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cost reasoning that drivers who come for gas will
stay to shop for larger-ticket items.
But how do you know where the lowest-priced
gas is? Keeping your eyes open for cheap gas is
inefficient Wouldn't it be better to develop a net
work of price scouts who would work together to
monitor and report prices in your area? Enter
GasBuddy.com.
GasBuddy has only one mission: finding you
the cheapest gas. Their group of 170 websites
maintains the most comprehensive listings of
competitive gas prices available. This network
approach is essential to finding low prices, since a
lower-priced gas station could be right around the
comer from your regular route without your ever
knowing it
And, because gas prices can change dramati
cally over 24 hours, a quick computer lookup
before you buy gas can save you as much as 20
percent
Go to GasBuddy.com and enter your rip code
at the top of the window to get a table of the
lowest gas prices over the past 36 hours. (If your
rip code doesn't work, enter the name of your
city. For some reason, specific rip codes don't .
always work but hey, the service is free!)
If the resulting coverage is larger or smaller
than the area you normally inhat it—as is usually
the case—select areas you want to explore from a
list of local communities in the column on the
left Note that you can limit your search results to
as recent as the past four hours, a handy feature
for days when prices leap or plunge. While you're
at it, monitor stations in a larger area and locate
stations that maintain consistently lower prices.
Take advantage of their value when you can.
At the top-left of the homepage is an invita
tion for you to join in and report prices at sta
tions near you. The greater number of reliable
scouts that feed the system, the better the
resulting data. Farther down the left column is a
table of price fluctuations over the past year, both
local and nationwide, as well as links to related
news and information.
Today, prices in my area span from $1.95 to
$2.19. GasBuddy shows the price, followed by the
location and brand. Then comes a "Find" button
that should present a map of where the station
is—a nice touch while you're traveling—but the
mapper is cantankerous, so don't depend on it
The last two columns tell you when the price was
checked and by whom.
If you're a basic user, tfrat's everything you
need to know. If you live beyond the basics and
sometimes feel a tad eccentric, become a
GasBuddy member. You'll find that GasBuddy has
other benefits, including well-used message
boards. These message boards offer the enthusiast
countless hours of messaging with like-minded
users and a way to read gigabytes of archival
postings. Ah. the good life. (Yeah, mom, I met her
on a gas-price message board, and now we're get
ting married at the local Sunoco!)
Of more general interest, a price-charting page
lets you quickly view price trends over as few as
30-days or up to 3 years. You can team that
Detroit or Washington, DC prices are consistently
lower than prices in San Francisco and Hawaii, but
consistently higher than prices in Houston and
Atlanta.
If you're demoralized by your local prices,
compare your town to Winnipeg or anywhere else
in Canada for some solid comic relief. Canadians
may have free health care, but to get to the hos
pital costs them the equivalent of a steak-'n-lob-
ster dinner.
And let's not discuss gas prices in the rest of
the world. (Okay, gaswatch.org reports thut
Kuwait is at $.20/gal—yeah, 20 tiny pennies—
while Belize discourages drivers at $10/gali).
So ignore Kuwait and remember that yes, U.S.
prices suck, but they could get worse.
And probably wilL
Stephen F. Mansard
Stephen F. Mansard is a Michigan-based peri
patetic writer.
12 Tips
Better Gas Mileage
For most of us, gas prices are broadening our
use of the word "obscene," but there's nothing we
can do about them, right?
Wrong. There are 12 easy ways to foil a petrol-
billionaire's purchase of another small nation.
1. Drive sensibly. Okay jackrabbits, let's start
with you. You're hoping to get home from work 37
seconds quicker than the thousand other drivers
sharing your road, but your feisty acceleration and
power-braking waste gas. You lower your mileage
as much as 33 percent on the highway, not to
mention drenching other drivers in adrenaline.
Smooth out. This can save more than your gas
money: this can save the lives of your babies.
Manufacturers design vehicles to give you the
best mileage between 35 and 60 mph, but drastic
speedin'-n'-brakin' at 45 mph lightens your wallet
faster than does smooth driving at even 70.
2. Observe speed limits. Still, all else equal
mileage decreases rapidly when you slip above 60
mph. Each 5 mph increase is the same as up to a
23 percent tax on your impatience. Slow down
and youll save enough money for yoga lessons
and some New Age CDs.
3. Remove excess weight An extra 100 pounds
in the trunk reduces your mpg by up to 2 percent
so if you're one of Tony Soprano's boys, always
remove your dead bodies as soon as possible.
Every ounce hurts.
4. Avoid excessive idling. Idling gets you
nowhere, but it gets you there fast It also gets
you zero mpg. And larger engines usually waste
even more gas at idle than do smaller engines.
5. Use cruise control Use cruise control where
practical to help maintain a constant speed,
thereby detouring dollars destined for your gas
tank into a family vacation. You deserve the break.
6. Keep your engine tiptop. If your engine is
huffin'-n'-puffin', or has failed an emission test
simply getting it fixed can improve mileage by
as much as 40 percent Just one mis
firing cylinder can mean 25 per
cent of your fuel goes out the
tailpipe. While gas prices hover
around $2/gal $200 spent on a
trusted mechanic can save you
several times that amount over
the first year. Stick to the sug
gested maintenance schedule.
7. Check your air filters.
Replating a filthy filter can imme
diately improve your mileage by
up to 10 percent Since filters
protect your engine, youll also
save on future maintenance
costs. - •
8. Keep tires property
puffy. If your tires are 10
pounds under-irritated, say
good-bye to 4 percent of your already
outrageous fuel bill Property-inflated tires
are also safer and last longer. A good tire-pressure
gauge—one with a dial or digital readout not the
inaccurate pencil-in-a-pocket type—weans you
from the pressure gauge at the gas station, which
is probably inaccurate. For best mileage, use the
highest recommended pressure. While you're at it
think "proper wheel alignment'
9. Use the recommended motor oil If the
manual says to use 10W-30, then that's the only
oil for you. Using 5W-30 or any other weight just
because your buddy says to, can lower mileage by
up to 2 percent Oil that says "Energy Conserving*
on the API label contains friction-reducing addi
tives. Use it
10. Plan and combine trips. Combining errands
into fewer trips saves time and money. Many short
trips can double fuel consumption relative to a
multi-purpose trip. Multitask! With a little plan
ning, you avoid retracing routes and reduce
overall distance. Youll not only save fuel but feel
like you were paying attention back in your high
school math classes.
11. Commuter tips. Join a carpool or a ride-
share program. In a four-person carpool you can
cut monthly fuel costs by 75 percent
The few of us who can adjust our schedules to
avoid rush hours spend fewer minutes in traffic
jams (see tip #4). Since I'm one of the people
stuck in that stop-and-go-slow mire (I'm the guy
using his cell phone—Hi!) Ill be happy to NOT
see you there. Also, consider working horn home
if your employer sanctions it
Where available, public transit is safe and can
be convenient For links to every state, see
www.apta.com.
12. Traveling. How often do you fill your
trunk? If infrequently, then a roof rack can handle
your occasional cargo, meaning that a smaller
car—and lower fuel costs—may fit your needs.
(Parents note: the law does not allow putting your
children in the trunk, or on roof racks; with or
without car seats.) However, roof racks, loaded or
not increase aerodynamic drag and decrease fuel
economy. Consider getting a removable rack, and
place your cargo in the trunk whenever possible.
FREE BONUS TIP: Choose an efficient vehicle.
Thinking about buying a new vehicle? Then think
economy. Your vehicle selection is the most
important fuel-munching decision you can make,
except perhaps, for joining a large carpool or
choosing to win the lottery.
At current prices, the difference between get- „
ting 20 mpg and 30 mpg is about $550 per year.
That adds up to $2200 over four years—before
you even pay off your car! Why not instead use
those dollars to buy a computer, a thousand acres
in Greenland, or shares in a hi-tech company
(whose products I don't understand)?
See www.fueleconomy.gov for a 'Most Fuel-
Efficient Vehicles' feature that can help you
decide.
If that list doesn't meet your purposes, that
website also has a stick vehide-comparison page
that lets you investigate specific vehicles by fuel
cost This is a good time to remember how many
dollars you make in an hour. How much do you
tike your job? How many hours of your fife will
you use up on purchasing a car?
If you've thought it through and you're still
thinking about that Hummer, this may get your
anxiety flowing: compare an SUV to a small can
Lowest-rated 2005 SUV: Mercedes-Benz G55
AMG, at 12 mpg city, 14 mpg highway;
$2722 per year.
Highest-rated 2005 small
car. Honda Insight at 61
mpg city, 66 mpg highway;
$515 per year
Mega-ouch.
Vehicle selection mat
ters. People who buy from
Mercedes probably aren't
obsessing over buying gas
versus buying food, but even
Mercedes buyers may recon
sider their purchase when they
view how badly their vehicle
spews Greenhouse Gas
Emissions (14.6 tons per
year—more than 450 percent
compared to the Honda) or that
the EPA assigns the Mercedes 1
out of 10 on the air pollution
scale (with 0 being the absolute
worst-polluting vehicle and 10
being the least-polluting vehicle).
And by the way, if you've followed the num
bers and decided to implement every tip, you've
noticed that your overall savings add up to well
over 100 percent of your current fuel costs. This
means that gas stations will pay you, every time
you drive past one.
Good motoring.
• Stephen F. Mansard
Writer Stephen F. Mansard may not be based in
Michigan (think, Detroit) much longer if keeps
writing like this.
Animal Control
Last Week’s Scorecard
Athens-Clarke County Animal Control
responded to 62 calls:
3 complaints of animal cruelty
5 bite cases
5 complaints of barking dogs
5 citations for ordinance violations
■ 44 animals impounded
42 dogs
1 cat
I duck
23 dogs placed
II adopted
6 reclaimed
6 turned over to other agencies
ACC Animal Control press release for the week of
May 18 to May 25.
Bumpersticker
Of The Week
Republican Women Make Good Leaders: You're
Following'One Now
Keep those interesting stickers coming in to
Flagpole: edrtor@flagpole.com. Thanks.
Tilt UMI1M WflLI by TOM TOMORROW
JUNE 1, 2005 • FLAGPOLE.COM
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