Anyone going on a trip over an hour long knows it can be a hassle figuring out how to get the most MPG out of their car... Everything plays a role, tire pressure, wheel alignment, weight, and especially speed.
Howstuffworks has a few tips to help you figure out your best speed!
This is actually a pretty complicated question. What you are asking is what constant speed will give the best mileage. We won't talk about stops and starts. We'll assume you are going on a very long highway trip and want to know what speed will give you the best mileage. We'll start by discussing how much power it takes to push the car down the road.
The power to push a car down the road varies with the speed the car is traveling. The power required follows an equation of the following form:
road load power = av + bv² + cv³
The letter v represents the velocity of the car, and the letters a, b and c represent three different constants:
The a component comes mostly from the rolling resistance of the tires, and friction in the car's components, like drag from the brake pads, or friction in the wheel bearings.
The b component also comes from friction in components, and from the rolling resistance in the tires. But it also comes from the power used by the various pumps in the car.
The c component comes mostly from things that affect aerodynamic drag like the frontal area, drag coefficient and density of the air.
Read more: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-economy/question477.htm
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