|  Gas Savers | Some interesting FAQ's |

Welcome to GasStations.com's petroleum page.

Stop and think for a moment that petroleum use goes far beyond what we burn on our autos - our economy is literally petroleum based. Plastic is made from petroleum and there are many plastic fixtures in our cars (i.e., dashboards and bumpers!). Surprise! Not only does your car burn petroleum it is partly made of petroleum. We burn oil to generate electricity and we even wear oil - as polyester!

Conventional oil production has peaked and can only get more scarce. We hope to increase your awareness of just how dependant western society is on oil production.

The end result of this would be to inspire you to do your part to conserve. It is in your own best interest that you, and everyone else, does their part.

Supporting alternative mass energy sources is also in all our best interests - the more we utilize natural energy like wind, solar, tidal and even tapping the Earth's core (geothermal) heat to manufacture electricity, the more oil is available for automotive power and the lower the cost.

We now know that oil is not a limitless reaource and are beginning to experience the cost of gasoline the rest of the world is all too familiar with. Check this out and count your blessings.

Gas Prices in:

• France, Germany and the UK - well above $8 a gallon.
• Norway, a major oil exporter - $8.73 per gallon.
• Japan and Canada - nearly $5 a gallon.
• out of the 32 industrialized countries surveyed by the International Energy Agency, only one (Mexico) had cheaper gasoline than the United States.
  • According to Carlos Mencia - that is so they can fill up and drive here!
• Saudi Arabia stands out as a true paradise with gasoline selling at $0.45 a gallon!

So put it on a scale with other necessities:

• Yuppies - A Starbucks venti latte costs the equivalent of $23 per gallon.
• Joe Six Pack - Budweiser averages $11 per gallon.
• Ladies - a decent fragrance runs about $50 an ounce - that's $6,400 a gallon!

The Union of Concerned Scientists tells us that:

dropping from 70 to 60 mph improves fuel efficiency by an average of 17.2 percent

Dropping from 75 to 55 improves fuel efficiency by 30.6 percent!

Every 10 mph you drive over 60 is like paying 54 cents per gallon more for gas!

                • Driving eighty miles an hour = $1.08 more per gallon!

That extra cost is based on your average family sedan, which today is usually equipped with a four cylender motor. This would be higher for big SUV's and other less-efficient vehicles. Add four wheel drive and their accompanying low gear ratios and you are top of the food chain in consumer vechiles.

And the time you save by going easy on the accelerator may not add up to as much as you thought. On a 300-mile trip, driving 65 instead of 70 mph would cost you only 20 minutes -- but save money and spew less carbon.

Even jets are slowing down — to save money!

1. The Highway
   1. High speed = low MPG
   2. Tailgating means constant accelleration and decelleration.
      1. Acceleration is the moment of most fuel use.
2. Idling
   1. An idling motor burns about a half-mile worth of gas every minute. Todays fuel injected motors do not waste gas on startup. If your buddy is standing in line at Seven Eleven, turn off your motor. Your battery is quite able to power your radio for ten minutes!
3. Gunning it from green lights
   1. Forget your car's zero to sixty stats - that's only for emergencies. As for "Captain Tewnty Something Leadfoot" - the less you spend on gas, the more you have for beer!
4. Zooming into red lights
   1. Trying to 'make it through' a yellow light does two things
      1. Burns up your gas
      2. Burns up your brakes

Common facts and misconceptions about fuel efficiency:

They say that using your air conditioner always burn more fuel?

There's no question air-conditioning makes extra work for the engine, increasing fuel use. But car air conditioners are much more efficient today than they used to be. In around-town driving, using the A/C will drop fuel economy by about one mile per gallon.

On the other hand, driving at higher speeds with the windows down greatly increases aerodynamic drag. As speed increases, drag multiplies incrementally and burns much more fuel. It is more fuel efficient at high speeds to close your windows and turn on the A/C.

The best choice - temperature and humidity permitting - is to roll up the windows and turn the A/C compressor off, using it's fans to blow in air from the outside.The fuel economy here is slight and of little use outside cooler northern climates.

Does pumping up your tires increase MPG?

Under-inflated tires are bad for handling and can even cause a crash. Under inflated tires also wear out faster and to heat up more, which could trigger a high-speed blow-out.

According to on-the-road driving tests by both Consumer Reports and auto information site Edmunds.com, under inflated tires reduce fuel economy by increasing drag.

But you should never over-inflate your tires. They'll get you slightly better fuel economy because there will be less friction. But that means less grip for braking and turning. The added risk of a crash isn't worth the extra mile a gallon.

Does changing your air filter increase Miles Per Gallon?

Having a clean air filter is beneficial, but it isn't going to save you any gas. Newer engines have computer sensors that automatically adjust the fuel-air mixture when less air to the motor flow is detected.

While engine power will decrease slightly as the air filter becomes clogged, a lack of performance or an increase in fuel consumption will be negligible, Consumer Reports says.

About fuel additives
Before you pay extra for a tonic that supposedly boostsr gas mileage think about this:

If BP, Mobile, Texaco or whomever could add something to their gasoline and get you further per gallon, they would have all the customers. Sure, you'd burn their gas more slowly but you would pass the other fuel depots on your extra MPG and stop only at theirs.

So if there really was an additive that made gas burn more slowly, it wouldn't be sold over the Internet one bottle at a time.

"There are a number of these gas-saving devices that are generally useless,"

Fill your tank in the morning?
The theory is - fluids are more dense at lower temperatures, so a gallon of cold gas actually has more gas molecules than a gallon of warmer gas.

This one is pretty nuts folks - if it were a real concept it would then do the reverse in your tank later in the day!

Use premium fuel only if absolutely needed
A lot of drivers think because their owners' manual recommends premium, they'll get better fuel economy with it. Really, they may be paying more money for nothing.

Newer cars for which premium is "recommended" - but not "required" - won't suffer with regular fuel. When engine sensors detect regular instead of premium fuel, the system automatically adjusts spark plug timing. The result is an unnoticeable reduction in horsepower and little or no reduction in fuel economy.