Saving a couple bucks on gas?

So I think I pissed off a couple dozen drivers today. I had read somewhere that by dropping your speed by as little as 10mph can give you 'significant' savings at the pump. Intrigued by a story ( http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2282974#2282974 ) of one guy that saved almost $100 a month in gas by adjusting his driving habits, I decided to try my own sub-scientific test. The story went something like this:

Then I changed my driving habits drastically by doing the following:
-Whenever possible, put the car into neutral.
-Use gravity to my advantage, if I know a downward sloping hill is coming up, I will accelerate just enough to make it to the crest, and the throw it into neutral.
-Coast to a stop, or to a turn whenever possible
-Take turns at the maximum, safe speed to conserve momentum.
-Drive 55 on the freeway at all times.
-Ensure my tires are properly inflated

I usually drive 70mph on the highway and give moderate acceleration out of stops. I don't think my tachometer ever gets above 4000 and usually is in the 2000-2500 range for most of my trip. I am surely less aggressive now than I was 10 years ago. I average 24-27 mpg in my 2000 Olds Alero (V6 sedan). I hope to get through the whole tank of gas driving more conservatively. I don't think Ill go through the whole 'putting car into neutral' ordeal, but I will certainly try to keep my speed under 60MPH when it is safe to do so.

Anyway, today started my quest to save a couple of bucks. It is very unnerving driving so slow here on the Texas highways. Everyone seems to go at least 75. I had to fight all instinct to speed up when being passed by packs of other cars. I probably pissed off about 2 dozen people, but at least I was in the 'slow lane'. Driving at the slower rate added about 10 minutes to my commute. Well see how I do in a couple of days.

Speaking of gas...Since gas prices have been unreal these days, I have been looking at some of the upcoming technologies for cars with growing interest. First of all, let me say that I am sort of an environmentalist at heart. I want to live in a world of clean air and have places to go enjoy nature. I'm a big fan of Yellowstone and I would love to visit Alaska. That being said, however, I am not in favor of unleashing the power of government to do the work that we should be doing ourselves. Government has proven to be woefully inefficient and they often choose the chainsaw when a nail clipper is all that is required. Anyway, I feel myself digressing. Point is, I want to protect the environment, but I don't want to unleash the floodwaters of government to do it. Getting back to cars...I have been watching with some interest Tata Motors. They have a car that runs on compressed air. Instead of internal combustion, the cylinders are driven by releasing compressed air. I was a big fan of paintball (in my more mobile days) and this kind of technology immediately spoke to me. Im not familiar with how much energy it takes to compress enough air to get a car going for an acceptable amount of time, nor am I interested in arguments that the energy needed to do so may come from fossil fuel plants, but the idea of not having to be slave to the middle east intrigues me. The other day, oil jumped up a couple dollars a barrel because Iran was test firing some missles. I even read a story somewhere that said that one of the pictures taken was photo-chopped! I just don't like the idea of paying more at the pump every time some middle eastern price takes a dump. Alternative energy cars are good for our environment and good for our sovereignty. Man! where did this soapbox come from?

Anyway, here is a link to the car:

http://zeropollutionmotors.us/

What else is on the plate for today...?

Well, we lost our volleyball finals match last night. I'm kinda bummed about that and I'm not sure how much I want to talk about it right now. It was one of those matches where I just wasn't focused. I felt we had the best team, but I guess we weren't meant to win. Oh well, I suppose there is a 'next time' (I know, I know "loser talk").