Gas can be expensive, especially if you do a lot of miles each week, which is why it is sensible to think about improving the efficiency of your vehicle. Sure, you could buy a hybrid or electric car, and that would solve the problem, but they are pretty expensive, and if you have a perfectly good car already, there are better ways of improving your vehicle’s efficiency. Here are just a few of them:
Check Your Tire Pressure
As well as having regular brake and clutch repairs when they start to feel a bit worn, you should be having your tire pressure checked when you start to notice a difference. Ideally, you should do this once a month because tires that are not adequately inflated will use more fuel and cost you more money.
Wait ‘Til the Hose Shuts Off
When you’re filling your car at the gas station, you should never remove the hose until the pump has completely shut off. You can lose up to a quarter of a cup by removing the hose too quickly, so it makes sense to just wait a few seconds more if you want to save money and run your car more efficiently.
Use Cruise Control
When it makes sense to do so, actually use cruise control, and you could save as much as 6 percent of your annual fuel consumption when driving on the highway.
Don’t Idle for more than 60- Seconds
If you’re going to be parked up for more than a minute or so, turn the engine off. You can lose half a gallon of gas for every hour that your car is left idling. This might not seem like much when you’re only idling for a few minutes at a time, but it will soon add up and could cost you big time over the course of a year.
Get Your Engine Checked Regularly
Having your engine checked on a very regular basis is the best way to save fuel by ensuring that everything from spark plugs to the fuel filters are working optimally. If even one component of your engine isn’t working as efficiently as it could, you will waste fuel, but it’s so easily avoidable by just going to the garage once in a while for an engine tune-up. Be smart and get it checked out.
Drive in the Highest Gear
If you want to be more efficient, you really should always be driving in the highest gear that you are able to. You can use as much as a third more fuel by being in third gear instead of fifth, so it’s easy to see how the savings can add up if you take the effort to always change to the highest gear. Many cars now alert you as to which gear you should be in, so it’s really easy to do this and potentially save yourself hundreds of dollars each year.
Does your car run pretty efficiently? What do you do to save gas?
