Ten Best Ways to Increase Fuel Mileage
Get the best mileage for your car, and follow these easy to use tips to save money.
Accelerate Slowly
You use alot less fuel when you go easy on your gas pedal. Each time you floor it, your throttle opens up and unneeded fuel is being burned off, so accelerate slowly, and you’ll increase your fuel mileage.
Keep a Constant Speed
Constantly changing your speed eats alot of extra fuel. Make sure to use your Cruise Control if you have that option, except on a long hill. Try not to use too much fuel to get to the top of a hill, and once you’re over the crest, use any downhill sections to save you from using the gas pedal.
Brake Less
Each time you use your brake, your fuel mileage will go down once you accelerate again. Use your brakes only when you need to, and plan your drive so that if you see a red light ahead, let the vehicles rolling resisitance and drag slow your vehicle down instead of your brakes.
Watch Tire pressures
If your tires are underinflated, you increase the drag put on your vehicle, causing more fuel to be burned than neccessary. Always check to make sure your tires are properly inflated.
Don’t use A/C
Your air conditioner uses extra fuel to keep you cool. If you are driving within the city, it’s more fuel-efficient to unroll your windoes to keep cool. Once at highways speeds, the drag caused by the windows being unrolled is more than using the A/C, so you need to decide what to do. Secondly, turn your A/C off a minute or two before your destination. Why keep your car cool when you won’t be in it?
Don’t Idle
Idleing burns more fuel than starting your engine again. So don’t sit in fast food lineups, park your car and walk in. Or turn your engine off while you are waiting, the fuel savings will add up.
Don’t Carry Unneeded Weight
Every extra pound of weight you carry in your car causes your engine to work harder and burn more fuel for every mile you drive. Get rid of any extra weight you are carrying around and you’ll save some gas money.
Perform Regular Maintenance
Make sure your transmission fluid is topped up, and same with your engine oil. Failing spark plugs are a major fuel abuser, so make sure your motor is constantly in good running order and perform maintenance according to your cars vehicle service guide.
Slow Down
Keep your car at a constant speed whenever possible, as this avoids the ‘ gas / brake / gas / brake ‘ cycle that eats most of your fuel. Keep a great awareness of the route ahead of you and try to not use your brakes and not to accelerate suddenly, and you’ll keep your vehicle at a constant speed and your fuel won’t leave you as fast either.
Use Overdrive
Whenever it’s possible at the higher speeds, using your car’s overdrive feature will help use less fuel and increase your mileage as well. Again, referring to an earlier tip, make sure you perform regular maintenance on your transmission and keep it running in tip top shape.
Once you’ve followed these tips, you should be able to significantly increase your gas mileage. Some of these tips are referred to as Hypermiling, and this keeps every extra drop of gasoline in your gas tank, rather than out in the atmosphere.