I used to swear that leaving the engine running while pumping gas saved fuel

Back in 2019 I argued with my buddy Steve for a solid 20 minutes at a Shell station that idling didn't waste gas because the pump was doing the work. He finally showed me the math on his phone - I was burning about 0.15 gallons every 5 minutes just sitting there. Anyone else hold onto a dumb car myth way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.stella1d ago

Spent a whole road trip swearing that turning the AC off and rolling down the windows actually saved gas at highway speeds. Friend finally showed me the drag coefficient numbers and I felt like an idiot for wasting all that hot air.

gray61d agoMost Upvoted

Dude I did the exact same thing for years. I was so convinced that AC was just this gas guzzling monster that I'd sit there sweating on the highway with my arm out the window getting all sunburned. My buddy finally sat me down and showed me a chart from some car forum and I felt like such a moron. Now I just crank the AC on the highway and actually enjoy the drive. But I still roll the windows down around town though, old habits die hard I guess.