Gas Saving Should i keep the Foot on Gas Continuously or let off/on?

NO… Keep a CONSTANT SPEED. If you can – use the cruise control. There’s no way your right foot can keep the engine load as constant as the computer.

Forget all those “SAVE GAS” scams. This was on NBC morning TV show. The difference is as much as 38% (their claim). There are very simple rules to save gas:

(1) drive slow – not too much past 55
(2) accelerate slowly
(3) don’t brake unnecessarily
(4) use cruise control – whenever it is safe to do so.

Don’t coast – it is NOT safe (to coast in Nuetral) and it does NOT save gas. It only saves gas, if you are planning to slow down (exiting, tolls, traffic). Coasting then accelerating again is LESS efficient than just cruising.

The above really works. Using those simple rules I was able to drive from Boston to NYC (210.5 miles) on just 5.112 gallon (94 Civic). That’s 41 MPG (94 Civic 187K miles). Actually I was speeding at 72 MPH so I could do even better at 55.

WOW !!

Good Luck…

Keep it on constantly unless you’re about to stop. Then get off the gas and let the car coast a bit then brake.

Cruise control is your best bet. If that’s not possible then do the on/off thing and only be on when you need to, it works when the Nascar drivers are trying to conserve fuel at the end of a race.

You want constant accelerator pressure. The momentum will propel it, but if you keep taking your foot off and putting it back on, you keep wasting that momentum and then have to work extra to get it back.

If you have cruise control and are on flat ground, use it. Cruise control is imperfect on hilly terrain but still may be better than your foot. (It will happily maintain speed all the way to the top of a hill, forcing you to ride your brakes the whole way down it.) If you don’t have cruise control or on rising and falling terrain, try to maintain constant accelerator pressure.

Obviously, you still have to brake rather than letting your speed become unsafe.

Off and ON action is what uses your gas, that isn’t going to do anything except for use more gas. You need a firm steady pressure to converse gas. Also an easy acceleration helps, don’t floor it from a stand still.

Coasting DOES save gas. It can save a LOT of gas. But coasting with the engine off can damage the transmission (particularly automatics) and is dangerous, and coasting with the transmission in neutral is dangerous. Particularly if you’re going down a hill (where the fuel savings are greatest).

Accelerating at an efficient rate, then coasting to low speed and accelerating again is actually the MOST efficient way to drive. It’s called “pulse and glide.” It is used by some “hypermilers” and it is the approach used by most participants (and winners) in fuel-economy competitions. However, this CANNOT be done safely in traffic.

You ARE right, but it can’t be done in most practical situations without creating hazards like large speed differences. It isn’t safe. Practically speaking, maintaining a constant speed is the most efficient approach.

And while using cruise control is less efficient than putting your foot on the gas for a little bit then taking it off completely for slightly longer, it is MORE efficient than keeping your foot on the gas the whole time but changing speed all over the place. Cruise control can almost definitely maintain a speed more efficiently than you can.

Otherwise, getting good fuel economy is pretty complicated. You have to adjust to your situation at all times. The general rules to remember are to take everything slow, but not too slow. The most efficient cruising speeds vary from car to car, but are almost always somewhere between about 50 and 70 MPH. (Go too slow and you’re wasting fuel) You don’t want to accelerate too slowly, but jamming on the gas is even more wasteful. You should brake early and/or coast to a stop, particularly at stop lights…going faster won’t actually get you there any faster, and in some situations (icy roads) can actually cost you time.

It’s all about patience and precision.

I dont agree with the cruise control.

My car had cruise and I did a comparison between using cruise and not.

The control was the same. Filled up before I left a designated point and refilled at another designated point.

The first day I used cruise, the next I didnt.

The day I used cruise I put 2L more fuel into the car than the day I didnt.

Cruise control is severley affected by hills as the computer isnt able to read the road ahead and when it gets to a hill, its first reaction is to floor the car and accelerate hard to get to the set speed.

Hypermiling sounds downright dangerous. You can be booked for doing something stupid like that in Australia, accelerating hard then slowing down, you are creating a menace on the road.

If you cant afford to drive your car and mantain the legal limit dont drive.

Fuel is DEARER in Australia than it is in America. We get by. We arent looking for a magic cure or driving dangerously.