5.20.2008, Tue
I found this link today in CNN.com’s Money section. It talks about how the things that we’ve been told to do in order to use less gas while driving aren’t necessarily true. This topics are:
I don’t even think about stopping for gas in the morning. And I used to buy premium gas when I didn’t need to back when I was too young to know any better. I figured if it costs more, it must be better. That was also back when gas was very close to $1 for a gallon.
Read on here.
Popularity: 15% [?]
I’d say I’ve put premium gas in my little civic about 95% of the time since day one. I’ve always gotten better gas mileage with premium, so to me the extra money is worth it since I value the extra miles I’m able to drive over the extra dollar or so it might cost me to put in premium. I’ve put about 155k miles on the car, and did so much long distance driving in Michigan (especially driving to AA daily), that I needed to go the distance!
I’ve done some experiments over the years toying with cheap, regular gas, and noticed my mileage would always drop around 2-5 MPG. Makes a big difference if you do a lot of freeway driving. These days, my MPG has dropped significantly due to doing most of my driving in the city. I still pump the premium though, since now I drive so infrequently that when I do drive, I need to be able to go the distance if necessary!
I don’t drive!!!
Narendra: I felt like my car ran smoother when I put premium gas in but that was most likely all in my head. I never did any tests to see if the mileage improved but I’ve read that it won’t if your manual doesn’t recommend it.
Amanda: That’s probably the best way to save money on gas… besides stealing it of course.