How do you conserve gas these days?

[Ban my account ffs!]

With gas over $3/gallon and the outlook not pretty, what are you doing to conserve fuel?

I am driving much less, getting 2 weeks out of about 8 gallons.  I only have a 3 mile commute to work.

I get my errands done on my lunch break by walking to various stores. 

[Хahar 🤔]

Nothing.

Seriously. We do so much driving it's unbelievable.

[exopolitician]

Since I dont have a car right now, I guess not driving at all would be my answer.

[Joe Republic]

I generally try to stick to a diet that's low in polysaccharides; found in beans, lentils, dairy products, breads and certain vegetables.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I generally try to stick to a diet that's low in polysaccharides; found in beans, lentils, dairy products, breads and certain vegetables.

Your sarcasm has been noted.  About the worst thing you could do is eat refried beans smothered in cheese with a big side of raw broccoli washed down with a big glass of milk.

Sure, you might make it through the evening, but you'd probably wake up in a deadly war zone that smelled like a septic tank.

[dead0man]

I've always had small cars.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I've always had small cars.

What kind do you drive now?  I've been thinking of downsizing when I buy a new one.

[opebo]

While I do own a car now so far I rarely drive it.  I use a motorbike.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not living in a suburb.

[Jake]

I drive my mother's Corolla to school (34 mpg's for the trip, about 11 gallons a week). Other than that, not much. I should start walking the half-mile to work and will when it's not so cold. You get hit whatever you do by the price of gas, so the only solution is not eating fresh food, not working/going to school, and not travelling. No thanks.

[dead0man]

I've always had small cars.

What kind do you drive now?  I've been thinking of downsizing when I buy a new one.

A Mazda 3.  It's the best car I've ever owned, bar none.  It doesn't do as well as the Civic's and Corrolla's in the fuel department (I get consistently in the mid to low 20's, but I've read this year they've redisigned the engines to more efficient.) but it's a much better overall car than those.  The "world" platform it is based (the Ford C1on is normally used on higher end cars like the Euro Ford Focus (better than the American one) and all sorts of Volvo's.  It handles better than any front wheel drive car has any buisness handling.  It's a great highway long distance cruiser, well, for a small car anyway.

But really, this is the Golden Age of the automobile even if few realize it, you can't go wrong buying a new car in 2008.  Even a piece of crap like a Kia is a better car than a Honda was 25 years ago (and a Ford was 10 years ago...and a Dodge is today ).  A Corolla, Civic, 3, Impreza or Cobalt are all great cars.  I'd avoid the VW's and various Chrysler products as they still suck in my humble opinion.

[Padfoot]

well my camry gets pretty good gas mileage but I've also been cutting back on the number of trips I make to Cincinnati.  Normally I would drive down there once a month but this weekend is the first time I've been down since New Year's.

[opebo]

But really, this is the Golden Age of the automobile even if few realize it, you can't go wrong buying a new car in 2008. 

Wrong.. cars today are excessively complex in the extreme.  The likelihood of developing troubles in the long run are very high, and in fact a great number of late nineties Japanese cars are already proving to be lemons like their american and european cousins.  The biggest loss in terms of long term reliabilty and durability has been the abandonment of cast-iron push-rod engines.

The Golden Age of the automobile was clearly from about 1965-1973.

[Hash]

My mother fills up in Ontario rather than Quebec. Oil in Ontario was 108 cents when we left, here in Quebec it's up to 117 cents or even 123 cents!

[dead0man]

Wrong.. cars today are excessively complex in the extreme.  The likelihood of developing troubles in the long run are very high, and in fact a great number of late nineties Japanese cars are already proving to be lemons like their american and european cousins.  The biggest loss in terms of long term reliabilty and durability has been the abandonment of cast-iron push-rod engines.

The Golden Age of the automobile was clearly from about 1965-1973.

Only if you're into excessive size and inefficiencies.  If you want:
safety- Tires are light years better today, brakes are much better, handling is much better and that's before we even start talking about crumple zones, better seatbelts and airbags.
dependability- it doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, cars today are much much more dependable than they were in the "good old days".  Nobody has adjusted their points, bled their brakes or checked the water in the battery for several decades.  Yeah, they've gotten WAY to complicated.  I'm a guy that likes to get a little grease under his nails from time to time, but I don't even change the oil on my cars anymore because it's such a pain in the ass.  I could do the oil on my 1982 RX7s in less than 5 min.  That engine bay was designed (it seemed) to work be worked in.  But if you keep your oil changed (by somebody else) every 7500 miles or so, 95% of cars made today will run for more than 250,000 miles.  There is no other point in time where you could say that.
efficiency- the ICE (internal combustion engine) has made huge strides since the first fuel crunch in 1973.  Double overhead cams, multi-valves, fuel injection, variable timing and cleaner gas (to name a few off the top of my head) have done wonders for what is an inherently inefficient engine.
performance- todays cars stop better, turn better and go faster.  Period.  Your generic Camry today out preforms 95% of Mustangs sold between 1965 and 1973 (and that's way before the living turd that was the Mustang II).



(and I've got nothing against old cars.  One of my favorite cars of all time is the 1965-68.5 MGB.  I want my rubber bumpers and wheel spinners!  but I don't want an old dead motor and an English electrical system in my car...eegads!  I'll probably end up settling for a Miata.)

[MODU]

My driving habits have not changed one bit.  All I do is keep my vehicle in good running condition.

[opebo]

...if you keep your oil changed (by somebody else) every 7500 miles or so, 95% of cars made today will run for more than 250,000 miles.  There is no other point in time where you could say that.

Actually 250,000 miles was quite normal for cast-iron push-rod v-8s.  Even similar v-6s from the late eighties early nineties like the GM 3.8 litre routinely lasted 250-300K.

Also I must say that its a matter of personal preference - I just hate overhead cams and multiple valves and all that revving stuff.  I like to keep the rpms at about 1,500 at all times - proper relaxed motoring in a full sized american car.

[??????????]

I generally try to stick to a diet that's low in polysaccharides; found in beans, lentils, dairy products, breads and certain vegetables.

Your sarcasm has been noted.  About the worst thing you could do is eat refried beans smothered in cheese with a big side of raw broccoli washed down with a big glass of milk.

Sure, you might make it through the evening, but you'd probably wake up in a deadly war zone that smelled like a septic tank.

You use the term "worst" like that would be a bad thing to do all the time. It's like a war zone where I work. haha

Deadman, the one GOOD thing about old cars were the engines were made of cast iron instead of that crappy aluminum.

[bullmoose88]

I try not to pull so many RPMs, then again, I've always done that...but my v6 gets 29/20 anyways

[Bay Ridge, Bklyn! Born and Bred]

My car stays garaged most of the time and I just ride the Metro.

[The Hack Hater]

I don't drive to many extra places these days. If I go out for food, I do it mayeb once every couple of months.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Much the same as I always did, by s l o w i n g  d o w n .  I typically go 5mph less than the speed limit on most roads, and a steady 62 mph (100 km/h) on rural interstates.  Of course if I need to be someplace by a certain time, and I need to go faster to make it, I'll go the speed limit, but for most of my trips, a couple extra minutes listening to the radio is a good deal for me.

[MasterJedi]

I don't have a car, so there ya go.

[MODU]

I don't have a car, so there ya go.

And you call yourself a Republican. 

[MasterJedi]

I don't have a car, so there ya go.

And you call yourself a Republican. 

Yes, like I have the money to buy a car. I have about 13,000 in the bank and I'm saving/investing that. And my parents won't buy me a car (they won't and can't afford it) and I can't afford it now and since I really don't need one at the moment there ya go again.