There are some small, technically luxury items I miss. On longer trips I particularly miss cruise control. I miss it for the gas mileage and I particularly miss it when my tibialis anterior starts to cramp. I decided to make a good thing out of my cramping calf and I came up with a couple of different, simple things that I do to get better gas mileage and take some of the "work" out of driving a truly non-luxury automobile.
Tip Number one: Move Your Heel away from the gas pedal.
This is an easy way to take your foot OUT of it. All you do is increase the angle of your right knee (left if you're over the pond). That's it. Your heel will scoot away from the accelerator and you're using less gas. Your foot can't push into the accelerator as far during acceleration, not without moving your heel anyway, and the cash stays in your pocket. The first time I did it I found myself wondering if something was wrong with my car because it felt gutless. Humble yourself, take the time to get used to it, and get considerably better gas mileage. Most of the gas we blow through is used during acceleration. This is a great way to keep yourself from using that gas.
Tip Number Two: Simulated Cruise Control - Low Tech Style!
Again, this is a super-simple technique to mimic one of the benefits of cruise control: better mileage. The reason that gas mileage improves when using cruise control is because humans, in their mindlessness, are all over the place with the gas pedal. Most people do not pay attention to how much the gas pedal fluctuates when being used manually. Machines take care of this for you. Set the cruise control, increase your following distance, and keep more gas.
Here's what you do:
Unless you have REALLY small feet, you can probably slide your foot to the right on the gas pedal and touch the wall to the right of it (this is the wall that probably houses your stereo and heating/airconditioning tubing). In my car, and probably yours as well, it is carpeted. What I do is brace my foot against that wall, on the carpet, so as to use the friction of the carpet on my shoe to keep it in the same place. Now I just take a few moments to figure out exactly where I need it braced to maintain my speed within a few miles per hour and I'm golden. Now I can listen to music and watch the scenery just like real cruise control. If you do this, make sure to check your speed occasionally to make sure it is accurately maintained. Also, pay attention to the grade you're on. You could accelerate considerably if you go downhill or make the people behind you livid if you're climbing a grade.
As gas prices rise (I was just told by someone that they saw diesel at $4.01/gal), obviously it's going to be important to find every way available to save gas - not to mention possible effects on the environment.
Driving in my little car that already gets great mileage and still milking the small bits of gas out of it's performance is sort of humbling. It feels good. Even if global warming is a total farce, it still feels good to my pocketbook.
What about you! Do you have any small tricks you use to increase gas mileage?
--Dean
EDIT: I found a video today about using pure acetone to boost your gas mileage. In the example in the video it doubled. What do you think about that?
Double Your Gas Mileage! 2X - Watch a funny movie here