www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

Fuel Economy and doing the right thing!

Having lived (and driven) through the '73 Arab Oil Embargo it amazed me, for the 30 years leading up to the creation of this page, that people (mostly Australians, Americans and Chinese Communist party officials) continued to drive such huge, inefficient and expensive vehicles. Even in 2007, as I updated this page, Hummers, Suburbans, "sport" trucks and other SUVs continued clogging our highways and fouling our skies. And, in 2007 all of this continued despite science confirming that our wasteful ways were responsible for Global Warming and some very serious threats to our safety and well-being.

So, because my 1973 experience suggests that people aren't about to give up driving I thought I'd keep this page intact as a way to help reduce fuel consumption. Although I'm not a scientist I've been experimenting with small cars for nearly four decades and am convinced that more efficient fuel use can greatly reduce harmful emissions. So, I hope you'll consider doing the same by reducing your own consumption (and emissions) so as to make a positive contribution to some very pressing, serious problems...

- Roger J. Wendell
Golden, Colorado - February 2007

Click Here for my page on Fossil Fuels and Peak Oil..."

Click Here for my page on Climate Change and Global Warming..."

Out of Gas on the Kona Coast

Tips on Fuel Econonmy (Getting better miles-per-gallon/kilometres-per-litre without a lot of effort!)

1. Pump 'Em Up! - 9th Grader Savannah Walters determined Americans could save 4 million gallons of gasoline, each day, by simply keeping their tires inflated to the manufacturer's recommendations! This fuel savings, young Savannah determined, would be the equivalent of the proposed drilling output in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!!
2. Regular servicing for tune-ups, air filter replacements, and oil changes can add up to a 10% percent increase in fuel economy. It only makes sense that an efficiently running engine, that's taking in clean air and lubricated by slick oil, needs less fuel for an equivalent amount of work. Oh, and this also helps reduce emissions and pollution - an ancillary benefit to better fuel economy as well - imagine cleaner air!!
3. Drive wise! Try to anticipate traffic conditions so as to "smooth-out" stop-and-go-traffic situations by accelerating moderately and avoiding hard breaking situations. Of course you don't want to tailgate or violate other rules of the road but the idea is to drive in such a way that your car's engine experiences the least amount of erratic loading due to stops, hills, wind, bad weather (yes, even rain can reduce fuel economy) and "lead feet..." Sikorsky, sited below, even suggests NOT cruising supermarket parking lots looking for that perfect space - he says you should pull into the first available spot, especially those located near your planned exit, and park in the opposite spot so as to avoid backing (Sikorsky argues that backing is not only inefficient but prematurely wears your engine. [My own experience, as a delivery driver at times, is that backing is pretty dangerous and should be avoided whenever possible! - ed.])
4. Don't speed! Okay, I admit that I've probably earned more speeding tickets than most people but the idea is clear - not only is speeding dangerous but it wastes a lot of fuel! I'm sure the exact figure varies a bit, from manufacturer manufacturer, but somewhere in the area of 60 miles per hour (95 kmh) of smooth driving probably provides a good balance between great fuel economy and getting you to that next town or ski resort in a timely fashion!
5. Keep your car aerodynamically "clean" by removing flags, signs, big CB antennas, ski racks (I live in Colorado), and those funny little lizards that climb the radio antenna anytime the wind hits 'em right. Every little bit helps!! Also, I've been in some fender-benders where pieces of my car were turned into mini "wind sails." No doubt these pieces, and even some dents and large dings, can increase the vehicle's "drag coefficient" and should be created ASAP!
6. Get a small car! I know, we all want huge SUVs and Hummers to show everyone how tough we are, how much money we have, or how safe we can keep a carton of eggs along the drive home. Nevertheless, everyone knows that big cars and SUVs waste fuel, resources, and kill just about anything they run into...
7. Lighten up! Harvey and Prange (sited below) suggest that we "Clean out all the extraneous clutter in the car, including in the trunk and under the seats, and only keep the necessary items that you really need." They say that every extra 100 pounds (45 kg) carried around by your car can reduce fuel economy up to 2 percent.

8. Share the ride and combine trips! - Another no-brainer!! Look at any of our highways, at just about any time of day or night, and you'll see hundreds and thousands of cars and SUVs carrying the driver, a cup of coffer and a cell phone - at least three whole seats just sitting there, empty, begging for use! The combining trips part is easy, too! With a little planning you can drop the kids off at school, stop at the grocery store, go have your nails done and then head off to the spa all in one trip! It's fuel efficient and easier on the car because cold starts are much harder than when the engine is warm - you get the idea!

There are a bunch of more serious and "dramatic" things I've experimented with, over the years, to improve the fuel economy on my own cars. Although I'd like to see others adopt similar methods I'm not going to hold my breath! Some of the things I've done to my own cars include removing unused seating to reduce the vehicle's weight, I've added block heaters for easier starting (even in the summer months!), I've parked my car (and turned the engine off) to wait-out dust storms along side the road, and to this day I still roll-start down my steep driveway...

In the future I hope to experiment with belly pans and shrouds to make the car's underbelly more aerodynamic. I also want to install an electric oil pump (along with the aforementioned block heater) to circulate the oil a minute or two before actually starting the car.

Sikorsky is also big on sheltering your car from the elements to not only prolong its life [Roger - there's a whole other web page waiting to be created on "embedded energy" and the resources it takes to create and replace cars and everything else in our lives...] but to promote more efficient starts and fuel savings. Skikorsky states, "Shelter from the wind and cold will do more to promote good winter gas mileage than any other single item."

Related to to a lot of this is my Voluntary Simplicity and Things you can do for the Environment pages. There's so much that we can all do to contribute to a better, healthier world that not only benefits us but contributes to the well-being of everyone and everything. Let's give it a try!

Tip References: A lot of these gas-saving points I've gained from practical experience having driven cars and motorcycles since the late 60s. In the early 70s I started practicing a lot of this since we were in the middle of an oil embargo that really shook up America's automobile culture. Unfortunately the lesson didn't "stick" as the yuppies of my generation started to believe that bigger is better (oh, they are so wrong!).

Some great references I've run accross include:

• Drive it Forever (Your Key to Long Automobile Life) by Robert Sikorsky, copyright 1983
• Every Driver's Guide to MOre Miles per Gallon! by Bob Sikorsky, copyright 1976
• Pump 'Em Up - Fuel Conservation by 9th Grader Savannah Walters
• Wise Driving (Outsmart the 7 Worst Gas Guzzlers) by George Harvey and Shari Prange, Home Power Magazine -February/March 2006 (pp. 30 - 32)

No Hummers!

Bob Sikorsky

I, myself, drove a Honda 90 "scrambler" motorcycle during the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Even though I was getting well over 100 mpg it was clear to me that waste and disregard for conservation were continuing everywhere around me - despite the long gas lines and rising prices. Nevertheless, on a personal level, even though I was only 18 years old, I felt committed to energy and money conservation no matter how indifferent my fellow countrymen! That ethic has stayed with me my entire life (even as I make this entry in 2008) but received a great kick start when I read a couple of Bob Sikorsky's books in the early 80s. Sikorsky's Drive it Forever and Every driver's Guide to More Miles per Gallon were way ahead of there time in not only teaching folks how to properly care for an automobile but providing great emphasis (way back then!!) on fuel economy. I don't know whatever happened to Mr. Sikorsky but he was certainly a genius when it came to conserving gasoline. Here are a few excerpts from his earlier book, Every Driver's Guide to More Miles per Gallon! (1976). In it Sikorsky listed 230 ways to save gas - so as not to violate any intellectual property laws I just list a few of 'em here to "wet" your appetite;

• "Slow down! Keep your top speed under 55 mph if you want good gas mileage. Excessive speed will put holes in your gas money pocket. Most cars give best mileage at about 35mph to 40mph. In this speed range engine efficiency is maximum and wind resistance is relatively negligible." p. 6
• "Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tests have show it is more economical to turn the engine off rather than let it idle if the idle time exceeds 30 seconds." p. 7
• "Any time you use an accessory you use extra gas. Radio, tape deck, cigarette lighter, power seats, power windows, interior lights, heater and blower fan, all use electrical current. When one of the accessories is used, the alternator/generator is activated to restore to the battery what is being drawn off. This extra work of the generating unit is paid for with gas burned to provide the additional horsepower needed to turn the unit. Use accessories sparingly." p. 7 (On page 9 he goes on to say, "Use of battery operated accessories while the engine is off still must be paid for with gas burned once the engine is started again.")
• "'Jack rabbit' starts are murder on gas mileage. One or two fast starts with the accelerator floored will nullify gains made elsewhere." p. 7
• "Drive with the windows closed whenever you can. Open windows, especially at high speeds, create more wind turbulence and have the effect of 'holding back the car.' It takes extra gas to overcome wind drag; in fact, at highway speeds, open windows can lower mileage by as much as 10%." p. 8
• Anytime you are going down a grade take full advantage of the fact that gravity is working in your favor and ease up on the accelerator. Let the care coast of its own volition, even i it means slowing down a bit. Downhill driving affords an excellent opportunity to bolster your gas mileage." p. 8
• "Don't tailgate! Much gas is wasted by driving too close to the car ahead. You must constantly brake and accelerate, brake and accelerate. By tailgating you let the car in front dictate how you drive - and that's foolish economy." p. 9
• "Group as many errands and stops into a single trip as you can. Its [sic] better to do more during one trip while the car is warm than to make one or two extra trips with a cooler engine." p. 11
• "Use reverse gear as little as possible. You get 0 mpg when the car is in reverse." p. 17
• If you live in a state that requires a front license plate, position it so that it doesn't contribute to the car's aerodynamic drag. If it hangs down into the air stream move it up and fasten it to the bumper." p. 39

Just imagine, these basic ideas were formulated way back in the 70s yet most Americans continued driving huge Hummers and SUVs well into the 2000s after oil surpassed the $100 per barrel level. I think our society can do much better than this so I hope my little page contributes to some positive change - with a bit of thanks to Bob Sikorsky, three decades earlier! - Roger J. Wendell 2008 Golden, Colorado, USA Note: No, I never met Mr. Sikorsky nor did I own any stake in his company - I bought his books, implemented his ideas, and saved lots of fuel and money over the intervening third of a century! And, of course, a very special ancillary benefit has been a smaller carbon footprint and less damage to this very special place we call Earth!

Links:

1. Arctic Refuge
2. Chevron - Will You Join Us?
3. Climate Change
4. Culture Change
5. Cycling
6. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (U.S. Department of Energy)
7. EPA Fuel Economy
8. Exxpose Exxon
9. Fossil Fuels and Peak Oil
10. Fuel Economy
11. I Will Evolve
12. Life After the Oil Crash
13. Hubbert Peak of Oil Production
14. Nuclear Power - a bad way to boil water!
15. OIL Operation Iraqi Liberation
16. ORV - the Off-Road Vehicle menace
17. Peak Oil
18. Population
19. Pump 'Em Up - Fuel Conservation
20. Simple Solar
21. Sustainability
22. Transportation
23. Voluntary Simplicity
24. War and Terrorism

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