Well, it's now official...

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by Wes Tausend

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The worst part of all this? With these new high performance habits, I found out I can get 14 mpg with my thirsty Ford Excursion instead of only 12 mpg. I'm desperately trying to reach 15....

You remind me that buying the highest MPG car is not always the best way to save fuel and money. Consider this hypothetical example. A husband and wife each drive 12,000 miles per year, he in his 8 MPG Cobra and she in her 30 MPG Honda. Together they use 1,500 + 400 = 1,900 gallons of fuel per year. She wants to trade in her Honda for a 50 MPG Prius which would reduce their combined annual fuel usage to 1,500 + 240 = 1,740 gallons. He counters that he will stop warming up his engine before driving off, short shift when possible, reduce the number of times he burns out to impress his buddies and coast into the driveway with the engine shut off to improve his MPG to 10. With her in the old Honda and he with his improved driving technique their combined annual fuel usage would be 1,200 + 400 = 1,600 gallons. So adding a few MPG to a big time fuel user is more environmentally friendly and cost effective than jumping from a moderately fuel efficient vehicle to one that is very fuel efficient.