Highway vs City vs other road driving?

[DIPayton 10+ year member]

Okay, so today I had a little argument with my bro. He says I burn way too much gas by not travelling the highway to school everyday and instead taking another road. This is a very country-like place in Canada... no major city near us. I tried to translate the Km/hour to mph (Kilometers - miles)

I agree highway driving is better than most city driving. That is not really relevant to my argument however he feels it is.

My argument was driving a country road to school that is about a 30 mile road (turns and hills and stuff) that has barely any stops in the road and minimal traffic.... To me it's a 1 lane highway where you have to drive slower. The speed limit through there varies between 30mph to 40mph. Not a very fast way.

His alternate route is a route on the highway (around 60+ mph... we all know we speed on highways) and his route was a 33 mile route.

I know it sounds like I am being cheap and everything, and I know it's really hard to explain since you're only getting my side of the story and you'd have to see the roads... but isn't it obvious that I am getting better fuel efficiency? He thinks I am wrong because I am not going faster and getting on a highway... he said if it's not highway driving, it has to be city driving and city driving is worse. I also said I think that driving slower saves more gas than driving fast...

am I wrong? Also, he is witnessing me post this and agrees with the statements being posted here, so it's not entirely one-sided where I want you guys to agree. Just want to help. I travel this way every day. I know I take longer to get to school, but feel I save more.. what do you guys think?

BTW, sorry for the long post.

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Easy way to tell for sure.

See how much gas you use one week going the country roads, another week going the highway.

Compare MPG.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

It will depend on what RPM range your particular car gets its best fuel economy, really. On average traveling 33 miles @ 60mph would generally yield better fuel efficiency than traveling 30 miles @ 30~40mph...but that's a big generalization...it will depend on your specific car, really.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

If you drive a manual, driving 30-40mph could **** depending on where your transmission thinks 2nd and 3rd gear should be //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[DIPayton 10+ year member]

well I drive a Ford Contour... '96, 4 cylinder and standard... what I like about my route is the ease of the route, I just drop it in neutral and roll the whole way to school... it's all downhill to... but uphill home. I dont know, I just get lazy with driving and love to put it in neutral.

BTW, I did test 1 week of driving highway vs 1 week of my normal way and I saved a little bit... but he does not believe that I saved.

 

[PatFitz9 10+ year member]

tell him to take your way then, and see what results he gets. also, why don't you carpool? that would save much more gas...

 

[DIPayton 10+ year member]

problem with carpooling is the school schedule. My classes usually start 7pm and go till 10:30 every night. He takes day time classes. So rush hour is also not a factor for me and it is for him.

But anyways, thanks for the help for the people who have posted. I am still up in the air about this debate. He thinks he won it.... I may be going a new route to school for the rest of the year lol. anybody else want to comment on it?

 

[ToyTundra 10+ year member]

i agree iwth jack--i mean jim about the test. My gut feeling is the highway, but only real world numbers can tell the truth. Don't forget the factor in what you like; Maybe the extra $1.50 in gas is worth it to take the country roads to avoid additional stress/traffic.