Saturday September 6th, 2008
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Eco-Driving Lesson #1
Posted by Su Avasthi on October 10, 2006 - 5:43am.
I'm not a car person. I don't know makes, models or whatever new Porsche is currently has people drooling. To me, a V-8 is nothing more than a vegetable drink.
My attitude means that I tune out all things auto. But I've realized that since I do use a car on a daily basis — and it'll be several years before I get a Prius or something more fuel-efficient than my current 22 miles per gallon car — it's time to become a better eco-driver.
So here's the first installation of lessons I'm learning the hard way. Until now, car maintenance was breeze because I never really thought about it. When the gas tank was empty, I filled it up. When the car got dusty, I got it washed. And until this year, I got an oil change every 3,000 miles, as instructed by the transparent reminder sticker placed in the corner of my windshield.
Amazingly enough, I kind of liked the oil change experience. The guys at my neighborhood oil change place are friendly; they roll under my car, pop open the hood and pull out dipsticks and don't expect me to know anything about anti-freeze and tire pressure.
The real reason I liked to get my oil changed was because of their waiting room. As they worked, I got 15 minutes to make some tea and read Vogue in their waiting room. (Aside from the friendly mechanics, I'm loyal to this particular oil change place because of their excellent selection of teas and fashion magazines.)
Anyway, my frequent visits to the oil change place slowed down considerably after a friend told me that too many oil changes are bad for the environment. I took that advice at face value and, for the past year or so, have ignored the transparent sticker in the window. I've now driven well over 6,000 miles and gone a year without an oil change for the sake of the environment.
It turns out that I was wrong. Instead of helping the environment, I've been polluting it. A little poking around directed me to several green driving tip sites, such as GreenerCars.com and the EPA. They recommend frequent oil changes, though I'm not sure what that means, exactly. The general consensus seems to be to stick to whatever your car manual says. Mine says 5,000 miles, so there's my answer.
Meanwhile, the upshot is that if driving smarter means I get to spend more time reading a fashion magazine, I might just become a car person after all.
im with you -- when its easy, ill gladly do it faster than otherwise.
you can also offset your cars carbon through companies such as Native Energy or Terra Pass and some others -- just one more simple step to being a better citizen of the road and the world.
That 80% of the used oil that comes out of your car, just goes right back into the production process.
Used oil mixed with other agents, is used as a fuel to power large container ships etc.
In many cases it is also re-refined, into motor oil again.
So if you think about it, although I do agree we need to find alternatives, it is being recycled, and well. At least by larger corporations like the ones that change the oil in your car....they make money on both ends :) they sell you new oil, and then turn around and sell your old oil (insider knowledge here, had a small stint working as a mechanic in college)
The real culprit is that gasoline....once you burn it, it's gone.
And yes..you should change your motor oil every 3,000 miles (unless it's of the synthetic variety)...after three months or roughly 3,000 miles the additives that are put in your oil (the stuff that makes it nice and golden) start to break down, they are organic compounds after all ;-)
Once those additives begin breaking down, the efficiency of your motor is reduced and the motor has to work harder and burn more fuel...so keep changing that oil to keep your gas mileage up.
Oh and another useless fact....those MPG ratings we use, they are about 40 years out of date, both in measurement and application....my guess is your car rated at 22 MPG , is reallistically and more accurately getting about 15-17 MPG.