Gadgetory

when you start talking about fuel economy there's enough BS out there to make a palm reader jealous I listed my top five fuel economy myths recently and that opened the floodgates to many more that Kirk you I'm Brian Cooley with a top-five more fuel economy myths we got to do a top ten one of these days number five fill up your tank when it's cool outside I put this low because if you're under fifty I bet you've never even heard this one it's right up there with nuclear bomb drills now yes gasoline does expand when it's warm to give you about two percent fewer burnable molecules dispensed at ninety degrees then it's sixty canada and hawaii for example have temperature compensating gas pumps because they've got unusually extreme climates but for most of us the difference cancels out across the year as we go from warm to cold seasons besides gas stations don't store their fuel out in the driveway it lives underground where temperature swings are far less number four turn off your headlights i'm also ranking this low since daytime running lights and all kinds of new laws have made driving with your lights off almost illegal now yes headlights do put a little draw on the alternator to recharge the juice that they take from the battery but by most tests lights account for a tiny fraction of one MPG lost and with LED lighting proliferating that's going to get tinier all the time number three turn off the air-conditioning this one's real interesting the idea here is you kill the AC turn it off to reduce drag on the engine and reclaim up to three miles per gallon that's big can you roll down the windows instead well how it works depends a variety of tests by Consumer Reports Car and Driver even the Oak Ridge National Labs have found varying results that change by the speed you're driving and the model of car bottom line here's a rule of thumb windows down when you're around town air-conditioning and windows up when you're on the freeway number two shut off your car at a red light yes it does save fuel which is why car makers are installing automatic start/stop systems but if you do this meaningly on a car that doesn't have that technology you're going to wear your starter right quick and that's going to cost you more than all the gas you'll save also many modern cars cents when they're stopped in drive and the service brake is depressed and they go into a low fuel flow mode anyway number one has to be diesels are more economical now I'm not saying they aren't strictly speaking yes a diesel gets more out of a droplet of dinosaur grease but you have to pencil in a couple other factors the higher cost of low sulfur diesel in the US it averages several tens of cents more than gasoline and the typical premium you pay to buy a diesel powertrain car the long term savings are likely there but don't expect more lunch money in week one or even year one by the way one more thing you really want to save some gas get the junk off your roof and out of your trunk car makers spend millions to improve their aerodynamics or even cut 40 pounds off of cars weight then what do you do you go and leave 80 pounds of crap in the trunk for no reason and leave that kayak rack on the roof all year there's an improvement that's low hanging fruit stay on top of all the latest trends of modern driving at sea net on cars.com i'm brian coulis thanks for watching you