My response to high gas prices - change of driving habits!

Bingo!, I have an 04 Forester (5pd manual). I used to drive fairly assertively 10-20kph over the limit, get pissed off at LLB's (Left Lane Blockers) and usually arrived home on a Friday (after a 125km commute) red-faced with the Blood pressure up there. In the last 6 months I've started to relax on the road. I drive right at the speed limit, shut off the engine at lights I know are longish (45 seconds or more, but usually 2 minutes), accelerate gently, watch well ahead in traffic. Try to keep moving, even if ever so slowly as I come up to red lights, trying to time the greens (like the Big-Rigs do). Take off roof-racks, bike racks and I empty uneeded stuff out of the vehicle. The result of this is a 30% increase in mileage and I'm more relaxed, I'm not always on someones tail, I'm safer, it's easier on the car, and easier on my fellow motorists and the planet PLUS I get home happier and feeling just a little smug. The wife likes me better this way too.

I also have an '05 Outback wagon with the base engine and manual transmission. Many years ago I trained myself to anticipate and take advantage of long down-sloping roadways by depressing the clutch and just coasting. Some of my local highways have stretches of a MILE or more, where I can travel 55-60 mph at idle speed. Additionally, tire technology in the last 10-15 years has really enhanced low-rolling resistance. Of course you need to be aware of traffic behind you and not become an obstruction. Coupling this technique (which has become so "automatic" that I don't even notice I'm doing it anymore) with a shutdown at long traffic lights has given me a one-year average of

27.3 mpg, with a ratio of 30% highway and 70% suburban driving. I hasten to add that I live in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, where winter cold and snow have a major affect on fuel economy. Automakers will soon be introducing an idle shutoff feature as well, for those who don't bother to do it themselves. My .02 (.05 Canadian).

In BC, this is in violation of the Motor Vehicle Act: Coasting down grade 197 When travelling down grade a driver must not coast with the gears of the vehicle in neutral or the clutch disengaged.

Your local laws may vary.

You may want to look into the mechanical healthiness as well. I'm not sure about Subaru engines, but there are engines and transmissions whose proper lubrication depends on the vehicle being in gear at speed.