The Ottawa Citizen had an article last week about Wayne Gerdes alleged king of Automobile Mileage, that just had me scratching my head. I am all for saving a buck and trying to use as little gasoline as possible (just for the money savings alone, let alone the environmental impact), but this guy is beyond what I view as reasonable on some of his ideas.
Some of his more interesting ideas are:
- Wearing an “ice vest” to keep cool on long trips to save money on not running the Air Conditioning in your car. I will plead guilty that I have turned off the A/C a few times on longer trips (by myself, my family freaks out if I do this when they are in the car), but I open the windows and enjoy the fresh air.
- Coasting with the engine off in many different scenarios? That’s a little crazy in my book given the power steering and power brakes on my car don’t work as well when the POWER is off!
- He does not advocate “drafting” behind 18 wheelers because it might be dangerous, but admits he does it sometimes as well.
I want to save a buck as much as the next guy, but if it compromises my safety or my families, I’ll pay the extra money to ensure that as well.
The original article was from the Chicago Tribune, which did has a much shorter and sensible list of things you can do to try to get better gas mileage (without coasting out of your driveway and only starting your car when you get to the first stop sign you run into).
We don’t advocate that you drive like Wayne Gerdes — and neither does he. Shifting a vehicle into neutral to let it coast with the engine off is prohibited in many states, and it leaves the driver without power-assisted steering and brakes.
But hypermilers routinely follow driving practices that are safe and legal for all of us:
1. Obey speed limits, especially on highways.
2. Minimize braking and idling.
3. Check your oil level; overfilling is bad for fuel efficiency.
4. Accelerate and brake softly and smoothly.
5. Time stoplights, slowing down by letting up on the accelerator if the light is red, so you don’t have to stop.
6. Don’t accelerate toward stoplights and signs.
7. Minimize use of air conditioning.
8. Plan trips for fewer stops and to eliminate unnecessary driving.
— Chicago Tribune
That list is a bit more sensible in my books.
Bank of Canada Keeps Interest Rates the Same
The Overnight rate from the Bank of Canada remains at 4.5% which is a good thing for us who still carry debt. In their statement of yesterday they said:
Near-term prospects for economic growth outside North America appear to be slightly stronger than anticipated in the July Monetary Policy Report Update (MPRU), while near-term economic prospects for the United States are weaker than expected. It now seems likely that the adjustment in the U.S. residential housing sector will be more pronounced and protracted, exacerbated by recent developments in financial markets. On balance, this implies weaker demand for Canadian exports than had been expected at the time of the July MPRU.
Whoo Hoo, another month without higher interest rates, is a good thing. A better thing is not having to worry about this kind of stuff, say by paying off your debts.
