SAVE MONEY ON GAS THIS SUMMER
by Kade Phillips |
Sub-prime mortgage crisis, food prices soaring, gasoline costs through the roof - do you feel like you're being financially squeezed at every turn? Here are some easy things you can do about some of your auto related expenses:
Slow things down a bit
On most major U.S. highways and freeways, the posted speed limited for automobiles & motorcycles is typically between 55-75 mph. If you’ve got a bit of a lead foot, you should know that increasing your speed does increase your automobiles gas consumption accordingly. Driving 20% faster than the posted limit increases your gas consumption by roughly 20% as well. Think about it, with today's soaring gas prices, do you really want to be buying 20% more gas?
Use Cruise Control
The governments website www.fueleconomy.gov suggests that using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas. They also advise to use Overdrive Gears because, when you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces engine wear. You'll be saving gas, the environment and ultimately your hard earned dollars.
Relax, live longer and enjoy the ride
Aggressive driving, like rapid acceleration, speeding, and hard braking increases gasoline consumption by up to 37% according to a recent study done by Natural Resources Canada. Incredibly, it’s also been reported that aggressive city driving only gets you where you want to go about 2½ minutes faster on a 60–minute trip. 37% more gas to buy??? It’s a lot to pay for so little time saved, dontcha think?
Is your vehicle actually another 'storage room'
While it may seem like a convenient place to keep certain things, minimizing the amount of “stuff” you keep in your automobile can save you a significant amount of gas money. It is estimated by the U.S. Department of Energy that for every additional 100 pounds that you truck around in your vehicle, you are increasing your gas consumption by about 1-2%. This can really add up over time.
Not going anywhere and still burning up loads of costly gas?
It seems silly to state the obvious, but…you get 0 miles per gallon if your car is idling. You could simply turn off the cars motor if you're not moving for a while. Instead of idling while waiting at the fast food drive-up window, why not park the car and go inside? It's often way faster to get served anyway, and you should know that idling in the line up for more than 10 seconds burns more gas than restarting the engine would. Use this tip wisely, and your gasoline savings will mount.
A well-maintained and smoothly running vehicle uses less fuel
Your auto was designed for optimal operation with certain minimum requirements in place. If these minimum requirements are not met, your cars fuel-efficiency suffers.
Consider the following:
- Keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 per cent.
- Your car's air filter keeps impurities from damaging the inside of your engine and it helps the engine to operate more efficiently. Replacing a dirty air filter can improve your vehicle's gas mileage by as much as 10 per cent.
- You can improve your vehicle's gas mileage by 1-2 per cent by using the manufacturer's recommended grade of motor oil. Using lower grades will not only hurt the engine, but will hurt your wallet as well, in the form of much costlier fill-ups at the pump.
Drive less - much less if you can
Now we know that this is not for everyone, but for many of us, this is not only a viable option, but it could lead to some wonderful side benefits if enabled correctly. Much better health and fitness levels could be ours if we chose instead to walk or cycle whenever possible, instead of driving absolutely everywhere. Other options are car pooling with others (could be great for your social life) - or downsizing your ride - how about one of those new scooters that gets like 80 miles per gallon? All kidding aside, most of us could drive a lot less, walk a bit more, and we'd all be far better off for it.
| | About the author: Kade Phillips is a contributing writer at kanetix.com. Please visit the author's site if interested in more information. |
