ain’t fuelin’

Why Do Gasoline Prices Vary by Location?

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Do you take the time to look for less expensive alternatives to fill up your vehicles fuel tank? I’ve noticed that the service stations in my neck of the woods tend to have consistent pricing levels. Some are always high, some are always low, some ride the middle line, and some are extraordinarily high. I make my fueling choices based on the 1) the quality of the fuel and 2) the price. Brand doesn’t matter, as long as it’s quality fuel.

I had to fill up a test car with premium fuel this afternoon and had a bit of extra time, so I checked the prices at a handful of local stations. I was shocked by the astronomical price difference or “spread” as it’s referred to in the biz. In this video, I compared the prices at four different gas stations in one region.

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NASCAR Gas Mileage Racing

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Fuel management is key to success in NASCAR. Races are won and lost depending on a team’s ability to accurately measure the amount of fuel necessary to cover the distance. At this year’s Pocono 500, I asked Dr. Eric Warren, the director of competition for Richard Childress Racing, for some insight into gas mileage racing in NASCAR.

“Each race is a certain length,” Dr. Warren explained. “Say it’s a 400-mile race. The objective is to get to the finish line and 400 miles quicker than anyone else.” NASCAR cup cars have fuel tanks that hold approximately 18.5 gallons. “Let’s say we can get a hundred miles on a tank of gas depending upon the racetrack, that might be 60 laps or it might be 50 laps on a two-mile track,” Dr. Warren continued. “If that caution comes out with 53 laps to go or 110 miles to go you have to stretch and make sure you start saving fuel because making it to the end of the race is more important than having to make an extra pit stop.”

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Can the Right Footwear Help You Get Better Gas Mileage?

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Just as sure as your car needs to be tuned up, you need to be in tune with your car to optimize fuel economy. Your feet represent one (or two) of the most important touchpoints. Wearing the right footwear (or no footwear at all) can make a measurable difference in efficiency. When the summer rolls around, I often drive my own car barefoot. It’s a habit I picked up while growing up, and it’s never left me. Bare feet are a boon for light-footed driving.

Of course, it’s not always practical to drive barefoot. The mere thought repulses some people (particularly those with foot phobias or the dreaded fungus). The socially acceptable thing to do is to wear something on your feet. But it shouldn’t just be any something …

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Installing a Reusable Air Filter – D-I-Y

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Changing your air filter is one of the easiest Do-It-Yourself (D-I-Y) car maintenance tasks. You can get it done in ten minutes or less.

Your vehicle’s owners manual will specify a replacement interval. It might be fifteen thousand, twenty thousand, or maybe even thirty thousand miles.

If you drive in dusty conditions, it should be changed more frequently.

Most air filters are throwaway items. When they get dirty, they get tossed. The K&N Air Filter is different. K&Ns are high-quality reusable filters. When they get dirty, you clean them and pop them back into the engine bay. K&Ns are designed for improved airflow and to last a vehicle’s lifetime, with the proper maintenance. This can save hundreds of dollars over the lifetime of your vehicle if you keep it for a long time.

Disclaimer: This video was sponsored by K&N. I’ve had K&N filters in other cars in the past and I’ve wanted to pick one up for my Honda S2000 for a while now. When the opportunity to produce this video presented itself, I jumped on it. K&N filters are high-quality products.

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D-I-Y Front Lip on the Cheap

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Adding a front lip was one of the first aero modifications I made to my 1999 Honda Civic HX Coupe (a.k.a. SLAMBO). I used heavy duty agricultural plastic to get the job done, cutting down a sheet of bamboo root barrier. Bamboo root barrier comes in a variety of widths and weights. The lighter the weight, the easier it is to make the bends. You won’t find it locally, though, and it tends to be expensive. Most folks use lawn edging like this Five-inch wide Master Mark Plastic Landscape Edging. I’m not sure if this stuff is too heavy to make tight bends, but it looks similar to the material that Mighty Car Mods used in their recent D-I-Y Lip episode.

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