Weight gain means lower gas mileage
#1
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Thread Starter
Weight gain means lower gas mileage
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
Wed Oct 25, 9:19 PM ET
CHICAGO - Want to spend less at the pump? Lose some weight. That's the implication of a new study that says Americans are burning nearly 1 billion more gallons of gasoline each year than they did in 1960 because of their expanding waistlines. Simply put, more weight in the car means lower gas mileage.
Using recent gas prices of $2.20 a gallon, that translates to about $2.2 billion more spent on gas each year.
"The bottom line is that our hunger for food and our hunger for oil are not independent. There is a relationship between the two," said University of Illinois researcher Sheldon Jacobson, a study co-author.
"If a person reduces the weight in their car, either by removing excess baggage, carrying around less weight in their trunk, or yes, even losing weight, they will indeed see a drop in their fuel consumption."
The lost mileage is pretty small for any single driver. Jacobson said the typical driver — someone who records less than 12,000 miles annually — would use roughly 18 fewer gallons of gas over the course of a year by losing 100 pounds. At $2.20 per gallon, that would be a savings of almost $40.
Outside experts said that even if the calculations aren't exact, the study makes sense.
"If you put more weight into your car, you're going to get fewer miles per gallon," Emory University health care analyst Kenneth Thorpe said Wednesday.
The same effect has been seen in airplanes. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that heavy fliers have contributed to higher fuel costs for airlines.
The obesity rate among U.S. adults doubled from 1987 to 2003, from about 15 percent to more than 30 percent. Also, the average weight for American men was 191 pounds in 2002 and 164 pounds for women, about 25 pounds heavier than in 1960, government figures show.
The study's conclusions are based on those weight figures and Americans' 2003 driving habits, involving roughly 223 million cars and light trucks nationwide.
It will appear in the October-December issue of The Engineering Economist, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society of Engineering Education and the Institute of Industrial Engineers.
Jacobson, an industrial engineer, conducted the research with Laura McLay, a doctoral student in his Champaign-Urbana lab who now works at Virginia Commonwealth University.
They estimated that more than 39 million gallons of fuel are used each year for every additional pound of passenger weight.
The amount of extra fuel consumption blamed on weight gain since 1960 — 938 million gallons — would fill almost 2 million cars with gas for an entire year. However, that is only 0.7 percent of the total amount of fuel consumed by U.S. passenger vehicles each year, Jacobson said.
The estimates "are probably pretty reliable," said Larry Chavis, an economist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "I don't know if it's going to encourage anybody to go out and lose weight to save gasoline, but even for individual families, it could have an effect on their budget."
Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, former CDC director and chairman of an Institute of Medicine report on obesity, said the findings are almost beside the point.
"The wrong fuel is being focused on," said Koplan, now at Emory University. "If you're heavier, the most important fuel you use more of is food."
Eating less, driving less and choosing more active means of transportation would reduce gas consumption, and also help reverse rising obesity rates, he said.
Wed Oct 25, 9:19 PM ET
CHICAGO - Want to spend less at the pump? Lose some weight. That's the implication of a new study that says Americans are burning nearly 1 billion more gallons of gasoline each year than they did in 1960 because of their expanding waistlines. Simply put, more weight in the car means lower gas mileage.
Using recent gas prices of $2.20 a gallon, that translates to about $2.2 billion more spent on gas each year.
"The bottom line is that our hunger for food and our hunger for oil are not independent. There is a relationship between the two," said University of Illinois researcher Sheldon Jacobson, a study co-author.
"If a person reduces the weight in their car, either by removing excess baggage, carrying around less weight in their trunk, or yes, even losing weight, they will indeed see a drop in their fuel consumption."
The lost mileage is pretty small for any single driver. Jacobson said the typical driver — someone who records less than 12,000 miles annually — would use roughly 18 fewer gallons of gas over the course of a year by losing 100 pounds. At $2.20 per gallon, that would be a savings of almost $40.
Outside experts said that even if the calculations aren't exact, the study makes sense.
"If you put more weight into your car, you're going to get fewer miles per gallon," Emory University health care analyst Kenneth Thorpe said Wednesday.
The same effect has been seen in airplanes. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that heavy fliers have contributed to higher fuel costs for airlines.
The obesity rate among U.S. adults doubled from 1987 to 2003, from about 15 percent to more than 30 percent. Also, the average weight for American men was 191 pounds in 2002 and 164 pounds for women, about 25 pounds heavier than in 1960, government figures show.
The study's conclusions are based on those weight figures and Americans' 2003 driving habits, involving roughly 223 million cars and light trucks nationwide.
It will appear in the October-December issue of The Engineering Economist, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society of Engineering Education and the Institute of Industrial Engineers.
Jacobson, an industrial engineer, conducted the research with Laura McLay, a doctoral student in his Champaign-Urbana lab who now works at Virginia Commonwealth University.
They estimated that more than 39 million gallons of fuel are used each year for every additional pound of passenger weight.
The amount of extra fuel consumption blamed on weight gain since 1960 — 938 million gallons — would fill almost 2 million cars with gas for an entire year. However, that is only 0.7 percent of the total amount of fuel consumed by U.S. passenger vehicles each year, Jacobson said.
The estimates "are probably pretty reliable," said Larry Chavis, an economist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "I don't know if it's going to encourage anybody to go out and lose weight to save gasoline, but even for individual families, it could have an effect on their budget."
Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, former CDC director and chairman of an Institute of Medicine report on obesity, said the findings are almost beside the point.
"The wrong fuel is being focused on," said Koplan, now at Emory University. "If you're heavier, the most important fuel you use more of is food."
Eating less, driving less and choosing more active means of transportation would reduce gas consumption, and also help reverse rising obesity rates, he said.
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#4
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Walter Rohl (an illegitimate uncle) was *****ing to Porsche how the 911 is just a damn pig and they need to keep the #)$()# weight down.
#6
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We must give kudos to the vette team, the car has more power than ever, only 3000lbs.
The freaking 911 turbo is 3500 lbs. The M6 is 3800 lbs. The RS4 is 3900 lbs.
Ridiculous. Hell the new 335 convertible is 3900 lbs
A LS 430 weighs 3900lbs
A XJ 9 weighs and incredible 3700lbs base!
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#8
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
More and more cars have leather instead of cloth, and leather's heavier.
Cars have 4, 6, 8 or more airbags.
High end cars that don't have runflats have full-size spares which are heavy.
My car (SUV) has a roof rack that I don't need, running boards I don't use.
More and more cars have power seats which are HEAVY.
Car brakes have improved in recent years from drums to big discs and calipers which are heavy.
WHEELS have gotten bigger and they're HEAVY.
Side impact beams, other braces, sound deadening materials, all add weight.
Bottom line: if you want a lighter car, you're gonna have to give up some of the above stuff. It's not like the car makers want to make their vehicles heavy.
Cars have 4, 6, 8 or more airbags.
High end cars that don't have runflats have full-size spares which are heavy.
My car (SUV) has a roof rack that I don't need, running boards I don't use.
More and more cars have power seats which are HEAVY.
Car brakes have improved in recent years from drums to big discs and calipers which are heavy.
WHEELS have gotten bigger and they're HEAVY.
Side impact beams, other braces, sound deadening materials, all add weight.
Bottom line: if you want a lighter car, you're gonna have to give up some of the above stuff. It's not like the car makers want to make their vehicles heavy.
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
More and more cars have leather instead of cloth, and leather's heavier.
Cars have 4, 6, 8 or more airbags.
High end cars that don't have runflats have full-size spares which are heavy.
My car (SUV) has a roof rack that I don't need, running boards I don't use.
More and more cars have power seats which are HEAVY.
Car brakes have improved in recent years from drums to big discs and calipers which are heavy.
WHEELS have gotten bigger and they're HEAVY.
Side impact beams, other braces, sound deadening materials, all add weight.
Bottom line: if you want a lighter car, you're gonna have to give up some of the above stuff. It's not like the car makers want to make their vehicles heavy.
Cars have 4, 6, 8 or more airbags.
High end cars that don't have runflats have full-size spares which are heavy.
My car (SUV) has a roof rack that I don't need, running boards I don't use.
More and more cars have power seats which are HEAVY.
Car brakes have improved in recent years from drums to big discs and calipers which are heavy.
WHEELS have gotten bigger and they're HEAVY.
Side impact beams, other braces, sound deadening materials, all add weight.
Bottom line: if you want a lighter car, you're gonna have to give up some of the above stuff. It's not like the car makers want to make their vehicles heavy.
#10
#11
Lexus Fanatic
Bit and 1SICK have pretty much hit it on the head with weight in general, but the issue is actually more complex that that. Other factors such as aerodynamics, engine HP and efficiency, and gearing come into play. You can have a heavy car that will get relatively good mileage if you don't insist on drag-race acceleration or have to drive in a lot of hilly terrain that strains the engine.......just use a smaller engine with taller final-drive gearing. Though I'm not a fan of teardrop-shaped styling, slick aerodynamics also mean less gas.
You guys have already covered the issue of weight vs. government rules for standard equipment and customer demands for more devices pretty well, but some weight also comes from today's stiffer unibodies and cross-member frames. This has been one of the penalties for getting the rattles and squeaks out of today's cars.....heavier metal in the frames. Vehicles CAN be made lighter, of course, while adding more equipment, but this usually involves using more expensive metals or other materials in the frames and body pieces.....aluminum, titanium, magnesium, carbon-fiber, advanced thermplastics, etc...... which cost a lot more than regular sheet steel. So then you end up with a situation where you same money at the gas pumps and maybe have a slightyly better-performing car, but you more than likely are going to pay more for it brand-new...the auto companies will have to raise prices on these cars to keep from losing money. Look at the cars that are built this way NOW....the all-aluminum Jaguars, Audi A8, Acura NSX, and carbon-fiber Lambos, Ferraris, etc... these cars don't sell for chump change.
You guys have already covered the issue of weight vs. government rules for standard equipment and customer demands for more devices pretty well, but some weight also comes from today's stiffer unibodies and cross-member frames. This has been one of the penalties for getting the rattles and squeaks out of today's cars.....heavier metal in the frames. Vehicles CAN be made lighter, of course, while adding more equipment, but this usually involves using more expensive metals or other materials in the frames and body pieces.....aluminum, titanium, magnesium, carbon-fiber, advanced thermplastics, etc...... which cost a lot more than regular sheet steel. So then you end up with a situation where you same money at the gas pumps and maybe have a slightyly better-performing car, but you more than likely are going to pay more for it brand-new...the auto companies will have to raise prices on these cars to keep from losing money. Look at the cars that are built this way NOW....the all-aluminum Jaguars, Audi A8, Acura NSX, and carbon-fiber Lambos, Ferraris, etc... these cars don't sell for chump change.
#12
Lexus Fanatic
One of the worst-offending vehicles in this regard is the VW Vanagon...particularly the old rear-engine air-cooled models. It was terrible in any kind of crosswind or turbulence....the high, slab-sides, high center of gravity, firm suspension, rear weight-bias, and shoe-box aerodynamics gave it the stability of a drunken sailor on a rowboat....not to mention that many of the people driving them years ago, at least in the American market, were hippies smoking pot and stoned half of the time anyway.
Last edited by mmarshall; 10-27-06 at 06:12 AM.
#13
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (1)
people want all of these things above and the tradeoff is weight, theres no way around it, if Lexus took all that stuff off lets say an IS to save weight, who on earth would buy it with a severe lack of standard options, but its lighter! Personally I wouldnt trade off a couple mpg for less airbags
#14
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
True but as 4TehNguyen said, people won't buy a lot of vehicles without them.
If you want the lighter weight version, the 911 GT3 is 3075 pounds according to their site.
Nothing wrong with a 4000 luxury car but sports cars are just getting too heavy