Fuel Efficiency and the Yaris

[BailOut]

With today's rising gasoline prices and the growing awareness of the ecological, geopolitical and finite resource issues that come with an oil-based economy, most people are at some stage of awareness regarding a need for higher fuel efficiency. However, most folks do not have a good idea of where to start, or a solid way to sift real information from a sea of greenwashing, snake oils and disinformation campaigns.

Fuel efficiency (hereafter abbreviated as FE) has just as much to do with the way you drive your car as it does with the kind of car you drive. Fortunately, by design the Yaris can achieve high miles per gallon (MPG), so for the most part any change you make to your driving style will make a noticeable impact. Combining these techniques with things that directly affect your car's performance can yield wholly worthwhile results.

As with most things in the transportation world, when it comes to FE there are easy things to do, some things that are not so easy to do, and then some things that are harder to do. We will take a look at all 3 levels of FE efforts before we are done.

Please be aware that these posts will be a work in progress for some time to come and may change without notice. If you re-use any of the information here please link back to this thread (CCL).

Let's start with the “low hanging fruit”, or the easiest things you can do to make a difference, then move on to the higher levels.