Like many other automakers, General Motors recently helped kick off the start of the summer driving season with a list of top tips for saving fuel—and money. But GM did more than just trot out a few facts and figures. The company put its advice to the test by having two of its fuel-economy engineers drive identically equipped cars—Chevy Cruze LTs with manual transmissions—along identical routes involving a mix of city and highway driving, for identical amounts of time, including one stop each for coffee. The only difference was that one driver followed GM’s fuel-efficiency and vehicle-maintenance guidelines and the other ignored both. The bottom line: Ann Wenzlick achieved 37 mpg in her Chevy Cruze—surpassing its EPA ratings of 24 mpg city/36 mpg highway—while her colleague Beth Nunning only attained 21 mpg.
That 40 percent difference in fuel economy translates into an extra 250 miles per tankful of gas and an annual savings of $1,236 for the more efficient driver.
As explained by Roger Clark, manager of the GM Energy Center, “Ann and Beth’s results support data from OnStar that shows the fuel economy of drivers in identical cars can vary by 75 percent. With a well-maintained car, the best drivers get up to 25 percent more miles per gallon than average. When you combine a poorly maintained car with inefficient driving habits, the fuel economy of the worst drivers can be 50 percent below average.”
With this in mind, here are five key GM strategies for boosting fuel efficiency, along with five driving behaviors to avoid.
- Ditch the drive-through lane—Idling for 15 minutes when stopping for a “quick” snack can burn up a quarter gallon of gas.
- Be a smooth operator—Especially in city driving, accelerate smoothly and slowly, don’t just stomp on the gas pedal to race to the next traffic light. Taking it easy on the gas pedal can improve fuel efficiency by 20 percent.
- Do the limit—Driving 70 instead of 80 on the expressway really won’t cost you much time, but it can save you up to 4 mpg.
- Use the cruise—Maintaining a constant highway speed over time is more economical than constantly slowing down and speeding up, so rely on your cruise control on the expressway.
- Stay cool on the highway—Using your air-conditioning at expressway speeds is the smart way to go, since the increase in drag from rolling down your windows has a bigger negative impact on your fuel efficiency than running the a/c.
- Fuel economy is in the air—One of the most common ways drivers waste fuel is by underinflating their tires, which can cut efficiency by 3 to 4 percent; even in vehicles with a tire pressure monitoring system, all tires—including spares—should be checked for proper inflation at least once a month.
- Flagging fuel economy—Window flags and the like are ideal for showing your support of a local team or community event, but not so good at saving fuel. Up to a third of your fuel goes to helping your vehicle overcome wind resistance, so even small changes can have a big effect.
- Unload before hitting the road—Carrying unneeded weight in your vehicle’s trunk, from lawn chairs to grass seed, means wasting much-needed fuel to haul it around. Every 100 lbs. of extra cargo can reduce fuel economy by 2 percent.
- Check the “check engine” light—Ignoring your “check engine” light won’t make it go away, although it can cut your fuel economy by up to 40 percent if it indicates a serious engine problem.
- Keeping it together—Running five errands in one afternoon is better than doing one every day of the week, not the least because an engine already at operating temperature is 50 percent more efficient than a cold one.
“The fuel economy of every vehicle is greatly affected by how you drive, and how you care for your vehicle,” Clark added. “Often, relatively small changes to your driving habits and vehicle maintenance can make the difference between being on the bottom, or the top, of the fuel-economy scale.”
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