Improve Your Gas Mileage in 7 Easy Steps

As gas is getting more expensive every day those of you with a long commute or plenty of driving miles can feel the weight of increasing gas bills.

Luckily there are multiple ways to save gas without investing in a new car or in over hyped add-on kits. I’ll show you seven ways that are widely available and easy to do.

1. MAINTAIN ECONOMIC TIRE PRESSURE

Driving with too low tire pressure increases the rolling resistance of your tires and spoils your fuel mileage. It also can make a tire overheat and blow.

Inflate the tires to the max pressure mentioned in your cars manuals, and periodically check the pressure using a good pressure gauge.

Many hypermilers inflate their tires more than that, to the maximum pressure printed on the sidewalls of the tires themselves. This can be as much as 60 percent more than the car manufacturers recommendation and results in additional fuel savings due to a reduced rolling resistance.

The cost is a harder and less comfortable ride. And I can’t recommend you outright to do this, even if it’s safe, as there is a possibility of uneven tire wear in some conditions.

2. REMOVE TRAILERS, SKI BOXES AND ROOF RACKS

If you thought it’s too much of a hassle to remove the roof rack or ski box when it’s not needed, think again! The same goes for driving with an empty trailer or a pick up truck with no flatbed cover.

Anything that you attach to the outside of the car will spoil the aerodynamics of the car and with that your fuel economy. Always remove roof racks, bicycle holders, ski boxes and trailers when not needed.

3. SHUT OFF THE A/C UNIT

Even if some argue that the A/C does not affect gas mileage, it actually consumes a lot of energy. That energy is taken stright from your tank and from your fuel mileage. If at all possible, turn it off. If that’s uncomfortable set it to a higher temperature as that will make it use less fuel.

TIPS: Park the car in the shadow, have the doors open for a minute before leaving, drive at night if going for a longer trip in hot weather.

Just remember, driving at high speed with the windows open is even worse for the fuel economy than using the A/C.

4. BECOME A BETTER DRIVER

The way you drive is one of the biggest factors affecting your mpg. Keep your top speed below 60MPH or 100KM/H, avoid breaking by letting the car roll to a stop when you’re not in the way for other traffic and do not push the pedal to the metal when accelerating.

5. WALK

Normally if you’re not going a long distance, walking or biking is a fair alternative, and it’s a lot more economic than using the car. You’ll save gallons of fuel and you’ll also avoid the other maintanance costs associated with driving.

6. FIX ANY FUEL LEAKS

Clearly if you have a gas leak you spill your valueable gas into the ground costing you cash and polluting the ground. Fix any fuel leak immediately.

TIP: If the gas cap is broken or missing gas will evaporate through the missing or broken cap and escape into the air.This is especially true in hot environments and when parking in the sun. This can be a significant loss and it’s bad for the environment.

7. CAR POOL

Sharing a car on your daily commute can be a fair amount of hassle compared to going alone but you’ll save more gas and money than any of the other tips except for actually walking or biking.

Just adding another person to your car when going to work will save half your monthly expences.

MORE FUEL SAVING TIPS

The above tips are some of the easiest, most widely available, low cost ways to save lots of gas. And you don’t have to buy any new gadgets to do it.

There’s many more ways you can save gas. You can get a more fuel efficient car (hybrid, diesel, smaller vehicle), adjust your driving style, make adjustments to your cars aerodynamics, use tires with a low rolling resistance, plan your trip, plan for extreme weather and a ton more that this article is too short to cover

There’s also many ways to NOT save gas, like installing one of those fuel saving gadgets advertised everywhere. They take your money but most will barely improve your gas mileage.

To keep track of your actual gas mileage you can use a handy online metric mpg calculator