Gas Saving Tips
Here's how to take the bite out of the high price of gasoline:
Modify your driving
habits:
It's a tough pill to swallow but you may be your own gas saving enemy!
- Drive the speed limit! Okay, okay, it's not always possible and in some places even dangerous, but do slow down.
For example:
In town: Blasting though town only wastes gas. Face it: what sense is there to speeding from one stop light to another? You waste gas when you tromp on the pedal and again when you slam on the brakes. Take it easy, slow down and enjoy the scenery.
On the highway: Once you start driving over 65 miles an hour your milage plummets. According to the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) the average car milage drops about 10% between 60 and 65 MPH. From 60 to 70 MPH gas milage dives 30% while only saving you a few seconds in time. That's like paying an extra $.87 for every gallon of gas.
- Stop braking so much. If you know you have to stop,
simply let off the gas
pedal. You'll save on the
extra gas you'd otherwise waste before stopping.
-
Stop stomping on the gas to get started. Sure your car can go to 0-60 in 3.5 seconds (or less), but who needs it? "Burning rubber" wastes gas, wastes tires and doesn't impress anyone. Better to apply even pressure on the pedal and come up to speed a little slower.
- Don't "dog it" either. Some folks take toooo long to get up to speed and that wastes gas too. Save gas by taking the middle road. Nice even acceleration gets you up to speed quickly and efficiently.
- Maintain your car better.
Change your oil regularly? Well, yes and no...
You do NOT need to change your oil every 3,000 miles! The old school of thought was every 3,000 miles - this is no longer necessary. Modern oil formulations allow you to go 10 -12,000 miles or longer. A lot depends on the oil you use and the car you drive. Synthetic oil users seem to be able to get away with longer periods between changes. Most car manufacturers now reccomend changing the oil every 12,000 miles.
Put your car on a diet. If you carry unneeded weight around it's costing you money. An extra 100 pounds can cost you 2% in extra gas or about 8 cents a gallon if gas is at $4.00/gal.
Keep your tires aligned. Malaligned tires not only waste gas, but they wear out your tires faster too.
Make sure your tires are properly inflated too. This can increase your milage as much as 10%. That's enough to warrant keeping a small air compressor in your car.
Surprise! Turn your Air Conditioner ON... or off.Yep, research shows running your air conditioner makes no difference at highway speeds than the drag created by having your windows down. In town, you're better off turning the air off when your car is idling. Speaking of idling...
Don't idle your car for more than a minute. If you have to stop for a train, a ferry or any time for more than one minute, turn your car off. It takes less gas to start your car than it does to let it idle.
-
Put a tonneau cover on your truck. That's the cover that goes over your
truck bed. Truck
beds are notorious for creating drag. And drag is THE enemy of gas
savings. For excellent quality tonneau covers, try Autoanything.com.
They carry a wide selection at bargain prices - right now you can Save
up to 33% on Tonneau Covers!
New! Learn even more
ways to save money on gas with our
"62 Ways To Beat The Gas Pump Monster" ebook!
Click here for more information...