1. Racing away from green lights

When the light turns green, you don’t have to take off as quickly as possible. That pedal under your right foot is called the “gas pedal” for a good reason. The more you press down on it, the more gas you’re pumping into the engine.

Press lightly on the gas pedal, and you’ll still accelerate, and you’ll still get where you’re going. You might be surprised at how little pressure it takes to get your car up to speed in a reasonable time.

2. Racing up to red lights

When you’re driving down the street, and you see a light red light or stop sign up ahead, you should lay off the gas sooner rather than later.

There’s no point in keeping your foot on the gas until just before you reach the intersection. Let off the pedal sooner and give your engine a rest as you coast to the stop while braking gently. As an added benefit, your brake pads will last longer, too.

By themselves, these first two tips can improve your fuel economy around town by as much as 35 percent, according to tests conducted by automotive information Web site Edmunds.com.

3. Confusing the highway with a speedway

Even if it doesn’t involve hard acceleration, speeding wastes gas. The faster you go, the more air your vehicle has to push out of the way. It’s like moving your hand through water. The faster you try to move your hand, the harder the water pushes back.

In tests by Consumer Reports, driving at 75 miles per hour instead of 65 miles per hour reduced fuel economy by between 3 and 5 miles per gallon, depending on the vehicle.

4. Bumper-buzzing

Tailgating is a bad move for many reasons. First of all, it’s unsafe. You reduce your ability to react if the car in front of you slows or stops. It also means you have to pay ultra-close attention to that car which reduces your ability to scan for other hazards ahead of you and to the sides.

And tailgating wastes gas. Every time the driver ahead taps his brakes, you have to slow down even more than he did. (That’s because you can’t react immediately so you have to slow even more because you’re slowing down later.) Then you accelerate again to get back up to speed and resume your bumper-buzzing routine.

Hang back and you’ll be safer – plus you’ll be able to drive more smoothly and use less fuel. A good rule of thumb is to allow two seconds of space between your car and the one ahead. You can figure that out by counting off two seconds after the car in front of you passes an obvious landmark like an overpass.

5. Driving standing still

You’ve probably heard that it takes more gas to restart a car than to let it run. Maybe that used to be true, but it isn’t anymore. With modern fuel-injection engines, it takes very little extra gas to restart a car once it’s warmed up.

Idling, meanwhile, burns about a half-mile worth of gas every minute, according to the California Energy Commission. That’s why hybrid cars shut down their gasoline engines whenever they stop, even for a moment.

Now you don’t want to shut your engine down for every little stop in your regular, non-hybrid car – it’s not designed for that – but if you’re waiting for someone to run in and out of a convenience store, turn off the engine.

And don’t go through the drive-through at fast food restaurants. You’re already paying enough for the oil in those chicken nuggets.

Bonus tip: Don’t idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. It does your engine no good and it wastes gas. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm.

6. Short hops

For really short trips, take advantage of the opportunity to get some exercise. Try walking to the store instead of driving. You can save gas and burn a few calories instead.

If you can’t hoof it, save up your errands. A lot of short hops that let the engine cool down at home between trips can use twice as much gas as starting the car once and making a big sweep to all your stops, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Go to your farthest destination first so your engine has a chance to reach its optimal operating temperature. Then make your other stops on the way back. With the engine warmed up, the car will restart easily and run efficiently all the way home.

My uncle today pruchased for his daughter who graduated from college a new 2012 honda civic hybrid. He paid in cash for her new car. The sticker was $24,000. He paid $23,500 which I think is a rip off.

Here is what upsets me the most. His wife passed away this may and she drove a 2000 Mercedez Benz ml. The ML suv had 150,000 miles on it and everything in the car worked like new. He told me that I could purchase the car from him.

My car is a 1999 toyota camry with 160,000 miles on it with a oil leak and a transmission that is on its way out.

I cant get financing becuase I’m low income and cant afford a new car. I was willing to give my uncle $5000 cash for the mercedez ml.

My uncle told me two months ago that he was planning on getting rid of his wifes car.

Unfortunatley I got a phone call from my uncle that he purchased my cousin a new 2012 honda civic hybrid. The unfortunate thing is that he decided to trade in his former wifes 2000 mercedez ml suv. The honda dealer only gave him $1100 for the mercedez ml suv. Im very very very upset. He gave away a good running used car to a greedy dealer for free.
This happened in California.

Is there a way he can go to the dealer tomorrow and reverse the trade in? I feel he got taken advantage of and ripped by a honda salesperson looking to make a quick buck.

antiber thanks for the help!!
does that mean that hybrids and electric cars have the same Principles??

I was looking to buy a car because I was starting to have some trouble with mine. The problem is cash for clunkers shot demand through the roof and tanked supply. Therefore nobody is willing to negotiate on new cars right now. Besides the fact that > 50% of the money went to foreign automakers and not all cars bought were as fuel efficient as they should be. They should have made it so anyone willing to buy a car with better gas mileage of any car > 10 years old could take advantage. I would have taken my ’96 VW getting 36 mpg and traded it in for a hybrid. Thoughts?

I really want an energy efficient car but still have it look stylish. I don’t really like the toyota pruis. Is there any other good looking hybrid or cars that are somewhat beneficial to the environment? Also, please give me info on how exactly hybrid cars work, but please make it easy to understand :3

Can someone please tell me the price range of these items and the disadvantages & advantages of having them?

Diesel/Hybrid Engine
Automatic Transmission
Manual Transmission
Power Brakes
Power Steering
Cruise Control
Full-service, full-size spare tire
Power Seats
Tinted Glass
Power Windows
Central Locking System

*** If you are unable to answer all, no problem and thank you for your help!

first, how do hybrids cars work? and are they worth buying?i mean do they really not spend a lot of gas? what would be the best hybrid car to buy out in the market? thanks

1. Switch to hybrid vehicle.
2. Switch to nuclear power.
3. Switch to electric cars.
4. Uses buses instead.
5. Walk.
6. Plant trees.
7. Cut its Co2 emissions by x% by x years.