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Posts Tagged ‘improve fuel economy’

As fuel is getting more expensive every day those of you with a long commute or plenty of driving miles can feel the burden of increasing gas expenses.

Luckily there is easy ways to lower your gas bill and I’ll list seven that are easy to do and does not require you to invest money in a new car or snake oil add-on kits. I’ll show you seven ways that are readily available and easy to do.

1. MAINTAIN PROPER TIRE PRESSURE

Driving with tires not properly inflated increases the rolling resistance of your tires and spoils your fuel economy. It also can make a tire overheat and blow.

Inflate the tires to the max pressure mentioned in your cars manuals, and periodically check the pressure using a reliable pressure gauge.

Many hypermilers inflate their tires more than that, to the maximum pressure printed on the sidewalls of the tires themselves. This can be as much as 50 percent more than the vehicle manufacturers recommended pressure and results in additional gas savings due to a reduced rolling resistance.

The downside is a harder and less comfortable ride. I can’t however recommend you to do this, even if it IS safe, as there is a risk of uneven tire wear in some conditions.

2. GET RID OF ROOF RACKS, TRAILERS AND SKI BOXES

If you thought it’s too much of a hassle to remove the roof rack or ski box when it’s not needed, think again! The same goes for driving with an empty trailer or a pick up truck with no flatbed cover.

Anything attached or tied to the outside of the car disturbs the aerodynamics resulting in reduced fuel economy. Always remove roof racks, bicycle holders, ski boxes and trailers when not needed.

3. SHUT OFF THE AIR CONDITION

Even if some argue that the air conditioning unit does not affect fuel mileage, it actually uses lots of energy. That energy is taken directly from your tank and from your fuel mileage. If possible, turn it off completely. If that’s uncomfortable set it to a higher temperature as that will use less fuel.

TIPS: Park the car in the shadow, have the doors open for a minute before leaving, drive at night if going for a longer trip in hot weather.

Just remember, driving at high speed with the windows open is even worse for the fuel economy than using the A/C.

4. BECOME A BETTER DRIVER

The way you drive is one of the biggest factors affecting your gas mileage. Keep your top speed below 60MPH or 100KM/H, avoid breaking by letting the car roll to a stop when you’re not in the way for other traffic and do not push the pedal to the metal when accelerating.

5. WALK

Most of the time if you’re not going a long distance, walking or biking is a good alternative, and it’s a lot more economic than driving. You’ll not only save fuel but also the wear and tear on the car that can cost as much as the fuel itself.

6. FIX ALL FUEL LEAKS

Obviously if you have a fuel leak you will spill your hard earned gas on the ground costing you money and polluting the environment. Plug all fuel leaks immediately.

TIP: If your gas cap is missing or broken and you live in a hot environment, especially if you park in the sun and the car gets really hot, a lot of gas will evaporate and escape through the missing or broken cap into the air. The loss can be sizable and the fuel vapors harms the envirnment.

7. CAR POOL

Sharing a car on your daily commute can be a fair amount of hassle compared to going alone but you’ll save more gas and money than any of the other tips except for actually walking or biking.

Just adding another person to your car for the commute will save you half your monthly expences.

ADDITIONAL GAS SAVING IDEAS

The above tips are some of the easiest, most widely available, low cost ways to save lots of gas. And that’s my no gadgets required bag of tricks.

There’s many more ways you can save gas. You can get a more fuel efficient vehicle (hybrid, diesel, smaller vehicle), improve your driving style, make adjustments to your cars aerodynamics, use eco tires, plan your trip, plan for extreme weather and much more that this article is too short to cover

There’s also ways you could end up NOT saving gas, like if you install on of those fuel saving gadgets advertisied everywhere. They usually cost a lot but give barely measurable improvements in MPG.

To keep track of your actual gas mileage you can use a handy online gas calculator

Saving money on fuel prices and really getting into how to save on gas mileage is a rising interest for all of us with the high cost of petrol for both our residence and our automobiles. While we are not able to modify the prices at the gas pump, we are able to adjust our driving habits to get the most mileage out of our currency. Planning all your journeys in advance and becoming an expert on how to save on gas mileagecan avoid unnecessary places of rest or backtracking, which can waste gas and time. Plan every location you need to halt before departing from your residence so you can make the travel as efficiently as possible. Often taking back roads will conserve petrol because you’re not going to be getting stuck in traffic lights. If you have a global positioning system, examine using it as it works great towards saving money on fuel prices because it will inform you of the shortest and adept route.

Continuing to deal with how to save on fuel and remembering that standstills and hills will affect your fuel mileage so if you don’t have to, don’t. If you’re forced to drive in areas with traffic jams, drive accordingly. If you slow down a great deal, you’ll be able to refrain from stopping completely. The type of car that is used it also important and the attention given to used cars for sale is important. Now, the little total you’ll have to speed up later won’t use near the total of petrol that coming to a complete halt and restarting will use. While you're driving, try to maintain as consistent of a speed as possible. Try to use your cruise control facilities all of the time. Speeding up quickly and hard braking is very hard on petrol mileage. If at all possible, avoid idling. Idling will give you 0 miles per gallon so don't do it. If you’re stopping at a restaurant, you will be saving money on gas prices by turning your car off and going into the restaurant as opposed to idling in the drive through. You can also avoid idling by observing the traffic lights ahead of you so you’ll be able to drive through them instead of stopping and starting. You’ll waste more gas by speeding up just to have to stop when you get there. When you’re forced to halt, speed up slowly when you start again of course the information that you get on buy used car online will help determine the fuel efficiency of your vehicle.

You should always make sure that you get the best car control and information that you can and – as miserable as the hot weather can be when you’re driving, avoid using the cooling system except when you’re on the highway. If you’re driving at slow speeds, keep your window open. Although many believe this will increase drag and lower your petrol economy, using your AC at low speeds uses morepetrol. Park in the shade if at all possible. Believe it or not, fuel will actually evaporate out of the tank at a much quicker rate when you’re parked directly in the sun, regardless of the season. In addition, parking in the shade will keep your automobile cooler so you won’t need the AC so quickly, another great tip for saving money on gas prices based on the information on used cars which may lead you to consider which relates to used cars sales which relates to how to save on gas mileage.