Does cruise control actually save fuel?
Cruise control can save 7–14% fuel on a flat highway. On a hilly road, it can cost you more. Here's when to use it and when to turn it off.
Why your car always needs fuel when you’re running late: An investigation
Why does a car’s petrol gauge seem to conspire against us at the worst possible time? The tank seems to be empty the moment we’re running late for an important meeting or airport pickup. Somehow it feels like the fuel tank dropped from half-full to near-on-empty while we slept. It’s all highly suspicious, so we thought we’d investigate the possible reasons.
Theory #1: Murphy’s Law
Murphy’s Law goes along the lines of ‘anything that can go wrong, will go wrong – and at the worst possible time’. That means that when the stakes are high and you simply can’t be late, of course your car will demand a detour to the servo.
Why does your fuel gauge indicator act inversely to the urgency of the situation? It’s simply the way things go. Is this a fatalist way to look at things? Sure, but it might make you feel a little better as you try to slip into that meeting 20 minutes late without being noticed.
Theory #2: A curse
Could that suddenly-empty fuel tank come down to a curse that befell an ancestor? Perhaps your great-great-great-great-someone forgot to say thank you to a wise woman, and their lineage was cursed for all eternity to have an inefficient horse and cart. Apparently around 40% of the world’s population still believe in witchcraft, so if you ask them it could be a feasible theory.
Or is this more of a message from the universe? A cosmic curse that follows you from car to car, dooming you to a lifetime of last-minute refuels and red-faced apologies. Sure – there could be more devastating hexes, but it’s just annoying enough to be believable.
