The Easiest Way to Save Money on Gas
The past few years have been an uncertain time for gas prices. Always fluctuating, many drivers live in fear of what their next fill-up might cost. One response to the high cost has been an increase in fuel efficient cars. The problem is, that’s still a pretty narrow sector of vehicles.
When you’re looking for a great, reliable, and preferably visually appealing car, fuel efficiency often gets thrown to the wayside. Luckily, there are a number of things a driver can do to improve their mileage. While individually they may not make a huge difference, when combined, these tips can save some serious cash.
1. Tire Inflation
This is something a lot of people overlook, figuring the mechanic will take care of it next time they’re in the shop. It’s a shame because not only can tire inflation seriously affect your gas mileage, it has quite an impact on your car as a whole.
Poorly inflated tires will wear our faster and can affect your vehicle’s suspension.
2. Tire Alignment
Unlike inflation, this isn’t something you’re going to be able to do by yourself. Thankfully, it doesn’t need to be done very often. By getting your tires aligned, you not only improve mileage and tire life, but you’ll be enjoying a much smoother driving experience.
If you don’t know the last time you had your tires aligned, or something feels a bit off when driving straight, take a visit to the shop.
3. Use the Cruise
Generally, people seem to think cruise control is only for long trips. This simply isn’t the case. While you can’t exactly use the cruise in downtown areas, any open stretch of highway is the perfect opportunity to set. It’s common knowledge that cruise control saves gas. It’s up to you to use this knowledge.
4. Lighten Your Load
Got too much junk in your car’s trunk? Get rid of it. Not only will removing excess stuff from your car make it cleaner and more accessible, but removing extra weight can improve your gas mileage. Basically, if you don’t need it in your car, don’t keep it in your car, especially if it’s heavy.
5. Change Your Oil
This is one you shouldn’t even have to worry about because you should already be changing your oil regularly. If you aren’t getting regular oil changes, you’re hurting more than your gas mileage.
6. Avoid the Need for Speed
Depending where you live, it might be common practice to drive aggressively. Excessive speeding, sharp breaking, quick accelerations, narrow turns, all of these can destroy your gas mileage (and take quite the toll on virtually every part of your).
One major cause of overly aggressive driving is constantly running late. Best way to fix this? Get ready earlier. Give yourself more time to get places. It will make life less hectic and it will be a lot easier on your car.
A Few More Tips
-Avoid idling as much as possible. Leaving your car running for more than a minute is just wasting gas. If you don’t need your car on, don’t turn it on.
-Turn off the air conditioner in town and roll down the windows. Your air conditioner affects gas mileage. If, however, you’re going over 50, feel free to roll the windows up and turn on that A/C. At those speeds, having the windows down brings down fuel efficiency.
-Change your air filter. It keeps your engine clean and healthy, and it improves those precious MPGs.
Let’s be honest, none of these tips are asking a lot of you. They’re all actually quite simple and harmless to your regular driving experience. BUT, what they do for your car and gas mileage is HUGE. So, if you want to save a little cash at the pump, follow our advice. You won’t regret it.
