Driving and gas prices

AHapka · #1 Apr 17, '08, 10:16 am

So has the price of gas finally gotten high enough for you to change your driving habits?

After filling up at $3.65 a gallon (for premium), it's finally expensive enough for me to change my driving habits.

It's funny how all of the things I have done in the past (keep weight down, tires at proper pressure, etc) have had little effect on mileage but driving slower and accelerating slower have had the biggest impact.

In city driving (average trip about 4 miles stop and go), I have seen my average mileage go from 17-18 to 24 simply by accelerating slower, dogging the engine (shifting into a higher gear as soon as possible), slowing less for corners, and coasting towards lights.

105 miles and I finally used a quarter of a 17 gallon tank.

Just curious as to what others have done?

P.S. Car is a 2003 Audi A4, 1.8 liter turbo, tiptronic (either automatic or manual shifting).

CarrieH · #2 Apr 17, '08, 10:24 am

I have always been an energy-conscious driver, but I am combining trips for errands more often now, and I have decided to quit my gym membership at the nicer private club I've been going to on the other end of town and join the local YMCA instead (which is walking distance from my home). My one splurge is that I will continue to drive to a neighboring city to play in their summer community band this year -- it's only two nights a week for two months, and I consider it a sort of musical "work of mercy" since it gets a lot of the older folks out of the house and brings them some pleasure.

I'm thinking of taking the bus more often, too,

My brother bought an older Geo Metro to drive since he lives out in the country a ways from his work. He gets great gas mileage in that little thing, but it looks as if a strong breeze could blow it to bits. I won't give up my Volvo, though -- no gas price in the world is worth sacrificing those wonderful Volvo safety features (which have protected me nicely through two crashes, neither of which was my fault). I'll take safe and sturdy over economical any day, but I used to work in a trauma unit, so I'm a bit more cautious that way.

childofmary1143 · #3 Apr 17, '08, 12:37 pm

Are you aware of the "Gasprices" websites? It tells you where the cheapest gas prices are for every US State and Canadian Province. If you live in a major city (New York, Boston, etc.) there is one for that.

All you have to do is insert the state/province/city and add gasprices.com

E.g. For Texas:

http://www.texasgasprices.com

For Los Angeles:

http://www.losangelesgasprices.com

Great websites for finding out where you can find the cheapest gas prices.

drafdog · #4 Apr 17, '08, 3:12 pm

Time to start seriously lobbying for commuter light rail transit in all cities in North America and truly comprehensive public transportation systems.
Rail companies report that they can transport one ton of cargo a distance of over 400 miles on one gallon of diesel fuel. Think about it!

Matthew

FightingFat · #5 Apr 17, '08, 3:37 pm

Crikey come and live over here for a bit mate! Diesel is £1.10 a litre! That's like $11.00 a gallon! You guys don't know you're alive!!!

Brenda V. · #6 Apr 17, '08, 5:30 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by FightingFat

Crikey come and live over here for a bit mate! Diesel is £1.10 a litre! That's like $11.00 a gallon! You guys don't know you're alive!!!

Your gas prices have always been higher than ours

. I can remember when we lived in Germany some 30 years ago the prices off Base or Post were at least double what we paid for it!

As for the question about driving habits changing? Not really, I have always tried to combine errands like going on them after Jazzercise so I didn't waste too much gas.

Brenda V.

**puzzleannie** · #7 Apr 17, '08, 7:50 pm

we went through one (1) gallon of gas in the past week, picked up new car a week ago today. yep a prius. we filled up my truck (for a week's take-home pay) and parked it until we need it to move food and clothing for ST Vincent or Mexico outreach, meanwhile driving the prius to work and about town. will take it up north and to the east coast this summer (about 8M miles each summer) so the savings should be significant.

agmoose02 · #8 Apr 18, '08, 12:24 am

It amazes me that gas prices are going so high, when a couple of times/week it seems like I read about large new oil discoveries on one news site or another. It is rarely front page news, but it is common nonetheless. A few have been made off the coast of the US and Mexico in deeper waters than have been explored before and the USGS just estimated the oil shale in Montana and North Dakota to be about 3-4 billion gallons recoverable with today's tech. Add to this the growth of the biodiesel industry to stretch oil resources and I don't see how supply/demand alone can explain these price hikes. My guess is that this is more about politics than economic forces.

leonie · #9 Apr 18, '08, 4:56 am

We have to replace our van (whose engine threw a rod). If gas prices were more reasonable, we'd be looking at bigger vans that could seat 9 or more (we have six kids). But, we are going to be looking at used 7 (or, the elusive 8 passenger van). And, we have cut out lots of driving across town that we would ordinarily have done. We are in the oh so old and oh so gas guzzling $2000 buying range.

In a smaller van, we can't offer rides to other kids. And, in a 7 passenger van, we can't go out as a whole family.

It's kind of sad for us because we've had to cut out activites for our homeschooled kids that I think they would have really enjoyed/learned a lot. For our boys, we had to drop their ConQuest club because of the weekly 25 mile drive each way.

The good news is that we are spending more time at home just hanging out together.

**1ke** · #10 Apr 18, '08, 8:09 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by agmoose02

It amazes me that gas prices are going so high, when a couple of times/week it seems like I read about large new oil discoveries on one news site or another. It is rarely front page news, but it is common nonetheless. A few have been made off the coast of the US and Mexico in deeper waters than have been explored before and the USGS just estimated the oil shale in Montana and North Dakota to be about 3-4 billion gallons recoverable with today's tech. Add to this the growth of the biodiesel industry to stretch oil resources and I don't see how supply/demand alone can explain these price hikes. My guess is that this is more about politics than economic forces.

It's about more than just supply and demand-- it is also about refining capacity and ability to bring these discoveries to market.

For example, the US has not had new refineries come on line in years-- too many of the "not in my backyard" environmentalists. During the bad hurricane season several years ago, several refineries were damaged and haven't been at full production.

Also, another example is Bolivia-- which has huge deposits of natural gas. The problem is that Bolivia is land-locked and its neighboring countries won't allow a pipeline across them to get the LNG to a port where it can be loaded on ships.

So, yes, there is a lot of "supply" but much of that cannot be brought to market due to geo-political issues, government regulations (Alaska for example), and refinery capacity.

Demand outstrips supply of the finished product-- not the raw resources.

reganq · #11 Apr 18, '08, 8:35 am

Don't forget about the devalued dollar.

As for the original question. We changed our habits a little over a year and a half ago when we moved to a small town.

But, we do a better job of stocking up on those big grocery store runs than we did in the past. Now we do the big stock up every two weeks or so.

I just wish my OB were closer than an hour away.... Having to go there frequently makes it hard to alter driving patterns. That will change later this summer.

**1ke** · #12 Apr 18, '08, 9:09 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by reganq

Don't forget about the devalued dollar.

Yes, this is a huge impact!

leonie · #13 Apr 19, '08, 9:16 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by reganq

I just wish my OB were closer than an hour away.... Having to go there frequently makes it hard to alter driving patterns. That will change later this summer.

congrats!

Milliardo · #14 Apr 19, '08, 12:49 pm

I used to drive real fast; I own a modified 1993 Honda Civic, so I love to drive fast. Now I have to watch my gas consumption, so I don't drive as fast as I used to. I am even considering buying a motorcycle since it's less expensive to maintain one, and it does not eat much fuel as a car does.

agmoose02 · #15 Apr 19, '08, 9:18 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by reganq

Don't forget about the devalued dollar.

True, I currently live in the Philippines while I'm off of work. I have seen my mortgage and other costs rise 20% in the last year just because of the devaluation of the dollar. I get 40 pesos now instead of 50. That doesn't include the general rise in price of things that is taking place