If you’re like most Americans, prices at the pump continue to put a damper on your road trips and everyday travel. With no apparent light at the end of the tunnel to the ever-rising gas prices, it’s important to learn how to save money on gas. Being aware of your driving habits and how they’re affecting your gas mileage is a big step. To help you conserve fuel even further, we’ve come up with a countdown of money saving tips to increase your fuel efficiency and decrease the amount of funds funneled towards fuel.
5. Planning and Carpooling – Plan ahead when you have errands and make one trip, instead of two, three or four. Continually starting your car from a cold start can use twice as much gas as a longer multi-stop trip when the engine is warm. Carpooling with friends and neighbors is also a great because it reduces wear and miles on your car and helps the environment!
4. Use Cruise Control – Using the cruise control feature on the highway can help you maintain a consistent speed. Maintaining your speed is a great gas-saver.
3. Obey the Speed Limit – Even though every vehicle reaches its optimal fuel efficiency at different speeds, gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds exceeding 50 mph. Not only does observing the speed limit keep you and your passengers safer, it can also benefit your fuel economy by up to 15%.
2. Drive Sensibly – Did you know that road rage wastes gas? It does! According to fuleeconomy.gov, speeding and rapidly accelerating and braking your car can lower your gas mileage by 33%!
1. Keep Your Car Maintained – Don’t underestimate the importance of regular vehicle maintenance services. If you are driving around with a serious maintenance issue in your engine, you can worsen your fuel economy by as much as 40% – not to mention you are doing damage that is going to cost a lot more for an auto repair to fix! It’s also important to keep your tires properly inflated, and using your vehicle’s recommended grade of motor oil.
For more gas saving tips and tricks, feel free to talk to any of our friendly technicians. At The Car Place we’re always happy to help and give you recommendations to save gas money and help keep your automobile properly maintained.