Cruising Down the Hill
With gas prices hovering around $4.60 for regular in Los Angeles, I started driving a little more conservatively. Not accelerating or braking hard, grouping my errands into one trip, walking more, etc. And there’s something that I started doing on the 405 that I’ve noticed more and more people doing also. It usually only happens at night and/or when there is light to medium traffic.
Sometimes I’ll kick it into Neutral and coast down the hill of the 405 on the Sepulveda Pass. Doing it on both sides work, but on the northbound lanes, the grade is too steep and you’ll wind up using more brakes, which is more expensive to replace than the savings you’ll get coasting.
But on the southbound lanes, where it stretches for a good 4 miles, I’ve been able to start at 75 at the top of the pass and coast all the way down to Sunset Ave… where I’m still going 60. Apparently there are a lot of other people doing this too. Next time you’re driving to the Westside (and its not backed up), take a look at the two right lanes and you’ll probably notice a bunch of cars going 55-60 while cars in the three left lanes are going 70-75+
