FiveCentNickel had an excellent post this morning on improving your gas mileage by slowing down.

It’s one of those “theories” out there that people are always trying to prove themselves, and Nickel did it!

To be honest, I really dont’ have the patience to track it myself, BUT his post DID remind me of my newest challenge.

It’s kind of dumb really, but it’s one of those things that i feel good about *if* I accompish it ;) it doesn’t take much to get me excited – I’m one of those kids that would do anything if it meant getting a lollipop or slurpee afterwards. haha…

But back to my little driving challenge. For whatever reason, the Mrs. one day tried to drive from the entrance of our townhouse complex, all the way to our townhouse without touching the gas pedal once. She accomplished it on her first try, and it intrigued me. So i started doing it too! But after a cple weeks the challenge bored me, so i kept extending the length in road, leading me to my biggest challenge:

Going the last 1 and a 1/2 miles to our place without hitting the gas pedal once!

Now, i’ve got to tell you that it’s quite a feat to accomplish. The first is trying to figure out how fast you’ll need to be going at the start to get to the end. I’ve won this race only ONCE so far, and i started out at 29 mph. I KNOW i could make it more, but there are a ton of other obstacles in the way:

1. There are 2 up hills! Luckily, at the end of the 2nd one there’s a nice down hill which shoots you right into the complex, so as long as you make it up that 2nd hump, you’re smooth sailing!
2. There can’t be any cars around you. That last hill REALLY kills your momentum, and i can tell you from experience that people do NOT enjoy watching your car litterally inching up it! I mean, i’d be pretty pissed about it too. This leads us to the 3rd major obstacle…
3. At times you will look like a P.I.M.P. creeping along @ night. Since there are always cars around you, the only time that really works here is going at night. And usually later in the night too. So, depending on what car you drive, you have to pass houses going 3-5 miles an hour until you read the top of the hill! And in my Caddy? Shoooooooot, i’d be pulled over in a sec. So far so good though! (watch me get pulled over tonight…)

I’m guessing it might be easier for others to try this depending on where you live, but i have to warn you that it does get addicting :) You’ll find yourself trying to make even more challenges and crazy rules wherever you drive! Sometimes i catch myself trying to go a certain length with only 1 brake touch – it’s bad. Whatever you do, just remember to be safe.

As Nickel said, driving slowly and more efficiently will def. save you some money. But make a challenge out of it and do it for the sake of entertainment too! It’s a helluva fun way to spice up the drive home, that’s for sure. Try it, you’ll crack yourself up! ;)

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You can check out my other challenges here.