Gas saving tip o' the day

Before- my trunk runneth over LOSE TRUNK WEIGHT, JUMBO-I found a new way to increase the gas mileage of my vehicles. Unload your trunk. Today's cars are built for very little tolerance of weight.This is a trick from hyper milers- they will not only unload the trunk, they will take out seats and the spare tire, and other things I am just not ready to do. But I can unload the crap out of my trunk. Upon a recent inventory of my trunk, I have a bag of rocks (for landscaping), a bag of top soil, miscellaneous tools,Cans of paint, which weigh in all total approximately 160 pounds or 1 average person. "Hey fat ass, get outta my car!" Anyway with that all removed and a few items from the back seat- (Amazing how one person can get all this into one sub-compact car, but hey when you have talents...). And the next time you have a flat and don't have to spend an hour taking everything out of your trunk to get to the spare, you'll thank me.

What? You don't carry a 60 pound bag of crushed marble in your trunk?

Now it is clean ORGANIZE-

Now some folks like to put organizers in there car to keep things separate. And I have seen these things for sale at ridiculous prices! I say scaaaaaaareeeeeeew that and use what you got. You can put things in plastic grocery bags even. Me- I choose to use all the lap top bags I have. This way you can reuse an item and organize your trunk at the same time. I have also used 1 gallon plastic plant pots(for loose tools), milk crates. Anything that fits.

After- Clean and light! Yes I know it still needs vacumming!

Gas Mileage- how to improve it

Been checking out those Hybrids have you? Well you can always practice Hyper Miling or you can try and get hybrid mileage out of your current car by doing a few simple things- I drive a plethora of cars (as you can see in the pic)- And I get great gas mileage!

Start with your choice of vehicles- Lets face it - you cannot buy a Hummer and expect 30 miles to the gallon. A smaller car is probably a good choice. My 1966 valiant,by today's standards would be a mid size car, it was sold as a compact- has a 225 slant six engine and gets about 22 mpg. Driving a 42 year old car might not be the best way to get great gas mileage unless it is a Nash Metropolitan or a BMW Isetta-







1961 Nash Metropoltan









1961 BMW Isetta

1- Keep your engine in tune- This has nothing to do with your choice of CD's. A tune up can greatly improve your mileage. Just changing your spark plugs every year can improve your mpg! Also Keep the engine and systems in repair!- Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as 40 percent!
2-Keep your tires inflated- Proper inflation can improve your gas mileage! I have a slow leak in one tire on my Suzuki, so I watch it like a hawk.
3. Keep your oil clean- change your oil a bit more often than recommended- If they tell you every 7000 miles it is probably best to change it every 3,500-4000 miles. I don't think people need to change their own oil. You have to dispose of the waste oil and that usually means taking a trip with a full oil container to a auto parts store or gas station that accepts the oil, spilling oil in your car, buying cat litter to spread on oil you dripped on the garage floor, etc. Your lube shop is your friend! For about $20, they will change your oil and oil filter, check all your fluids, and maybe vacuum your car.And they should already get their waste oil recycled-ask them! And always use the recommended weight if Oil. It should say in you owners manual. And don't try to fool yourself with the "My car uses a quart a month, so I never change it- I just keep adding oil" BS- If your car burns a lot of oil or leaks oil over a quart a month - you got problems - maybe not now but later- get'r fixed!

4- Change and/or clean the air filter- you should be able to hold the air filter up to a light and see light through the air filter. Like visualizing an acid trip. Except there shouldn't be any birds. Some air filters are meant to be cleaned. The one on my MGB is an example you take it off blow air through it, cuss and wash it then spray some oily crap on it and voila! A clean air filter!
5- Drive like grandma (except if your grandma has the last name of Andretti) - Taking it easy on the road can improve your gas mileage.

Now, If you are looking for a new car, I say why new? Why not a gentle used car? You can take a car, like my Suzuki Swift (Geo Metro),or a slightly used Toyota or Nissan can be an excellent choice- My roomate, Martin, before he bought his new Scion "Toaster", bought a 1983 Toyota Tercel and put over 100,000 miles on it. The car has close to 300,000 miles on it- and it is still going- (a friend of ours bought it) Just following common sense maintenance and driving methods gets you near hybrid like gas mileage numbers, and buying a used car IS recycling and reusing.





Martin's 1983 Tercel

My next car hopefully will be a Think Electric car, but be that as it may, I still like to squeeze out every drop of gasoline I can! You can do like me and have a fleet of cars, that way they all have gas or at least one will. Unless it is time to gas up the fleet- that is always a blue day! Those days I would rather walk!

DON"T TELL ME MY CAR AINT MACHO!

Some friends and I were talking about our Macho trucks and then one of them said about my car- Well Your car isn't to manly. He was talking about my 1995 Suzuki Swift, which gets about 38 combined mpg. And it got me to thinking about status. I bought the Swift in '95, as it had one of the best MPG ratings. This car is 13 years old, has never had a major malfunction, has performed greatly in all 13 years. In fact the only wrong with the car was the Headliner came unattached so i removed it and bought a new headliner kit, which due to our rainy Seattle winters, I have not yet installed. This car has driven three people on a 3200 mile round trip to phoenix and back cheaper than flying Southwest. It has performed in snowy weather like a top, and of course performs in rainy conditions (the norm around here)greatly, too. So - I say lets all change our attitudes about our cars. The new scale should be MPG Rating, dependability,style and price. What the trick is is to let Detroit know this is what we want. I think maybe folks need to park their SUV's and start driving more fuel efficient cars. And until I can afford to get an EV I will drive the swift. And it is great fun to go the gas station and fill up for $20!