the OP found a way to save money that works for him. Based upon previous experience, I would gain about 7 mpg by slowing down from my current 81 mph to 55 mph on the Outback, but I would only gain 3-4 mpg with the Alero.

It would frighten the daylights out of me to drive 55 on the daily commute. The speed limit for the majority of my commute is 80 mph and 75 mph, with the last 3-4 miles being 70. It I tried to do 55, I would be a major traffic impediment. The traffic flows at about 82 in the 80 and about 80 in the 75, and 75 in the 70. Even traffic in the far right lane of the 70 zone is doing 65. Even the big trucks would have to change lanes to pass me.

And I'll admit that it would drive me nuts to be moving at only 55. So I'll pay the extra in gas, and save elsewhere.

 

[69GTX]

Driving 55 mph on the interstate also means you will be tangling with traffic merging from the right side quite often. On Connecticut's stretch of I-95 there are on-ramp merges almost every 3-5 miles for long stretches. Driving a steady 55 will increase your confrontations with merging traffic, most of them will be right around 55-60 mph as they come up along side you. Then someone has to speed up and/or slow down. It gets exciting.

One thing is certain, if you're driving 15-25% slower than the flow of high way traffic, then you will interact with many more cars than if you were just flowing with them. That means more chances (ie time on the road) to cause or be involved in an accident. Ideally, you could drive at 70-75 mph without a car within 200 yds of you for miles. No chance of an accident other than from your own car breaking down. Now drive 55 mph and there will be far less gaps where you can drive without anyone right on top of you.

 

[GenesisGuy70]

IMHO you're causing unnecessary danger to the drivers around you by driving 55 on, say, a 70mph road. And surely know that you're being called every obscenity in the book by other drivers. At least you would be if you were on the road with me.

If you are that concerned about MPG I would suggest: http://www.toyota.com/prius/

Beyond that, you can also be ticketed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/us/more-states-are-cracking-down-on-left-lane-slowpokes.html?_r=0

http://time.com/money/3915031/slowpoke-law-left-lane-ticket/

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/beat-ticket-book/chapter7-6.html

 

[GenesisGuy70]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
An SUV jumping 10 mpg by slowing down 15 mph? Yeah, ok.


We need to get a like button on BITOG!

 

[TTK]

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.


Jimmy Carter told us this many years ago.

And is responsible for the song "I can't drive 55"

 

[TTK]

Originally Posted By: Throt
IMHO you're causing unnecessary danger to the drivers around you by driving 55 on, say, a 70mph road. And surely know that you're being called every obscenity in the book by other drivers. At least you would be if you were on the road with me.

If you are that concerned about MPG I would suggest: http://www.toyota.com/prius/

Beyond that, you can also be ticketed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/us/more-states-are-cracking-down-on-left-lane-slowpokes.html?_r=0

http://time.com/money/3915031/slowpoke-law-left-lane-ticket/

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/beat-ticket-book/chapter7-6.html



Those 70 mph roads and 70 MAXIMUM, not 70 required.

 

[veryHeavy]

Throt has a point about danger. I was doing 50 when a car came-up behind me. I could see the guy was on his phone, which is why he did not see me...... I then steered right into the gutter to avoid getting hit, and he overcompensated left into the wire fence: bang, bang, bang as he hit post-after-post.

The cop said I could leave because it wasn't my fault: "The speed signs clearly state 40 minimum, and you say you were doing 50, so you did nothing wrong. And your car has no damage." I honestly don't see how drivers miss a 4000-pound vehicle directly in their line-of-sight. They must be blind.

 

[veryHeavy]

I don't drive slow on single lane roads. That's just rude. And if I did, like climbing a mountain, I would pullover *as required by law* to let the other cars pass. Nothing annoyes me more than someone who drives past a "turnout" and does not use it.
Quote:
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.
Costco has the identical deal (probably copied it from Sam's). I rejected the card though because the points can ONLY be used in Costco, and I don't spend that much money there. So I use the AAA card instead, which is Cashback rather than points.

To the post below:
- Civic Hybrid goes from 50mpg to 70mpg if I slow to 55.
- The Prius I rented went from 45mpg to 65mpg when I slowed to 55.
- The key is the DRAG which decreases approximately 40% when you slowdown.

 

[Quattro Pete]

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.

Maybe "far easier" for you. Not everyone puts on 20k miles a year, and not everyone drives a gas guzzling SUV where the difference in MPG going from 70 to 55 mph is going to be so dramatic.

Besides, whatever driving changes you choose to make doesn't prevent you from still taking advantage of rebates.

 

[raytseng]

Not driving on useless trips saves even more than driving slower or rebates

People who drive even 2.5 miles out of their way (5miles roundtrip) to save .03 a gallon on gas probably have broken even or are losing if you do the math out.

 

[GenesisGuy70]

Originally Posted By: raytseng
Not driving on useless trips saves even more than driving slower or rebates

People who drive even 2.5 miles out of their way (5miles roundtrip) to save .03 a gallon on gas probably have broken even or are losing if you do the math out.


My grandpa does this and it drives me crazy! No matter how many times I tell him it's not worth it, he'll drive all over town looking for the cheapest gas.

 

[6starprez]

Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
Throt has a point about danger. I was doing 50 when a car came-up behind me. I could see the guy was on his phone, which is why he did not see me...... I then steered right into the gutter to avoid getting hit, and he overcompensated left into the wire fence: bang, bang, bang as he hit post-after-post.

The cop said I could leave because it wasn't my fault: "The speed signs clearly state 40 minimum, and you say you were doing 50, so you did nothing wrong. And your car has no damage." I honestly don't see how drivers miss a 4000-pound vehicle directly in their line-of-sight. They must be blind.


Well, that little story had nothing to do with the speed limit and everything to do with the driver being on the phone and not paying attention.

IMO, that needs to be changed. Driving 40 or 55 in a 70 is a moving bottleneck and you want to be "that guy" who looks in the rear view mirror and CONSTANTLY sees cars, SUV's and big rigs approaching so fast that you can probably feel your heartbeat in your throat. That stress isn't worth it.

 

[CharBaby]

I'm not going to read all of the responces so forgive me if these have been mentioned already.

Driving more slowly also saves money on wear items on the whole vehicle.

 

[HerrStig]

Save gas? Dump the SUV.

 

[Kestas]

A Ford engineer once told me they engineer their vehicles to optimize efficiency at speed at 70 mph.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
A Ford engineer once told me they engineer their vehicles to optimize efficiency at speed at 70 mph.

But max efficiency has nothing to do with best MPG.

 

[fdcg27]

There is no rural interstate I've ever driven on where 55 mph would be a safe speed. Simply too slow for traffic. If you're going much slower than 99.9% of the traffic, then you're putting yourself and others at risk.
Even urban limited access divided highways have typical traffic speed of more than 55 mph.
If you want to drive slowly, stay off the fast roads and keep to the rural two lanes and the city streets in urban areas.
Even there, the local farmers who know the road will be biting your tail in their F-350 diesels and wondering why these city folks need to obstruct their roads.
You want to save fuel? Buy a more efficient vehicle. That would save you some real money even driving at real interstate speeds.
Also, your math looks a little suspect at the current price of fuel.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
An SUV jumping 10 mpg by slowing down 15 mph? Yeah, ok.


You realize that power can increase to the cube of speed, right?

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
An SUV jumping 10 mpg by slowing down 15 mph? Yeah, ok.


You realize that power can increase to the cube of speed, right?
He said SUV, which to me means a big gas hog Suburban or Expedition, which I highly doubt driving 15 mph slower would save 10mpg.

But he has a little tiny hybrid "SUV"

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
An SUV jumping 10 mpg by slowing down 15 mph? Yeah, ok.


You realize that power can increase to the cube of speed, right?
He said SUV, which to me means a big gas hog Suburban or Expedition, which I highly doubt driving 15 mph slower would save 10mpg.

But he has a little tiny hybrid "SUV"


Andhow exactly does that change the propulsion power dynamics for a given speed?

It doesn't. Lower drag may mean less power, but the physics is still against going fast.