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Ten Tips To Save On Gasoline
by: Jeffrey Strain
Gas prices continue to be near all time highs
meaning that car travel is taking a a larger portion out of each of your paychecks.
AAA estimates that the cost of driving a car including all direct and indirect
costs has surpassed 50 cents a gallon with that price expected to rise.
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Reducing the cost of driving your car can
be done fairly easy simply by paying a bit more attention to your car. Here
are 10 easy ways to cut the amount of gas your car uses:
1. Purchase your gasoline when it's coolest outside
such as in the early morning or at night. Gas becomes denser in cooler temperatures.
Since gas pumps only measure the volume of fuel - and not the density - you'll
get better overall gas mileage for your money by purchasing fuel when it's cool
outside rather than in the heat of the day.
2. Religiously check your car's tire pressure
each month (make sure to purchase a good-quality dial-type gauge for yourself
-- pencil-style gauges and the ones mounted on the air hose are unreliable according
to federal government surveys). Under inflated tires reduce fuel efficiency
by 2% for every pound they are under inflated. Under inflation also causes premature
tire wear giving your tires a shorter use life.
3. Slow down and drive at the speed limit.
Cars use about 20% more fuel driving at 70 miles per hour than they do at 55
miles per hour.
4. Avoid using air conditioning whenever possible.
Air conditioning reduces fuel economy by 10% to 20%. Use the air ventilation
system instead.
5. Don't drive with open windows when traveling
at high speeds. Open windows on the highway can reduce fuel efficiency by 10%.
It's much better to use the ventilation system.
6. Remove car racks and other items which make your
car less aerodynamic when they're not being used. Leaving them on only
makes your car less fuel efficient and costs you money.
7. There is no need to let your car idle.
Even on cold mornings, cars don't need to idle more than 30 seconds. Newer cars
are designed to be driven almost immediately and letting your car idle longer
is a waste of gas.
8. It's more efficient to turn off your car and turn it on
again than to let it idle for more than 45 seconds while waiting.
9. Remove all the excess weight from your
car. Many people use their car trunk as a storage space adding unneeded pounds
to the car's weight. This unnecessary weight reduces the car's fuel efficiency
by about 1% for every 100 lbs.
10. For most cars, higher octane gas is simply a waste
of money. Regular unleaded (approx. 87 octane or so) is the least expensive
and what you should purchase. It's important to remember that octane is a measurement
of how hard it is to ignite the gas, not the quality of the gas. Purchase mid
or high octane gas only if your engine pings, knocks or rattles when using regular
unleaded fuel.
Other articles you may find interesting:
Copyright (c) Jeffrey Strain. He is owner of www.paidtodriveautowrap.com
- a website dedicated to telling you the truth on why getting paid to drive
a car isn't as easy as many make it out to be. info@savingadvice.com
*The articles published on this site undergo our review process. We found
the information in this article to be very useful and informative. The source
website does not necessarily reflect our website. We have linked to them for
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