PSX5Central
Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: videoholic on July 29, 2003, 08:10:22 AM
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Would you save gas if you never turned on your headlights?
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I know damn near every function performed in a car will affect it\'s power delivery and or battery charge.
As far as this specific question. Id wager yes, but it wouldnt even be noticable I dont think. PLus driving variables change sooo much everytime one drives. Like I know I drive at least 3 different ways each day. SOme sprints..some runs, and just slow or *normal* driving.
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Then that\'s it. I want to be able to afford Madden so I am from now on going to not use my headlights.
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Well, I\'ll just stay away from the tampa/lakeland area at night. :D
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I was expecting a good car thread.
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It\'s all luckee\'s fault I tell ya.
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I disagree.
The alternator is permanently connected to the crank by a belt. Doesn\'t it always consume the same amount of energy, and produce the same amount of current regardless of whether the battery needs it?
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Originally posted by videoholic
Would you save gas if you never turned on your headlights?
The alternator recharges your battery. The battery sends power to your headlights. Revving the engine, sometimes you see power fluctuations on your headlights.
The battery will last a wee bit longer when the lights are out and not really save you gasoline, I\'m afraid. The belts to the alternater does have a parasitic affect on your horse power delivery. But only slight. However, the alternator is there to recharge your battery.
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What about if the extra amperage draw increases the magnetic field in the alternator and thereby increasing the resistance on the motor via the coil windings/core (inside the alternator), which in turn is connected to the pulley/belt.
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Like i said..so little it couldnt be noticed. :D
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Or you could try to lose weight, leave the spare at home, fill up to a 1/4 tank at the most, take the rear seats out, the sound deadening cushions, saw off the roof and you\'ll defintely add at least 3 miles per gallon there.
And knock off a whole second on the quarter mile. :p
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my back seats weigh maybe a couple pounds at the most. I think I\'m just going to cut my roof off.
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Do I save gas when I turn off my radio?
I know when I\'m low on gas I always turn off my radio.
Whenever I\'m on E I can never decide if I should drive a little faster to try and get to the station sooner and maybe stall closer to the station or drive slower(using less gas?) and possibly stall further away from the station.
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One good way to save on gas is to not run your Air conditioning... but in tampa I could understand that could be an issue.
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Don\'t drive. That\'ll save gas.
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except that if you don\'t use a/c you have to open your windows thereby increasing wind resistance and still causing a loss of gas mileage.
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Originally posted by Gohan
Do I save gas when I turn off my radio?
I know when I\'m low on gas I always turn off my radio.
Whenever I\'m on E I can never decide if I should drive a little faster to try and get to the station sooner and maybe stall closer to the station or drive slower(using less gas?) and possibly stall further away from the station.
Try pushing your car next time. :)
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Just rip the floor out and use your feet Fred Flintstone style. That is a sure way to save petrol.
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I drive my car past the E all the time. What kills mpg is higher RPMs more than anything else. Take it slow & easy and you\'ll save much more than turning off your headlights, especially your insurance bill.:D
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Originally posted by videoholic
my back seats weigh maybe a couple pounds at the most. I think I\'m just going to cut my roof off.
Your backseats are at least 20lbs per piece. The fronts are also about 35 a piece. Got heated leather? :D
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:laughing:
This is the best car thread ever!
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well i dont see how you could save gas by turning off the headlights, even if u could the gas spent would be negligable. also is\'nt driving without headlights (especially at night) a traffic violation so whats the point of saving money on gas if yer gonna have to spend much more paying of the tickets ;).
but what you could do is reduce the weight of yer car, i suggest starting off with replacing yer front and rear seats with M3 seats :D.
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what I do...and I do it quite often because I hate putting in gas, is if I drive early in the mornings I dirve with the windows down if I\'m in the city, then once I hit the freeway I roll up the windows but turn on the vents. I can usually make it to college without turning on the AC. Then on the way back I turn on the AC and turn the fan on full blast until the car gets cool, it takes maybe 2-3 minutes. Then I turn off the AC and just use the recirculate option on the fan.
I also use cruise control all the time, and try to keep my rpm below 3000 at all times. Also tefflon coated my car so it is more aerodynamic, and eggs won\'t stick to it.
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What you all should do is load like 6 sacks of sand bags in the trunk. When the fuel light comes on, throw the sand bags out and I swear to you that you\'ll save a TON of gas after that! :p
I also use cruise control all the time, and try to keep my rpm below 3000 at all times.
cruise control is awful on the mileage. Mainly coz the car over compensates on trying to keep the speed up.
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Are you sure? I\'ve always had better milage with all of my cars with cruise on vs. off.
When you take 1500 mile road trips semi often, you figure out new things to count all of the time..lol Oh and different ways of counting!! ;)
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I\'m sure with today\'s technology, that may not longer be true. I was going by my experience from someone else\'s car. I think his was a 99 model.
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Maybe that 99 model was a manual transmission, and you had it in a lower gear. If it was in anything other than the highest gear, then fuel economy would be compromised.
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Lower gear? He was on 5th gear the whole way. That was in 1999 so the car had to be earlier than that. He set the cruise at 65mph and when the car got below 65, the car would pull up to almost 70 mph and then back off. His car may have been a 98 or even a 97 model.
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The FX also includes a laser-based adaptive cruise control system, which would definitely make highway travel more enjoyable. Lexus has already introduced such a system in the LS 430 — when the cruise control is in use, a laser sensor detects a vehicle ahead, gauges its distance and feeds the information to a computer, which then adjusts the vehicle\'s speed and following distance automatically (returning to the set speed when possible).
Wow.
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my cruise control saves me gas because it keeps my speed absolutely constant. And the rpms never jump iradically, unlike my parents 2003 Focus. That sum bitch will downshift at 70 because it got down to 67 and makes a mad dash back to 70. It is constantly switching gears trying to maintan the same speed.