Driving Tips for Saving Gas

Driving today can cost a lot of money, not just the cost of insurance and buying a car but gas itself has become a huge cost too. We are all searching for ways to save gas from a tune up changing the fuel injectors and a new fuel pump to changing out the air filter but how else can we save gas. There are a number of techniques to employ when trying to pinch at the pump. There are also a ton of urban myths that come into play about how to save gas.

Making the most of the fuel in your tank is easier than most people think but it does take a little planning. The main enemy of gas mileage is drag and weight, the more a motor has to haul around the more it has to work. Fancy body kits and spoilers may look cool but they kill mileage and aerodynamics that the car is built around.  Weight is a huge factor and many of us carry around many lbs of extra weight in the car. No I don’t mean we all need to lose weight in order to get better gas mileage but maybe take items that are not needed out of the car. Every one of us has a friend who has a trunk full of stuff and there is a good chance that they are paying for a lot more gas then they need to. 

Another myth that people believe is accelerating slowly will save gas, this is not always true. Rapid acceleration will lower mileage but medium acceleration will get the car to the optimum fuel saving range faster and in most cases will allow for more fuel savings. The main enemy in the fight to save fuel is braking, when the brakes are applied they basically turn fuel into heat. To avoid this, try coasting to stop or in a manual car down shift to slow the car, the engine will cut the fuel to the motor and save a lot of fuel. With modern cars taking the vehicle out if gear will almost always result in more fuel being used over just coasting in gear.

The bottom line when you are trying to save fuel is all about efficiency, the more efficient you are the more gas you’ll save. Just remember car companies spend millions to make a car as efficient as possible so trust that engineering and it won’t let you down.