One from experience - if you have boosted your tire pressure to eke out a bit more FE, and you take your car to a dealer (perhaps elsewhere as well) for an oil change, remember to ask them NOT to decrease the tire pressure to the "recommended" level. I just picked up my FEH from the dealer, after its first oil change, only to discover that setting the tire pressure (in my case, letting out the extra air I just paid for the other day!) is part of the routine; now I have to go back and pump them up to 40 PSI again.

Thought I'd try to save someone else from the same hassle.

 

That's sound advice. I had been toying with the idea of running my tires on the high-side of the recommended range for improved fuel economy, but haven't done this yet.

But what really struck my eye was your comment:
You PAY for air?!

 

On the other hand, on Cartalk, a woman called in wondering why her gas mileage went down when she needed an oil change, and went back up when she changed the oil. The answer, of course, is that the garage automatically checked her tire pressure when they changed the oil. Her tires were probably pretty low.

"You PAY for air?!" Around here gas stations have coin operated air, 50 or 75 cents, and they usually don't work well. I bought a cheap compressor at Lowes recently. Also, since I have asthma, I would gladly pay for CLEAN AIR. So, I'd like to thank all you hybrid owners for helping me breath!

--Walter

 

Yeah, sometimes I pay for air (most gas stations around here - upstate NY - have those "air machines" that take one or two quarters for a minute or two of compressed air). My co-pilot (my niece, who I've been driving to camp this summer, is the only person I know who is not sick of hearing me talk about my attempts to "hypermile", so she's gained a special place in my heart) just noticed a station today on our ride home (we took a new route) that actually advertises "free air," so I'll try to go there from now on. My husband has a compressor but I don't think the hose is long enough to reach from his shop in the basement out to the car.

So they don't charge for air in Michigan? I don't remember that from my days at MSU, but then again, I don't know if I put air in my tires the entire three years I drove a car out there. ( <-- me in college) Free air used to be common out here on the east coast, but quite a while ago some places started charging for it, and as soon as the others saw that they could get away with it, they followed suit. It's pretty hard to find a gas station that has a free air machine these days, at least from Maryland to New York.

 

I guess I don't pay much attention to the air compressors at the service stations anymore. I still regular see lots of stations with an air-hose for anyone who wants to use it and it's free. I *have* in fact seen stations that charge, but the availability of stations that don't seems to be common enough that I never thought anybody really paid those stations for it.

I do have my own compressor in the garage. I've used some gas station compressors that I _swear_ were taking air OUT of my tires rather than putting it IN, so I just tend to avoid using gas station air anymore.

 

Mark me down under the column for "has their own air compressor." I also got mine at Lowe's. I think it was maybe $100? Maybe $150 at most, but it's been a number of years now so I don't remember for sure. It's a pretty good unit with something like a 3.5 gallon pancake style air tank with the compressor on top of the tank. It takes up very little garage space and is light enough to pick up with one hand and move wherever I want, when I move it around. It even fits in the trunk of my Civic HX and I took it to the racetrack last year so I'd have my own compressor. I also purchased a 25 foot hose and an impact wrench for it, which is handy for doing basic car maintenance. I think they're a very good garage investment and it's small enough to tuck under a workbench or something so you can keep it out of the way.

 

all of the BP amacos around here have free air, not sure if thats nation wide or what.

 

I actually lowered my tyre pressure back down to OEM figures for my last service.
I didn't want it to be noted in case I have a warranty claim concerning steering and suspension, i.e. excess wear in ball joints and wheel bearings that 'could' be influenced by running high tyre pressures in the eyes of Honda.

 

I also bumped my tire pressure up to just under 40 PSI. I also took the roof racks off and changed my oil. I changed my driving style in my first attempt to acheive a hypermiler tank and did it! I got 32 MPG even though I have 40 miles of highway on my 60 mile commute! I'm so happy that I'm gonna try my best to match or better that with the next 4 tanks and get officially on the list.

I change my own oil and use my own compressor for air so I don't have to worry about any shop messin' with my setup.