"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article , "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

To get the best gas mileage, the rule of thumb is to get OUT of the lower
gears as quickly as possible. To use an extreme example, this is why
"jackrabbit starts" burn more gas - you're in first or second for a longer
period of time than if you started more gradually.

Wrong. The main reason jackrabbit starts burn more gas is that engines use
more fuel at full throttle than at partial throttle.

Ummm.....correct. It's at full throttle (or just a lot more throttle)
because you (stick shift) or the car (automatic) is keeping the thing in a
lower gear. We're both describing aspects of the same function, at the same
moment in time.