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There is one activity that is the number one gas robbing activity. It is a constant battle to minimize this problem. Every day you drive your car you face this problem. The number one gas robbing problem is idling. That is running your car when your car is not moving. This is the biggest single factor in preventing good gas mileage. When you are stopped and your car is running you are getting zero miles per gallon. To emphasize this I repeat: When your car is idling you are getting ZERO MILES PER GALLON! If you are driving on the freeway for 10 minutes and you are getting 30 miles per gallon, and then traffic stops and you idle without moving for 10 minutes your average miles per gallon just dropped from 30 down to 15. The longer you idle, the lower your average miles per gallon gets. There are several factors that contribute to conditions that cause you to waste fuel idling. The biggest culprits are red lights. Every time you stop at a red light, you are forced to idle your car and burn gas at a rate of zero miles per gallon. Please note that I am not advocating not stopping at red lights! I am just pointing out one condition causing idling. Another contributor to excessive idling is rush hour. The increased volume of traffic on the highways during rush hour causes you to stop more often. As a result you idle more during rush hour and waste more fuel than in non rush hour periods. The red light problem is increased during rush hour. Because of the higher traffic volume in the rush hour period, you spend more time at red lights. As an example, you may be able to make it through a red light within one cycle during normal driving conditions, but that same red light may actually require two, three or even four cycles to safely get through in the rush hour period. Your idle time is increased up to two, three or even four times. All that increased idling is robbing you of fuel, and lowering your average miles per gallon. In addition to red lights and rush hour there is one more major cause of idling time. The dreaded orange barrels. Road construction that slows and stops traffic increases your idle time. Of course, rush hour also exacerbates this problem causing even more traffic delays and more idling. How can you fight this excessive idling? The short answer is planning. You have to plan your driving trips to avoid as many idling situations as possible. I don't advocate not stopping at red lights but you can reduce your idling by planning your travel routes to minimize red lights. Avoid lights that you know have long wait cycles. Plan to avoid areas where you know there is construction. Avoid driving during rush hour if at all possible. Arrive earlier at work to avoid the heavy traffic or stay later at work. Try to stagger your work hours so your commute takes advantage of non rush hour times. Avoiding as many idle producing situations will help you maintain better gas mileage. If you can minimize situations where you have to sit idling your car, you will go a long way towards increasing your fuel economy, saving gas and saving money.
Article Source: http://www.health-fitness-for-all.com
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