The Number One Gas Robbing Problem!

By Scott Siegel

http://www.beatthegaspump.com

The Number One Gas Robbing Problem!

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 your car is running and you are stopped you are getting zero miles per gallon. This is worth repeating. When your car is idling meaning the motor is running but you are not going anywhere, 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 a number of factors that contribute to situations that cause you to waste gas idling. The biggest culprit is red lights. Every time you need to stop at a red light, you are forced to idle your car and consequently burn fuel at a rate of zero miles per gallon. I have to point out that I am by no means telling you not to stop at red lights. I am just acknowledging that it is a problem.

The next factor contributing to situations of excessive idling is rush hour. During rush hour, with the high volume of traffic on the road, you are forced to drive slower and stop more frequently. Consequently you are idling more than in non rush hour periods.

Rush hour exaggerates the red light problem. With the higher traffic volume, you are forced to spend more time at red lights than you would in non rush hour periods. Normally, you may get through a particular red light in one cycle, but at rush hour it make take two, three or even four cycles of the light to get through it. So your idling time is increased 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.

In order to fight this gas robbing condition, you need to plan your trips to avoid these situations as much as possible. Plan your routes to minimize red lights. Try and avoid lights that you know require long waits. Plan to avoid areas where you know there is construction. Try the best that you can to avoid driving during rush hour. Stay later at work, arrive earlier at work. If you can, try to stagger your regular work hours.

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

.===========================================================

Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page manual of industry insider information on saving gas and money at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to learn how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.

===========================================================