by Jeffrey Strain
Gas prices continue to be near all time highs meaning that car
travel is taking a a larger portion out of each of your paychecks.
Reducing the cost of driving your car can be done fairly easy
simply by paying a bit more attention to your car. Here are 10 easy ways to cut
the amount of gas your car uses:
1. Purchase your gasoline when it's coolest outside such as in
the early morning or at night. Gas becomes denser in cooler temperatures. Since
gas pumps only measure the volume of fuel - and not the density - you'll get
better overall gas mileage for your money by purchasing fuel when it's cool
outside rather than in the heat of the day.
2. Religiously check your car's tire pressure each month (make
sure to purchase a good-quality dial-type gauge for yourself -- pencil-style
gauges and the ones mounted on the air hose are unreliable according to federal
government surveys). Under inflated tires reduce fuel efficiency by 2% for every
pound they are under inflated. Under inflation also causes premature tire wear
giving your tires a shorter use life.
3. Slow down and drive at the speed limit. Cars use about 20%
more fuel driving at 70 miles per hour than they do at 55 miles per hour.
4. Avoid using air conditioning whenever possible. Air
conditioning reduces fuel economy by 10% to 20%. Use the air ventilation system
instead.
5. Don't drive with open windows when traveling at high speeds.
Open windows on the highway can reduce fuel efficiency by 10%. It's much better
to use the ventilation system.
6. Remove car racks and other items which make your car less
aerodynamic when they're not being used. Leaving them on only makes your car
less fuel efficient and costs you money.
7. There is no need to let your car idle. Even on cold mornings,
cars don't need to idle more than 30 seconds. Newer cars are designed to be
driven almost immediately and letting your car idle longer is a waste of gas.
8. It's more efficient to turn off your car and turn it on again
than to let it idle for more than 45 seconds while waiting.
9. Remove all the excess weight from your car. Many people use
their car trunk as a storage space adding unneeded pounds to the car's weight.
This unnecessary weight reduces the car's fuel efficiency by about 1% for every
100 lbs.
10. For most cars, higher octane gas is simply a waste of money.
Regular unleaded (approx. 87 octane or so) is the least expensive and what you
should purchase. It's important to remember that octane is a measurement of how
hard it is to ignite the gas, not the quality of the gas. Purchase mid or high
octane gas only if your engine pings, knocks or rattles when using regular
unleaded fuel.
Copyright (c) Jeffrey Strain. He is owner of
http://www.paidtodriveautowrap.com - a website dedicated to telling you the
truth on why getting paid to drive a car isn't as easy as many make it out to
be.