Haggis
08-31-2005, 11:15 AM
How to lessen the bite of that tiger in your tank
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Azstarnet.com
Tucson, AZ - Before you get out of town, plug the particulars into AAA's Fuel Cost Calculator, a nifty tool at
www.fuelcostcalculator.com/TripGasPrice.aspx
If you're driving a 3-year-old Chevy Silverado to Phoenix and back, for example, budget $31.70 for gasoline.
Take a 2005 Hyundai Tucson from its namesake city to San Diego and you'll spend $85 round-trip on gas.
Other sites to check are:
● www.gasbuddy.com
● www.aaa.com (click on Fuel Price Finder) for the cheapest prices culled from surveys of 85,000 stations nationwide.
Staying home and firing up the gas grill for Labor Day?
Propane prices are rising as well, said John Fant, Amerigas district manager in Tucson.
The consumer price of propane was $2.29 a gallon Tuesday. He expects that to rise by 8 cents to 15 cents today.
Do you drive across town to Costco to find cheaper gas? Or from Green Valley to Tucson for the same reason?
We asked a UA mathematics professor, Joseph Watkins, to help determine if that's worth your while.
He said you might save money, but only if you're careful about how many miles you drive out of your way. He gave this example:
Let's say you have a 20-gallon gas tank and you get 20 miles to the gallon. If you save a dime per gallon, that's a $2 saving on a fill-up. So you should use less than $2 worth of gas getting to the station. Two bucks buys you about three-quarters of a gallon. You can drive 15 miles on that.
But to see this as a real saving "assumes your time isn't worth anything," he added.
Watkins, by the way, avoids this particular math problem by bicycling to and from work.
We know that some of you keep the air conditioning off to save gas. We've even seen at least one of you squirt water over his head while driving.
You might want to keep cool and dry instead.
If you're going more than 55 miles per hour, it's more efficient to use the air conditioning than to have the windows down, the AAA travel club says.
The air coming into the car creates drag, slows you down and reduces fuel efficiency by 10 percent.
Other ways to save gas:
● Look for special offers. For instance, some Wendy's restaurants offer coupons for Chevron when you buy certain menu items.
● Avoid excessive idling. Turn off the motor if you expect a long wait.
● Don't slam on the brakes to stop or slam on the gas to go.
● Most cars run fine on lower-octane regular, which often costs 20 cents a gallon less than the top premium grade.
● Replace dirty air filters, and keep tires properly inflated. Together, those steps can increase gas mileage by about 13 percent.
● Don't speed. Each 5 miles per hour that you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 15 cents per gallon for gas, the Energy Department says.
● Get the junk out of the trunk - an extra 100 pounds can reduce mileage by up to 2 percent.
● Use cruise control on the highway.
● Use overdrive gears.
● Go to work earlier or leave later to avoid peak traffic.
● Some credit cards earn rebates on gasoline purchases (try www.cardweb.com for a list).
Prices by city
● The average prices for a gallon of regular gasoline Tuesday afternoon in places you might go to over the three-day weekend:
●Phoenix: $2.676
●Payson: $2.599
●Prescott: $2.584
●Flagstaff: $2.714
●Show Low: $2.634
●Lake Havasu City: $2.713
●San Diego: $2.837
●Las Vegas: $2.677
●Silver City, N.M.: $2.677
Source: AAA
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Azstarnet.com
Tucson, AZ - Before you get out of town, plug the particulars into AAA's Fuel Cost Calculator, a nifty tool at
www.fuelcostcalculator.com/TripGasPrice.aspx
If you're driving a 3-year-old Chevy Silverado to Phoenix and back, for example, budget $31.70 for gasoline.
Take a 2005 Hyundai Tucson from its namesake city to San Diego and you'll spend $85 round-trip on gas.
Other sites to check are:
● www.gasbuddy.com
● www.aaa.com (click on Fuel Price Finder) for the cheapest prices culled from surveys of 85,000 stations nationwide.
Staying home and firing up the gas grill for Labor Day?
Propane prices are rising as well, said John Fant, Amerigas district manager in Tucson.
The consumer price of propane was $2.29 a gallon Tuesday. He expects that to rise by 8 cents to 15 cents today.
Do you drive across town to Costco to find cheaper gas? Or from Green Valley to Tucson for the same reason?
We asked a UA mathematics professor, Joseph Watkins, to help determine if that's worth your while.
He said you might save money, but only if you're careful about how many miles you drive out of your way. He gave this example:
Let's say you have a 20-gallon gas tank and you get 20 miles to the gallon. If you save a dime per gallon, that's a $2 saving on a fill-up. So you should use less than $2 worth of gas getting to the station. Two bucks buys you about three-quarters of a gallon. You can drive 15 miles on that.
But to see this as a real saving "assumes your time isn't worth anything," he added.
Watkins, by the way, avoids this particular math problem by bicycling to and from work.
We know that some of you keep the air conditioning off to save gas. We've even seen at least one of you squirt water over his head while driving.
You might want to keep cool and dry instead.
If you're going more than 55 miles per hour, it's more efficient to use the air conditioning than to have the windows down, the AAA travel club says.
The air coming into the car creates drag, slows you down and reduces fuel efficiency by 10 percent.
Other ways to save gas:
● Look for special offers. For instance, some Wendy's restaurants offer coupons for Chevron when you buy certain menu items.
● Avoid excessive idling. Turn off the motor if you expect a long wait.
● Don't slam on the brakes to stop or slam on the gas to go.
● Most cars run fine on lower-octane regular, which often costs 20 cents a gallon less than the top premium grade.
● Replace dirty air filters, and keep tires properly inflated. Together, those steps can increase gas mileage by about 13 percent.
● Don't speed. Each 5 miles per hour that you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 15 cents per gallon for gas, the Energy Department says.
● Get the junk out of the trunk - an extra 100 pounds can reduce mileage by up to 2 percent.
● Use cruise control on the highway.
● Use overdrive gears.
● Go to work earlier or leave later to avoid peak traffic.
● Some credit cards earn rebates on gasoline purchases (try www.cardweb.com for a list).
Prices by city
● The average prices for a gallon of regular gasoline Tuesday afternoon in places you might go to over the three-day weekend:
●Phoenix: $2.676
●Payson: $2.599
●Prescott: $2.584
●Flagstaff: $2.714
●Show Low: $2.634
●Lake Havasu City: $2.713
●San Diego: $2.837
●Las Vegas: $2.677
●Silver City, N.M.: $2.677
Source: AAA