The Cadillac (Mich.) News has a story about the drop in gasoline prices in the U.S., which most industry experts say will be only temporary.
The story provides this interesting angle about Bill and Barb McCarthy traveling Route 66 in their new Ford Torino. It cost them $6.80 to fill up the tank, which Bill considered to be expensive in those days.
That was 1968.
That eventually leads to this factoid in the article: Adjusted for inflation, gasoline costs less today than it did in 1980. In fact, gas has to rise to well past $3 a gallon to approach 1980 inflation-adjusted levels.
People complain a lot about gasoline prices. But in the scheme of things, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Gasoline has a lower impact on the U.S. economy than it did in previous decades.
Yet it is a big deal for some people, because they made bad lifestyle choices. They are the ones who use fuel-guzzling SUVs as primary transportation, or drive a long distance to and from work. When they do both, then you’re talking about a big hit in the wallet.
But if you live close to work and have a fuel-efficient vehicle, like I do, you shrug off the higher gas prices as inflation.
It appears gas prices haven’t made much of an impact on Route 66 tourism, mostly because the “Cars” movie more than made up for any shortfall.
Also, I keep telling potential tourists that Route 66 is an ideal low-cost vacation. Even if gas prices are high, you’re going to save as much money or more sleeping along the Mother Road’s cheap mom-and-pop motels and eating at the cheap mom-and-pop cafes. Also, driving on Route 66 tends to be at a lower speed, so most vehicles will burn less gas.
The Cadillac News also gives these gas-saving tips:
Equivalent gasoline savings are based on if the price of fuel is $2.31/gallon.
- Drive sensibly: aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. The equivalent is 12 to 75 cents per gallon.
- Observe the speed limit: While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed, gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. For every 5 mph a person drives over 60 mph, it is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon for gas.
- Remove excess weight: avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle. An extra 100 pounds in a vehicle can reduce miles per gallon by up to 2 percent. Taking out 100 extra pounds can save between 2 and 5 cents per gallon.
- Use cruise control: can help maintain a constant speed and save gas.
- Use overdrive gears: car’s engine speed goes down which saves gas and reduces engine wear.
A caveat: I’m not sure whether using cruise control is fuel-efficient in mountainous areas. I’ve had better results driving like a trucker: Go somewhat faster the normal on downhill grades and let gravity to do the work for you, then go somewhat slower than normal on uphill climbs to create less work for the engine.
I’m surprised the Cadillac News also didn’t mention this, but make sure your tires are inflated properly. That can make a 10-20 percent difference in your mileage.
Couple more tips:
1. If you see a red light ahead, begin decelerating well in advance. This maximizes the chances that the light will change to green by the time you get there. It takes less energy to accelerate from a low speed than it does to start again from a complete standstill. And you aren’t losing any time; if the light is already red, you won’t be able to go through the intersection until it changes anyway.
2. During the summer, keep a sunshade in your car, park in the shade if possible, and — where it is safe to do so — crack your windows an inch or two to keep the car cooler. These minor steps will make a huge difference in how hard your a/c has to work, which has a big impact on gas mileage.
3. Don’t fly flags from your antenna or out your windows. It may be small, but a flag can create enough drag to lower your gas mileage by as much as 3 percent. That adds up in a hurry. If you want to express your patriotism, do it with a bumper sticker, magnet, or static cling decal. It will look better for longer (road grime and constant high-velocity winds are not kind to flags, and there’s nothing patriotic about a frayed, filthy American flag) and won’t reduce your gas mileage. Plus the U.S. Flag Code calls for shining a light on the flag at night, and I’ve yet to see a floodlight mounted to the hood of a car to ensure the antenna flag is properly illuminated.
For what it’s worth, I took an “interstate” trip this weekend that might shed some truth to the cruise control question. I took my ’93 Caprice with 235,000 miles on a southeast — midwest loop. I filled up in Indy, took I-74 to Cincinnati where I picked up I-75 to Knoxville, TN where I picked up I-40 to Nashville where I picked up I-24 and filled up 10 miles or so northwest of Nashville. That route was on one tank, consisting of 561.9 miles at 26.2mpg. Both were record performances for the car (I keep track of both stats). Southern Kentucky and eastern Tennessee north of Knoxville has some decent mountain ranges to deal with . I left the cruise control on throughout most of the trip, except in traffic. My speeds were generally 65-70mph for the whole tank. I’ve never done that well on a tank even when driving at lower speeds on a two-lane highway trip, where I tend to use the cruise control less. So from this, I’d gather the CC does help. However, two other issues that might’ve contributed: a fresh change of oil and I ran 93 octane. I don’t know how, but I’m fairly sure the octane had something to do with it. I started using 93 octane gas when I mix gas for my lawn mower. Since doing so, my consumption of mower fuel has decreased by nearly half. On 87 octane, I could get two weekly cuts. With 93, I can get well over 3 weekly cuts. Not sure how the octane affects things, but my Lawnboy sure likes it!
> But if you live close to work and have a fuel-efficient vehicle,
> like I do, you shrug off the higher gas prices as inflation.
Huh? It’s nice you have a “fuel-efficient vehicle” and all, but record profits (i.e. the rape of the U.S.) by oil companies is just inflation? Nope, ain’t buying that Ron. They’re screwing us, pure and simple, but we’re sheep, so we take it.
And yes, gas prices DO make a difference on a trip like 66. It’s all about driving, which means it’s all about gas. I almost didn’t do 66 this year because of the price of gas.
I rented a minivan that got very good gas mileage, but was still smarting at some fill-ups with gas ranging from $2.87 to a low of $2.15. (And we won’t mention CA gas prices, or the “intercoursing” you get from the gas stations around Needles ($3.20?!?) when first entering CA) Route 66 isn’t about straight-through driving like the Interstates (which saves the most on gas), it’s all about stopping places, or doing a “Hey, look at that!!” turn-around, and that burns up gas. Gas prices suck, no doubt, and taking a gas-hog vehicle is a bad idea for a trip like 66 (unless you have an unlimited budget). My trip was 6022 miles, door to door. (I had to make a side trip down to San Diego to visit relatives after we hit Lincoln & Olympic)
I also don’t necessarily agree that Route 66 is a “low-cost vacation”. Yes, it’s lower in cost than say, oh, a week at Disneyworld, or a trip to the south of France, but it ain’t “dirt-cheap”, especially if you’re doing it with a family. I’m sure it’s cheaper with fewer people (or if you’re doing it on a motorcycle), but my biggest daily costs were probably gas, food, then motels. (Well, ok, some days souvenirs tied with motels, but…)
All that said, it’s still WELL worth the expense, at least once, to do 66, end to end. Divide the cost of doing it once by the lifetime of memories you’ll keep with you. You’ll see it’s a no-brainer choice. Route 66 will take your breath away in some places, make you sad in others, make you laugh, but it will touch you, and you will meet people that you want to see again and again.
Even though my trip cost me plenty, I’m planning on doing it again next year.
Pat, the octane thing is a myth. If you car requires higher octane, use what’s called for in the owners manual. Anything more is just throwing away cash.
I still say that Route 66 is a low-cost vacation because lodging and dining costs are much lower than just about any other trip you can vacation. You go anywhere else, you’ll be paying $80 a night minimum for a hotel room and $20 a head for dining.
On Route 66, you’ll find a lot of old mom-and-pop motels that won’t charge more than $50, and few mom-and-pop diners won’t even approach $10 a head. That’s some serious savings.
I wish American people would stop moaning about gas prices , you have the cheapest fuel prices in the world ,, the price of a gallon in britian is about $8 a gallon and diesel is more ,I know that our gallon is a little bit bigger,but not that much, in Switzerland its even more . In america you all still want to drive round in big v8 and v10 engined cars and pickups , that gobble fuel at a huge rate.I have a RV thats 2.8 diesel, that will do 80mph and return 30mph if I drive it at 60 . Lots of our cars are small diesels that will do over 100mph and give economy , look at the winner of the Le Mans 24 hour race… deisel… audi they won because they did nt have to stop for fuel so often… with your low legal speed limits why do you need such big engines? My little Citroen 2,0 turbo diesel will do 100mph on the continant and return 45 mph….. but I think your getting the message bye