My Blog

Tag: Fuel Efficiency

  • 9 out of 10 Women Hate the Environment

    A recent survey conducted by General Motors said that nine out of ten women would prefer to date a guy that drove the latest fuel-efficient car rather than a high performance sports car. Now I’m not sure where General Motors conducts their surveys, but it obviously isn’t Wilmington, North Carolina. It might not even be the same planet. And come to think of it, isn’t it funny that as soon as General Motors dips their toes into the hybrid market they release a survey stating chicks dig guys that drive fuel efficient cars? That’s like McDonald’s saying nine out of ten vegetarians would prefer to eat McDonald’s hamburgers than contract salmonella.

    WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER?

    In the spirit of scientific experimentation, I decided to hit the street and survey the lovely ladies of Wilmington, NC. I presented them with the option of going out in a fuel efficient Ford Focus or a sporty BMW 135i. A whopping nine out of ten women stated they’d rather eat glass than date me, no matter what I drove, so I decided to conduct the remainder of the survey via email instead.

    After randomly sampling women from all walks of life (that sounds a lot dirtier than it’s supposed to), I found that a resounding 15 out of 20 women would prefer to date a guy that drives a sports car. The remaining five said that they didn’t care one way or the other. In other words, not one woman wanted to date a guy that drove a fuel efficient car! That may sound like shenanigans, but I defy anyone that doesn’t believe me to try getting a date while driving a Ford Focus. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be trading in my 30 mpg station wagon for a Bugatti Veyron. Come get some, ladies.

  • 5 Ways to Drive Further on a Tank of Gas

    It’s no secret that gas prices are gouging you at the pump. Every time I stop to fill up I half expect the attendant to blindside me with a shotgun and ask me to empty my pockets. At this rate we’ll be paying $8.00 a gallon and selling our souls for a gallon of diesel.

    Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but if you’re anything like me you’re tired of paying out the nose for gas and ready to stop the bleeding. So I decided to do some research and talked with our technicians to find out how you can make your car more fuel efficient and save a buck at the pump.

    1. Keep your tires properly inflated
    This one seems pretty obvious but you’d be surprised how many people forget to keep their tires properly inflated. Not only will it give you better gas mileage but it’s safer and your car will handle better.

    2. Change your oil
    The more your oil gets heated and cooled down causes the viscosity to increase meaning the engine is having to work harder. Change your oil to alleviate unnecessary stress on your engine and your wallet.

    3. Tune your car
    Most cars are generically mapped. There are programmers out there that will remap your ECU to more efficient settings. A glorious byproduct of this is an increase in horsepower!

    4. Install an air intake system
    These systems allow for cooler air to be supplied to the engine as well as eliminates the accordian style plastic hoses with smooth metal piping. This makes it easier for the engine to breathe.

    5. Install a cat-back exhaust system
    These eliminate a lot of the unnecessary bends in your factory exhaust system allowing your engine to easily expel spent gas and exhaust pressure. Think about it like this: imagine you’re breathing through a tiny stirring straw and you switch to a McDonald’s milkshake straw. It’s going to be a whole lot easier to breathe, right?