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You are conscious of the fact that you can drive differently to increase your overall gas mileage. I can assume that because you are here reading this.
You may have even started using some hypermiling driving ideas! And we say, "Good for you!"
There are emotional issues, in this post we will look at 5, that sabotage your hypermiling driving and you probably have not even thought about it. Allowing these emotional things to happen, that is not be conscious of the fact that they are happening, will reduce your efforts. So let's take a look at them.
Keep the "Big Picture" in mind! You are trying to get the most efficient use of your fuel, right? Keeping that in the forefront of your mind may help you eliminate other emotional issues or even physical activities that actually reduce your efforts of saving gas money!
Have you ever heard the statement, "don't go to bed angry..."? It also applies to your driving habits as well. When you drive angry, you drive more aggressively, and thus burn more fuel inefficiently. You focus on the anger, not realizing your breaking late, accelerating too quickly, and other habits of inefficient driving that rob you from the extra gas mileage. Be conscious of oncoming "road rage", it will definitely make your drive angry!
"There he goes...there goes Speed Racer..." If you are driving like you are in a car race, you are burning gas inefficiently. You may have not even realized it, but you will recognize it when you start to see that you are not letting anybody in any other lane pass you. You switch lanes constantly to pass other vehicles in front of you driving slower than you. You are in a "race" on the highway and don't even realize it.
Speed limits do not limit you. Most highways in the U.S. are 70 miles per hour speed limit. Most other non-city roads are 55 miles per hour. If you drive the speed limit, it actually helps you burn your gas more efficiently! In fact, in most studies, it was found that most vehicles run the most efficient in gas mileage in the 55 to 65 miles per hour range. As you go beyond your vehicles best mileage, it actually decreases its efficiency by as much as 10% for every 5 miles over your vehicles best mileage.
Finally, sometimes it just makes more sense to not drive! If you are going to, say, go to a store for a couple of items only and it is within a mile, walking or riding a bike not only saves you gas money, but it has the added benefit of a physical work out (others call it that nasty term, uh, exercise, I think...ewwww!). But seriously, you are creating a win-win scenario for yourself!
To Summarize:
There are emotional habit or issues that prevent you from maximizing your hypermiling driving, and you may not even realize that they are happening to you.
Five quick ones that come to mind are: 1) not remembering the "big picture" 2) driving angry 3) trying to maintain pole position in your own imaginary race 4) driving the speed limit and 5) not driving at all.
Adhering to just these five recommendations could increase your hypermiling driving mileage by as much as 10%-25%! So stop sabotaging yourself! Drive Happy!
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Did you know that you typically, because of inefficient fuel burning in carburetors and fuel injectors, you only really use a portion of the gas you have to pay for! In fact, mandated catalytic converters were because they burn off the excess fuel that your engine does not process, thus creating less pollutants in our air. Go to http://www.hypermilingfaq.wordpress.com now to learn other fuel related issues that are stealing money from your pocket on a daily basis!
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
