The price of gasoline has been rising almost daily and there doesn’t seem to be any relief in the near future. Many remedies to the rising cost of driving your car are expected to take years to actually have any effect on the price you pay at the pump.
You might not be able to save money when you fill your tank up, but you can do things to prolong the time between needed fill-ups. Just making some simple changes in the way you drive can help you get more miles per gallon.
Most of a vehicle’s gas consumption is used during acceleration. Quickly accelerating the gas when pulling out from a red light will use more gas than pulling out slowly. Follow the same rule when stopping, if you know ahead of time that you’ll need to stop, slow down and then stop.
Avoid using your air conditioner if you are inside a city or town, and only use it on the open road. It’s estimated that using the air conditioner increases fuel use of around 20%. The air conditioner will put more strain on the motor and consume more gas in stop and go situations. But, having your windows down at higher speeds on the highway creates resistance and causes your motor to work harder to.
If your car is equipped with cruise control, use in whenever you can. Keeping your motor running at a steady speed instead of speeding up and slowing down, will conserve gasoline.
According to a report from CNN Money, a reduction of 10Mph and hour can save you lots of gas. Driving at 70Mph is comparative to paying around 54 more cents for each gallon that you buy.
Regularly check the air in your tires and keep them inflated to the proper level. Low tires will make your car’s motor work harder to maintain speed, for every 2 PSI that your tires low gas consumption increases by 1%.
If you have to stop and know that you’ll be stopped for more than a minute, turn the motor off. Starting your car consumes about the same amount of gas as idling for one minute uses. If you know you’re going to be sitting for several minutes, turn the car off.
Keep your car cleaned out, a clean car uses less fuel. No, the dust and highway dirt don’t cause your car to use more gas, but the extra weight of things that you don’t need in your trunk will. Compare it to a wagon that’s easier to pull with a lighter load. Actually, even keeping your car full of gas will cause it to use more. Just as the weight of extra items in the trunk contributes to drag on the motor the extra weight of gas will to.
Although, revving the engine might sound good, it’s a big waste of extra fuel. Your car takes a big gulp of gas every time you accelerate the engine quickly.
We all know that regular maintenance routines are good for your cars engine, but it’s also good for fuel economy. A vehicle with clean air filters and spark plugs will not need as much gas to run. Low fluid levels can also strain the motor more and increase fuel usage.
If you’d like to know where the cheapest gas in your area is, you can check at GasBuddy.com. Just enter your zip code and it will show you the list of all the gas stations it has and the price per gallon.
While none of these suggestions can save you a lot gas by their self, using a combination of these tips will. And, with the prices of gas not expected to decrease any time soon, saving on gas is our only option.
