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Q: The cost of gasoline didn't bother me nearly as much until I realized that if you have a vehicle that gets 20 mpg, and the cost of gas is $4 a gallon, every five miles you drive is a buck! And that is just the fuel cost. That is a real shock to me and makes me sick to think I am throwing a dollar out the window every five miles.

Tony Yarosky

San Jose

A: There are a couple of ways you can lower that cost -- and the first is to enter Roadshow's contest to win a free tank of gas. Monday is the deadline to guess what the state average for regular gas will be on April 1. The winner gets a free fill-up courtesy of me. Several hundred entries have flowed in, with guesses ranging from under $2 to almost $5 a gallon.

womens summer fashion 2011 trends But there's another way to beat the cost: Slow down. Vehicles lose roughly 1 percent in fuel economy for every mile per hour driven above 55. The state AAA estimates that the average driver covers 15,000 miles a year. At 55 mph in a car that gets 30 mpg at that speed, that person would spend around $1,950 annually for gas at $4 a gallon. At 65 mph, mileage drops to 27 mpg and the cost jumps to more than $2,100 for gas. At 75 mph, you're down to 23 mpg and paying about $2,400.

Another tip: You can gain 4 mpg by keeping your car tuned up and tires inflated.

Q: The big problem I have with the price of gas is how guess handbags outlet fast it goes up and why the same rule doesn't apply when the price goes down. Why does it take twice as long for prices to fall? I tried to call after a recent gas story you wrote, but your voice mail was full. No surprise after that article.

Rich Rathe

Union City

A: Here's one reason. When prices spiral almost out of control like they are now, the local owner who is paying more to get fuel into his underground tanks often sees his profit margin fall dramatically, down to a few cents a gallon, if that. To make up for that drop in revenue, some will slowly lower prices when their costs go down.

Q: Yipes! The price of gas is shocking. But no need to give up Sunday drives. I take one every Sunday unless it's raining, and I'll bet that I am getting better mileage than even your new plug-in hybrid, too! The answer is a bicycle. Potentially hundreds of miles on a few drops of oil and smear grease. Please tell your readers to get out and enjoy the local attractions this spring. You don't have to go far, and even a novice rider can make it a few miles for a coffee or a sandwich at a local deli. It's a whole different perspective and quite fun. You get to know your local area so much better, too, and maybe even meet more neighbors.

Gary Weeks

Los Altos

A: You save on gas, and maybe shed a few pounds as well. Now that's a win-win.

Q: In order to save gas, I used to take the car out of gear and coast downhill when I lived up on Summit Road at the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains. A CHP officer pulled me over and warned me and that was all it took to change that behavior.

Craig