Techniques to minimize fall 2005 gas cost

[Pat]

As many RVers prepare to rotate once again from summer homes to winter homes, people are probably estimating (with horror) how much gasoline is going to cost to relocate. 

I'd be interested to know how high people think prices may get by Oct.1.

What techniques will help to reduce the cost?  Slower speed, of course.  Anything tire pressure adjustment can do to help?  Any other mechanical adjustments or towing techniques that would increase mileage?

I'm commuting from Eugene OR to Phoenix.  Someone said the gasoline here and through Nevada is much more efficient than CA gasoline, where more antipollutants are required.  While I far prefer to drive down I-5, I'm told it would be much cheaper to go through the deserts of Nevada.  Does anyone have a feel for how much extra CA gasoline is required than untreated from other states? 

I think I-5 may be flatter than Nevada and wonder if that's a point in favor of CA. 

--pat

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

Pat

>>I'm told it would be much cheaper to go through the deserts of Nevada. <<


Unless things have changed, prices in Nevada are? pretty close to Ca. prices at least in the Las Vegas area. At that distance assuming 9 mpg at $2.50 gal is $370; at $3.00 a gal it's $445 a difference of only $75....Just knock off 1 or 2 dinners & take any route you wish.<G>


Terry
At Clark Fork, ID

 

[John From Detroit]

Make sure tires are up to pressure, In fact use of Pressure Pro or other tire pressure monitors is highly recommended.

Make sure engine is well maintained, Check oil, coolant, AIR AND FUEL FILTERS and the like, if gas, spark plugs and ignition need to be attended to as well.  Make sure it's in tune, diesel I don't know as much about but the equivlent (tune up) is indicated here as well

Drive gently (Don't jam the pedal to the metal) and slow down

Plan your route carefully

Make sure the vehicle is properly lubricated throughout as well as the engine oil.

Also, if you don't have one get a Flying-J card (www.flyingj.com) and download their map and plaza list, In my somewhat limited expierence their prices are a bit better than many other places I've had to tank up.

Finally www.gasbuddy.com and www.gaspricewatch.com    BOOKMARK THESE PAGES AnD VISIT OFTEN

 

[Pat]

JID:  I had a question on the Pressure Pro topic in Electronics.  How do you keep people from stealing the $50 caps?  Are they locked somehow?  Also, do they work ok on valve extenders, or do they overweight the extenders?  What about valves that are slightly recessed, like my front ones.  Do these caps require a lot of clearance?  They seem heavy.  I wonder how much wear and tear they put on the valves.  I'm very interested in the system.

I've heard CA gasoline is significantly less efficient, which, added to their high prices, makes Nevada an attractive route.  Too bad I Really hate that desert drive.

--pat

 

[Phil]

I'd be interested to know how high people think prices may get by Oct.1.

Pat,

I think diesel fuel will be $4.27 per gallon by October 1.    ???

Phil

 

[Pat]

I'm gasoline.  Diesel seems to be more expensive than gasoline.  I always thought diesel was attractive for being a cheap fuel.

--pat

 

[John From Detroit]

JID:  I had a question on the Pressure Pro topic in Electronics.  How do you keep people from stealing the $50 caps?  Are they locked somehow?  Also, do they work ok on valve extenders, or do they overweight the extenders?  What about valves that are slightly recessed, like my front ones.  Do these caps require a lot of clearance?  They seem heavy.  I wonder how much wear and tear they put on the valves.  I'm very interested in the system.

I've heard CA gasoline is significantly less efficient, which, added to their high prices, makes Nevada an attractive route.  Too bad I Really hate that desert drive.

--pat

Do not know about CA gasoline, haven't been in CA in 51 years and I'm 54 so you can do htemath.

As for the Pressure Pro sensors, I've not had a problem with theft, and they should work anywhere you can use a screw on air chuck, they have to screw on, some valve extenders are designed to be "Self capping" and do not have a threaded outside, won't work on those, others, don't have that problem.

My air compressor is 110vac too, as it happens I have a generator in my towed for reasons that have nothing to do with the compressor, but it sure has come in handy about half a dozen times in the last month  (I think of it as a really, really, really long extension cord)

 

[Bob Buchanan]

I'm commuting from Eugene OR to Phoenix.? Someone said the gasoline here and through Nevada is much more efficient than CA gasoline, where more antipollutants are required.? While I far prefer to drive down I-5, I'm told it would be much cheaper to go through the deserts of Nevada.? Does anyone have a feel for how much extra CA gasoline is required than untreated from other states??

I think I-5 may be flatter than Nevada and wonder if that's a point in favor of CA.?

It's a tough call, Pat. NCal is my home base as a full timer -- so I drive in and out of the stat a lot. I have never really thought that much about a difference in mileage. My overall average remains pretty constant with a gasoline V10 engine.

The additive MTBE increases oxygen, primarily to help older carberated engines run more efficiently -- so altitude can be a factor. Normally, altitude lessens horsepower and adds mileage because more oxygen is added using less gasoline. My understanding is that at a higher altitude, the MTBE mixture already has more oxygen, so less oxygen is added by an injection system so more gas is in the mixture. If that is true, driving I-5 at sea level would be a better choice than I-95 up and down through Tonopah. However, I-5 through the valley between Redding and Bakersfield is surrounded by mountains - so to get over to AZ, you are going to have to climb some pretty good grades. So from an altitude standpoint, I would go whichever route you like from other than mileage considerations.

However, the prices themselves might make one lean toward a none CA route. My experience along I-5 is that they consistently jack the prices up. Same is true on I-80 between Sacto and Reno. I have always found prices better in NV than in CA. The other thing I try to do is buy gas when I can go off the freeway and over a block or two. And I will will also try to find Sams Club, CostCo, and Safeway stations to get lower prices. For example, the Sams Club in Roseville just North of I-80 is currently $2.59/gal. The stations on the freeway are all $2.79-$3.00/gal.

 

[Lou Schneider]

I've noticed about a 10% drop in fuel economy between northern California gas and what I get in Washington state.? However, there are so many different gas formulations you really can't generalize.? ?There are even different formulations for winter and summer - winter gas has more oxygenation components, summer fuel is less volatile to reduce smog from evaporation.

Prices really depend on supply and demand.? Since we haven't added any significant refinery capacity in the last 30 or so years, refineries are running flat out.? In the past, if there was a refinery problem in one part of the country, gas companies would pipe in refined gasoline from elsewhere to meet the shortfall.? Now there are something like 100 different varieties of gas to meet local requirements across the country, so importing fuel refined elsewhere is no longer practical.? ?What this means is any glitch in the supply chain will cause a regional or local spike in gas prices due to tight supplies.

The best thing you can do is check prices just before you leave.? Flying J and other truckstops list their prices on their websites, and they're usually near the lowest prices in their areas.? You can also do a google search on gas prices - there are a couple of sites where volunteers post the lowest current prices in their communities.? But in general, I agree with Bob - places off the freeway can be cheaper than stations at the offramp and large volume stations like Costco and Safeway tend to have the lowest prices in a given area.

 

[rhmahoney]

Calculating the straight route via Klamuth falls, Reno, Vegas, Kingman to Mesa is 1167 miles.
I-5 to I-10 through LA is 1252 miles.
Avoiding LA by going over the Tehachapi pass and on to Needles is 1255 miles.

Surprising to see it only 90 miles shorter to go the diagonal way!

FlyingJ gas price today:
Lodi $2.66
barstow $2.72
winnamucca $2.56
las vegas $2.70
kingman $2.44
phoenix$2.50

Looks like fuel is cheaper the diagonal route except for vegas.

 

[Jim Dick]

But in general, I agree with Bob - places off the freeway can be cheaper than stations at the offramp and large volume stations like Costco and Safeway tend to have the lowest prices in a given area.

Lou,

A prime example of that used to be in Titusville, FL. There were three Texaco stations within 3 miles of each other. The one at the I-95 exit was at least 5 cents higher than the next one towards the Indian River. The third was at least 15 cents lower than the highway exit! Now the middle Texaco is gone, replaced by as drug store.

 

[Pat]

Somebody said gas was $3.39 in Needles CA today. 

I think it was in Tonopah where I was ripped off by a gas station.  I didn't notice that their old pump didn't return to zero when I flipped the lever and started pumping.  I was stuck with an additional $20 in gas charge.  Really really soured me on that Nevada route.  The people in the station insisted there was no problem, and when I got angry, some large male customer started arguing with me.  I went back out to the pump and had to flip the lever twice to get it to return to zero.  And it did pump gas even though it hadn't reset.  Can't tell me I'm the only person to whom that has happened at that place.  I decided it was a lesson learned that there are still places where that kind of thievery happens.

--pat