Bitshift

I'll admit it: I own a Prius. And I'm quite smug about the 50MPG I average on it, particularly when I pull into a gas station and see that the previous customer dropped at least $40 on a fill-up, when I'm only paying $20 and even then only every third week.

However, driving a hybrid -- or, more accurately: driving a car with a full-screen display giving me instant feedback on how my driving is impacting my miles per gallon (MPG) -- has shown me that how you drive matters just as much as, if not more than, what you drive.

Case in point, the enthusiasts over at The Hypermiler Wiki. There, you'll find all sorts of tips, tricks, and techniques to manage over 50 MPG on a non-hybrid, or how to approach 100 MPG on a hybrid, just by altering your driving habits.

Learning to draft, drive without using your brakes, using cruise-control, etc. can make a world of difference in your mileage, and your wallet. Sure, you might lose the luxury of being 2.7 seconds ahead of the guy in front of you, but the macho you lose by not driving like a maniac turns into the moolah you'll be saving every time you pump dead dinos into your ride.