ALT-7 What you can do to Save Money on Gas
Last summer we saw gas prices which it $3.50 in some of the states that have more regulated gasoline. I personally had the privilege of paying $3.10 for a couple of weeks for gasoline. Summer's not even here yet and I'm already paying $2.63 a gallon. Chances are this summer we'll be paying much more than we're used to for gasoline. Here are ten tips to help you save money on gasoline.
Drive Slower According to the US Department of Energy, most automobiles get about 20% better gas mileage if they are driving down the highway at 55 miles per hour compared to 70 miles per hour. If you have some extra time, slow down a bit.
Buy a High-Mileage Vehicle Don't sell your car and buy a new one just so you can get a vehicle with better gas mileage, but if you're going to buy one anyway, why not get one that gets great gas mileage. Be sure to check our list of cars with the best gas mileage.
Combine and Eliminate Trips In town driving is where your car wastes the most money. Combine your quick trips so that you don't do as much in town driving. The DOE states that 30% of the gasoline used during short trips is wasted.
Drive When Traffic is Minimal Come to work a bit earlier or later, and do your errands in off-peak driving hours. When you're driving in heavy traffic, you have to stop and break a lot more, which wastes traffic.
Drive at a Steady Pace Try to drive at a steady speed if you can. If you're on a high-way or interstate, use cruise control.
Stay off the breaks Instead of driving up close to the stop light and then breaking, just let your car slow down and come to a more natural stop. This will help you avoid using gasoline only to waste it while breaking.
Don't Over Warm Up Your Vehicle Don't let your car warm up than a minute, the gasoline consumer by long car warm-ups aren't offset by any great improvement in engine performance.
Turn Off the AC Only use your air-conditioner when it's absolutely necessary. Use the economy vent if its bearable, or just open your windows. Running the AC creates a lot more fuel consumption and decreases your gas-mileage.
Remove Unnecessary Weight Don't store anything in your car that doesn't need to be there. Adding extra weight to your vehicle will decrease the performance of your vehicle.
Change Your Filters Be sure to change the fuel filter and the air filter on a regular basis. Clogged water filters and dirty oil filters decrease the fuel economy of vehicles.
Bonus Tip: Consider Radial Tires The use of radial towers can increase the performance of your vehicle by three to five percent, and upwards of 10% on the high-way.
