Quote:
Originally Posted by Grovsnus
1: Avoid braking, to preserve momentum whenever you can.
2: Look far ahead and let the current speed adjust accordingly.
3: If you have to brake, brake early and lightly.
4: Never look at the speedometer, and don't try to maintain a constant speed.
5: Don't use the cruise control. Especially in hilly terrain.
6: Keep a large distance to the car in front, so you don't have to brake or slow down whenever it does. Your speed should be based on the road and its hazards and not the car in front of you. (If it's one of the hazards before it's stopped, you're too close.)
7: Plan your route to avoid left turns, even if you have to go slightly farther.
8: Favor country roads over highways. 40 mph driving uses less fuel than 60 mph driving.
If anything, the top 2 are by far the most important. If you drive reactionary, you're never going to get good mileage, no matter how light you are on the gas pedal. If every turn, car turning left or traffic light takes you by surprise so you have to brake and subsequently regain lost momentum, you're going to waste lots of fuel. Which you won't get back no matter how well you drive the rest of the trip - spent fuel is gone, no exceptions.
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I agree with most of what you said.....Cruise control will actually help most people significantly. I always use it on the highway for long trips, and I get great mileage. You are correct about not using it on hilly terrain though. Letting the car attempt to keep a constant speed on an incline is a feul waster. Also the car will actually downshift on down hill sections to attempt to control your speed. I prefer to control my own speed on significant inclines/declines.
As far as using cruise on the freeway, I find that my mileage is substantially improved when I let a hill slow me down by about 5 mph and I don't try to regain that lost speed untill on a downhill section of raod. Increasing speed (even if it is only 5mph) consumes significantly less fuel when it is done going down hill.
All the chatter about X1 fuel economy being disappointing is really a suprise to me, especially in light of how quick and responsive these things are. Very few vehicles as heavy as these will get this kind of economy and still deliver this kind of performance.