The Poverty Jet Set - Latest Comments in A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

Re: A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

Julia Roy — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:08:33 -0000

Wow, never knew that temperature affected gas that much. Interesting.

Re: A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

Xstamper — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:09:56 -0000

Great article. I agree about the "image of a hybrid" not really helping the environment, but it's a start. Shoot, the biggest polluters of CO2 emissions are humans....when we breathe. Dang, now that creates a quagmire doesn't it? I personally am lucky, because my small town in Oregon has free buses, which I take to "commute" to work. I guess we all have to decide to live/work in a better situation than drive all over the place.
Cheers.

Re: A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

Taylor — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:04:52 -0000

To save gas, I like to pretend I'm a hypermiler...not using breaks, coasting, etc.

Re: A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

magdalenus — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:47:00 -0000

Well, okay, I was just slightly skeptical of this email (as I am with all the forwards my grandfather sends... he's sent some wacked Fwds in the past). But I do feel like I read something about this in WIRED or something, that gas mileage goes way down during the summer months because of more rapid evaporation in gas tanks.

@blackmailismylife: True, critical mass bike rides won't save the earth, either. But I do get a little annoyed by the self-righteousness people tend to get with they buy a brand new hybrid and act like they're "doing their part." That's bullshit and we all know it. Buying a brand new car, made of thousands of brand new materials shipped from all corners of the globe, to a factory in Asia, then shipped complete on big tanker ships to the United States is far less saving the world than, say, driving your old beater '85 Honda Civic until the thing dies.

But all those arguments will be moot soon anyways, what with gas prices pushing $100/barrel and China lifting it's cap on subsidized fuel. Ain't gonna be no gas nohow.

Re: A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

blackmailismylife — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:15:13 -0000

Yeah it's spammy. Also, I think that it's fair to say that hybrids are improving the situation, since as you note, suburbanized America requires a ton of car travel, so whatever consumers might do to affectively upgrade CAFE standards helps. Sure it's a Reaganite mode of voting with one's wallet, but it's not like Critical Mass protests are doing much more than pissing people off.

Re: A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

Curtis Joe Walker — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:25:12 -0000

About the topping off thing... Just push the metal flap inside the pump where the nozzle hangs. It'll shut off the meter, but allow you to drain the remaining fuel out of the pump hose.

Temperature is probably not significantly important, because the underground fuel tanks maintain their temperature through geothermals. Tanks are usually sitting a couple feet underground, beneath 6" of concrete, surrounded by earth with a constant core temperature. Heat rises and fuel is pumped from the bottom of the tank, thus rendering this argument all but null from where I'm looking.

As for fulling up when the tank is half full. I'd call bullshit on this one too, for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that one gets better fuel economy when there's less weight in the car. By not letting the car get down towards empty, one is missing out on the opportunity for maximum fuel economy. Secondly, filling up with gas takes time, and time is money (to some people). Therefore, the less time wasted at the pump, the better. I will admit, however, that neither of these things really makes any difference in the long run. But then again, nore do any of these gas saving tips.

No offense, but I don't take car advice from a bicyclist ;)

Re: A Geek’s Guide to Saving Gas

iConJohn — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:05:38 -0000

Oh I got so screwed for not knowing these rules. I just spent over a $1200 for new fuel injector etc. for running the tank to fumes. Thanks Mark! Twitter Networking!