In today’s world the cost of gas fluctuates from what is considered affordable and what is down right crazy. In doing research on my own to figure out how I could conserve on gas I found some very interesting tips that could help everyone. Whether you’re driving a new car or a used car saving gas is saving money.
- Drive Sensibly – This was an odd one for me but it makes total sense now. Rapid acceleration, quick excessive braking, speeding, and aggressive driving wastes gas. Think about it. It can even lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent when driving in town.
- Observe The Speed Limit – Each vehicle new or old reaches their optimal fuel economy at different speeds. It is said that gas mileage can decrease rapidly at speeds over 60 mph. At that pace you can assume that for each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph its like paying .24 cents more per gallon. That can add up really quickly if you’re blazing the roads all over town.
- Avoid Excessive Idling – When you’re idling you are getting 0 miles per gallon. Cars waste gas when they idle, cars with larger engines typically will waste even more gas than cars with smaller engines. Why take the risk? When you’re not driving you should just turn your engine off. Not only will it save on gas but its good for the environment too and we should all be thinking about the environment.
- Use Cruise Control – Now obviously this is not something you can do when sitting in traffic but using cruise control on the highway can help reduce your gas waste by maintaining a constant speed and not overworking your engine.
- Remove Excess Weight – If you’re like me you’ve got junk in your trunk. I’ve got lawn chairs, blankets and the like just sitting back there. Partly because I’m too lazy to take it up stairs and partly because you never know when you might need to use them. Once I found out I could save gas by taking that stuff out, I quickly moved them back to the garage. According to an independent study by the US government, “An extra 100 pounds in the trunk reduces a typical car’s fuel economy by 1-2%.” As you can see it’s time to dump that junk in your trunk and start saving gas.
As gas prices keep rising, and the money in your wallet keeps dwindling. There are ways you can save on gas and reduce your overall fuel consumption. I hope these tips will help you in your quest to saving gas and if nothing else gets you thinking about other ways we can help the environment.
