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There are times when you have to be introspective about your relationship with your ride, especially when you want to save money at the pump. Louise usually uses her car as a 4 wheel valise, to the point where you could determine the year by looking at the “stratification” of the piles in her trunk. This means that the oldest stuff was on the bottom, and the newest on top. This Reminds me of the geology of the Grand Canyon, with the notable exception that the Grand Canyon holds more stuff. Despite the need to have many of your important possessions in the car at all times, “JUST IN CASE”, the reality is that every 100 pounds of “stuff” decreases gas mileage by 2%.

The lesson here is that increased weight will decrease your gas mileage, and over time increase the amount you spend at the pump. The goal here is to use less gas, and there is a need for all of us to hold Spring Cleaning every few months for our trunks, backseats, and glove boxes. It’s a good idea –anyway- to keep a reasonably clean car. Not just for the weight savings and subsequent gas savings, but to karmically purge your life of the non essential and transitory items that will clog your ride and even become dangerous if it becomes airborne due to a panic stop or collision. In extreme cases, finding the driver in the rubble of fast food containers, shopping bags, luggage and clothing may be a daunting task for the first responder.

It is interesting to note that Hamilton Jordan, who served on President Carter’s staff, was known to have lived in his car for several years, and used the laundry to press his pants on the back seat. It seems the pants (on the bottom) were always pressed flat. Don’t worry, the President convinced him to get an apartment more suited to his position in government, as opposed to a larger car. Unless you get an RV, don’t live in your car!

Now that you have read my brief dissertation, you can choose to do nothing, or reap the multiple benefits of having a clean car, purged of non-essential and heavy items that you may not need!

Keep up the gas savings! –Alan

Tags: cars and driving, cheap fuel, discount gasoline, fuel economy, money at the gas pump, travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 11:32 pm and is filed under Driving, fuel economy, gasoline discounts at the pump. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.