Find Your Car's Most Fuel Efficient Speed

A Simple Way To Save Gas (and Money)

There are all kinds of fuel saving tips and tricks out there, but one that gets overlooked is driving speed.  By knowing your car and monitoring your speed, you can conserve gas.  

With fuel prices as they are, it's worth a shot isnt it?

Consumerist.com recently interviewed a long haul trucker about monitoring speed to save gas.  The trucker, simply known as Jason, offered up some incredibly useful insight.  

"Speed destroys your fuel economy," he writes. "I routinely drove 3,000 plus miles per *week. The faster you go, the more gas you burn." Here's some quick math to back up his claim

Driving at 70mph =under 6 mpg
Driving at 60mph =around 7 mpg
Driving at 57mph = 7.5-8.1 mpg

However, slow isn't always the best option either.  The best way to drive and save fuel is to figure out what speed is the most economical for your car.  There are two ways to do this:

1.   Google for your car's make and model and "most economical speed" and see what others before you have found out.  Simple, but maybe not the most fun.  

2.  -Fill up with gas
     -Record the mileage
     -Drive on the highway at your test speed until the tank is less than half full
     -Fill up the tank (ideally at the same pump as before)
     -Record the mileage
     -Subtract the first mileage from the second mileage
     -Divide result by the number of gallons it took to fill up your car that second time. That's your MPG.
     -Repeat the process using the second speed you want to test and compare the results.

So give it a shot.  You can also ask us at anytime with help on anything Fuel economy or car related.  Be safe and save some fuel!