More Tips To Help Get Better Gas Mileage

Here are some other simple things you can do to increase your mileage and get better use from your gas.

Gas cap - Make sure your gas cap is tight and not cracked. If you don’t have one, then get one. If it doesn’t make a tight seal, then have it replaced. The reason is because your gas will evaporate and although it’s not really affecting your miles per gallon, it’s just simply disappearing and not being used at all. It’s like buying 10 gallons and flushing one of them down the toilet.

Octane - Unless you drive a special vehicle that “requires” a higher octane - stick to the 87 octane. When your car was built, it was tuned and tested to run the most efficiently with 87 octane. Read your owners manual and check. 89 octane and 91 octane wont make your car run better or give you higher hourse power (unless it was built to use 91). It can actually hurt and damaged your engine and make your mileage worse.

Wheel alignment - If your tires aren’t aligned properly, your tires will wear0out faster. Your mileage will also suffer because your car isn’t “rolling” as it was intended. This causes drag or acts as an obstacle that you are pushing down the road.

Another part of this is balancing your tires. If your wheels aren’t balanced and they skip and hop as you drive, it will also affect wear on your tires and reduce gas mileage.

Rotating your tires won’t necessarily affect mileage, but your tires will last longer.

Brake time - Have your brakes checked periodically. If they are slightly engaged, then not only will you have to replace them sooner, but your gas mileage will also suffer. Same goes for your parking brake - always make sure it’s totally disengaged while driving.

Road conditionsr words, - If you know the road conditions to your destination isn’t smooth - find an alternate route. Loose gravel will cause your mileage to suffer, not to mention, scratch your paint. Pot holes will throw your wheel alignment off, dent your wheels causing them to be unbalanced and can even punture your tires.

Speeding - Your car engine was built to be efficient according to the speed limit. In other words, if you are going 80 mph rather than 65 mph you’ll end up burning more gas. The higher your engine tachometer goes up the more gas you are burning to sustain it. As an example, if your tachometer is at 6000rpm (revolutions per minute) versus 4500rpm, you are burning more gas.

Rush hour - No one in their right mind enjoys driving during rush hour. Needless to say, if you can avoid it, do so. Work an earlier or later shift, schedule your classes based around peak traffic times. Not only will you save yourself some money, but also your sanity.

Switch cars - Consider switching cars or purchasing a used car if you have a long commute. You can get a great deal on a more fuel efficient car if you buy it used. However, I can see that these types of cars will be in very high demand shortly as the price of gas continues to climb. Cars like Honda Civic, Toyota Tercel, Mazda 3 and so on get great gas mileage. Hybrids are also good, but I suspect the prices will be much higher just because of the situation.

Cruise baby! - If you have the opportunity to use cruise control, by all means, use it. Your car is tuned to run optimally efficient while on cruise control.

Keep a log - Try to get into the habit of keeping a log. By doing so, you will be able to notice when your car isn’t performing as it should. You’ll also be able to track how changes you are making affect your gas bills.

Learn to drive - I don’t mean that in a bad way. We all in some shape or form, drive like the person who taught us, who had taught them… and so on. So now, what has become second nature to you may be very visible to another person. Especially if that person is specially trained in driving.

Stay cool - One of the biggest culprits to poor gas mileage is… are you ready?… AIR CONDITIONING! When your air conditioning is on, it puts a severe drag on your engine, because your car has to work harder to turn the compressor. It’s like you are driving uphill, except gravity isn’t pulling you back.

As an alternative, use a fan that plug into the cigarette lighter socket.

Invest in a sunshade to deflect the sun while it’s parked, especially if you have a dark colored interior. If you have to walk a little further, park in the shade or in a covered parking garage.