GL: Fuel use revisited

[LRZeitlin at aol.com]

I was called to task for my math on my fuel post yesterday, but I stand by 
it. Someone even complained that my slide rule (what's that?) was cracked.

Here are the figures again in a slightly different context. Cars this time 
instead of boats.

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Using the gallons/100 miles metric. Assume 10,000 mile per year driving.

A car that gets 15   MPG uses 6.67 gallons per 100 miles, or 670 gallons per 
10,000 miles. A car that gets 20 MPG uses 5.0 gallons per 100 miles. or 500 
gallons per 10,000 miles. The difference between the two cars is 170 gallons a 
year.

A car that gets 30 MPG uses 3.33 gallons per 100 miles, or 333 gallons per 
10,000 miles. The difference in fuel consumption between it and a 20 MPG car for 
10,000 miles is 167 gallons a year.

A car that gets 44 MPG uses 2.27 gallons per 100 miles. The difference 
between it and the 30 MPG car over 10,000 miles is 106 gallons a year.

In other words the gas saving by moving from a 15 MPG car to a 20 MPG car, a 
difference of 5 MPG, is much greater than moving from a 30 MPG car to a 44 MPG 
car despite the 14 MPG difference.

Getting a big gas guzzling SUV (Tahoe, Expedition) off the road in favor of a 
smaller car based SUV (Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV 4) will save much more 
fuel than moving from a gas fueled Honda Civic to a hybrid Prius.

Larry Z


**************
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