Why does braking gradually and accelerating slowly give a car better gas mileage?

Question

Does this advice apply to all cars?

In: 156

Answer 1

It’s all about avoiding unnecessary acceleration. Taking your foot off the gas without braking means you don’t waste gas on unnecessary acceleration. Accelerating into a stop just wastes gas.

Similarly, accelerating gently means you don’t waste gas on unnecessary acceleration, or indeed waste gas without any appreciable increase in acceleration. Accelerating gently means inertia works with you, and it ensures that your engine works efficiently.