I deliver pizzas as a second job and I've been wondering, to save gas, should I be turning the car on and off at every stop (1-2 minutes) or keep it running?

Any suggestions?

 

Not sure about TX, but in Cali its illegal to leave your car running and unattended. Not that it doesn't get done, but...

 

leave it running is better

 

It's better to turn it off, gas wise, plus you won't have to worry about someone stealing it lol.

 

^^ x2

 

I say keep it running cause it takes more gas to get the engine started and running than if it was just idling.

 

Course, if someone hops in, it will be you doing the "running"!

 

sort of an age old question. If you leave it running you burn gas for nothing. If you shut it down and start it again you use power from the battery which then places a load on the running engine to recharge the battery. I don't think anyone has found the true break even point for when it becomes better to shut it down vs. leave it running. If it were me I would just let it run since gas isn't that expensive and starters are.

 

isnt the more wear and tear on engines done during start-up? leave it running, that is if you are 100% not worried about it getting stolen by some pizza-crazed crackhead.

 

That was only true with carburetted cars. Modern fuel injected cars don't pour fuel into the engine in the process of being shut off. Take, for example, hybrids-- they shut off their engines and restart them constantly. A cold start first thing in the morning is the only time starting a car is really tough on an engine. Restarting an at-temp engine isn't a big deal.

...and before anyone chimes in about wear and tear on the starter, delivering pizza is hard on a car anyway.

I say shut it off.

Cartalk's take on this matter:
http://tinyurl.com/5ayhgf

 

shut it off

 

Demand a fuel surcharge on all deliverys.............

 

we do! we average $15-$20 an hour. just trying to save that extra dollar.

 

Leave it running, but carry an extra keyfob to lock / unlock while it's left running.
I hope this isn't too obvious of an answer?

 

^ Yea. I'd do that.

Damn! I gotta start delivering pizzas... that's modding money right there!

 

That's why the Prius gas engine never shuts off when electric motor is running or when the car stops, right :-)

 

I'm voting for shut it off. It is not hard on an engine to start up that is all ready at operating temp. You'll save a little gas, and theft is less of an issue too.

 

Nobody will get it, sooo...
For the Prius to get its good mpg, it constantly stops and starts its gas engine. At a stoplight, the gas engine stops. When you take off again, it restarts. When the electric motor alone is satisfying the accelerator pedal, the gas engine stops. When the electric motor needs help, or the batteries need charging that regenerative braking can't satisfy, the gas engine starts. The gas engine is constantly stopping and restarting.
It takes no extra gas to start an engine. That was true decades ago with carburetors where you had to press the accelerator as you cranked the starter. And every minute you idle without moving, you are reducing the mpg. So turn the engine off if you have to wait for a train or a traffic tie up.

 

WhoKilledTheJAMS is right. Once the engine is up to temp, it doesn't take a lot of fuel to restart it, especially these little engines. Alternator drag is a non-issue, charging draw is negligible, at best.

 

Basically it seems everybody has been up to date on new cars. It is not wasteful on gas at all anymore with the new fuel management and the way these new cars work.

The constant re-starting on a still cold motor isn't always the best but as long as you're driving around it will be ok.

I like the comments about running-after somebody takes it-seen alot of those over the years when people let it sit and run to warm up so their tushies don't get cold only to come out of their house and find the car gone.