It seems there are always ideas floating around about ways to save gas and improve fuel efficiency. Some of these ideas seem plausible while others appear to be downright ludicrous. Considering the high price of gasoline these days, most consumers are willing to try just about anything in order to get more bang for their buck at the gas pump. Will drafting a big rig really provide you with improved fuel efficiency? What about the idea that fuel suppliers and automakers are in collusion with another in order to keep us dependent on gasoline? Are there devices that you can use that will reduce the amount of fuel that your vehicle consumes? What is truth and what is just myth?
The Big Conspiracy? Do Devices Really Work
There has often been an idea floated around that fuel suppliers and automakers have teamed together in order to keep all of us dependent on gasoline and cars that are inefficient. Is it really the truth or is it just myth?
A number of different devices that have been introduced recently with the premise that it is possible to make your car more fuel efficient have been tested in order to determine the validity of this idea. When tested on both carbureted cars and fuel-injected cars, it was determined that most of these devices are pure hype. Various types of additives as well as devices have been tested, including acetone additives that reportedly make it possible for gasoline to burn more efficiently, fuel line magnets that are meant to align molecules for consumption that is more efficient and hydrogen fuel cell generators. When tested, the EPA discovered that only a small handful of more than 100 devices were able to provide any improvement at all in fuel efficiency and those did not provide more than a 6% improvement in fuel efficiency.
Drafting a Big Rig to Save Fuel?
This theory has been around for quite a long time. Will drafting a big rig really save you gas? After testing on a full-scale basis, it has been determined that drafting a big rig at various distances will provide improvement in fuel consumption. At 100 feet, it provides an 11% improvement. At 10 feet, fuel consumption improved by 39%. That said, it must be emphatically stressed that drafting a big rig is extremely dangerous. When you draft a big rig you are driving directly in the blind spot of the rig driver, meaning that he or she absolutely cannot see you. Even following a big rig at 100 feet is considered to be extremely dangerous.
