Posted on July 8th, 2009
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Have you noticed the price of gas lately? While gas prices are much lower than they were at this time last year, it’s still important to focus on watching our wallets and saving on gas. Unfortunately, as summer approaches you may find yourself busier and spending more time in the car.
The average American consumes 500 gallons of gas a year. Thanks to the unpredictable cost of fuel and the growing concern over saving money, becoming a better driver and keeping your car properly maintained has now become a necessity. Here are some helpful tips to increase fuel efficiency and therefore, save you money:
Try not to idle for long periods of time. Driving 0 miles per hour doesn’t mean that you don’t consume fuel. A car engine that is running consumes fuel whether it is moving or not. You waste fuel by idling to preheat your engine. Once you start your engine, drive.
Turn off your engine if you are stuck on traffic. This makes hybrid cars so fuel efficient. Hybrid cars automatically shut off its engine when at full stop, eliminating the fuel consumption caused by idling.
Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving, abrupt acceleration, speeding and hard braking lower your fuel efficiency by as much as 33% in the highway and 5% in the city.
Avoid high speeds. Fuel efficiency drops when you drive more than 60 mph.
If you are driving a car with manual transmission, shift to the highest drivable gear. High gear at low speed requires less pressure on the gas pedal compared to low gear at high revolution.
Replace or clean your air filters regularly. Clogged filters prevent air to enter the cylinder which results to poor car performance and more fuel consumption. Another helpful tip is to install a high performance air filter from K&N, for example. You’ll not only see an increase in horsepower but also gas mileage.
Subject your car to regular tune up, change oil and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems caused by dragging brakes, transmission problems, low transmission fluids or worn spark plug.
