The price of gas is disgusting. I sometimes think that I spend more money on gas for my car than I do on food in a week. In some states, consumers have witnessed gasoline reach, and pass record price levels. The scary thing is there is no relief in sight but to manage our fuel economy and driving habits to squeeze the most out of each gallon of fuel.
What can we do about it? Well, we aren't left with much of a choice what we can do besides pay the price of gas or start walking. That's why it is so important to watch how we drive and perform regular maintenance on our cars to insure we are getting good fuel economy.
There are a few things we can do to keep our vehicles running in top shape and get the best mileage. Here are just a few tips that should give you a slight increase in miles per gallon individually but used together will really add up.
Warming up engines – Remember when your dad told you to always warm up your car so that all the engine parts are good to go instead of just starting the car and driving off? Well, it turns out dad was wrong on this one. Most mechanics recommend only about half a minute at tops to warm up a car.
Properly inflated tires – Tires that are not inflated to factory specifications causes drag to the rest of the car and in turn leads to poor gas mileage. It also increases wear and tire to the tire. Check with the owner's manual to find out what your vehicles proper Psi should be. You can even get away with over-inflating tires for even better miles per gallon, but check with a mechanic beforehand.
Too much weight – For some of us out there, our cars are our second home. We live out of our cars and therefore keep a second set of everyday basics in our car. All those extra pounds of "stuff" leads to extra weight which hurts your fuel economy. Make it a habit to clean out your car at least once a week of non-essential items.
Good motor oil – The oil used in a car's engine has one sole purpose and that is to reduce friction between all of its many moving parts and less friction means less gas being used. That's why it's important to always use the correct grade motor oil to reduce the risk of overheating and potential engine problems. It doesn't hurt with helping your car's fuel economy either.
Avoid unnecessary short trips – In order to use your car as little as possible, plan out any and all possible trips you'll be making for the day. You'll save gas by using the car for one long trip for the day instead of a lot of short back and forth trips since engines burn more fuel when they are cold and also results in more greenhouse emissions harmful to our environment.
Driving habits – Wild, stop and go driving can burn through a tank of gas faster than anything on this list. Poor driving or driving too fast practices lowers your car's gas mileage by up to a third. Some of the things you need to "steer" clear of is speeding, heavy braking, and rapid acceleration.
Air filters – Did you know that a clean, well-maintained air filter can save you gas by up to 15%? A dirty, worn-out filter lets dirt into the engine impacting the amount of fuel used.
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