Want Better Gas Mileage? Don’t Change the Car, Change Your Driving Style

What the other comments missed was the point that many people cannot afford to buy a new car just to get better mileage. I have a 1997 Suburban that is currently paid off. Sure I would love to drive something that got better MPG, but I can better afford paying $40 – $50 extra in gas money than another $300-$400 per month car payment for one of the ‘Econo boxes’ or hybrids. Maybe in about 3 years when my other car is paid off I can do that. Right now to help I changed all of my normal habits when in the truck and I have squeezed at least 2-4 MPG extra out of the truck.

Its funny, and there is a point to changing your driving style to ellicit better fuel economy… BUT in their “Scientific” study, the comparisons were not done in the same environment as normal daily commute conditions.

My family and I just returned from a road trip from Portland, Oregon to Banff, Canada and back. Three adults and two children (one in a toddler’s car seat and one in a booster seat) were packed into my father-in-law’s Prius for the trip. Average MPG was just shy of the 48 mpg rating at 47.8 MPG. We were regularly cruising at highway speeds (a little over posted limits when I was driving) and while the car wasn’t overly powerful in the horsepower department, it handled the drive through mountainous terrain spectacularly.

Tell me you could come close to achieving ANYTHING close to those numbers in an M3.

As Bill Cosby would attest… the proof is in the pudding.

Clarkson loves trying to convince people that gas guzzlers and wicked sportscars not only look cool, but really are what people should be driving. I don’t think it’s all about driving style – the car matters too. You shouldn’t have a Prius for a track day toy, just like you shouldn’t have a Suburban for a trip to the grocery store.

I saw this and laughed a great deal. This is why we need Top Gear America, because it will bring driving logic to the American public.