Driving and Maintenance Tips to Save Gasoline

By Taylor Nelson

About two-thirds of America's total energy consumption is allocated for transportation. An average individual uses 500 gallons of gasoline annually. Today, saving gas has been a current trend because of the increasing cost of fuel and people's developing awareness of environmental concerns. To be able to help mother nature and avoid strains on one's budget, being a responsible driver is a must. I'll be giving a few tips to enable your car to increase it's efficiency and at the same time save energy...

Drive Properly

Keep it light. Check you car, you might have some unnecessary stuffs that you could just leave at home. An extra weight demands extra gasoline.

Avoid idling. Driving 0 miles per hour doesn't mean that you don't consume fuel. A car engine that is running consumes fuel whether it is moving or not. Do not waste fuel by idling to preheat your engine. Once you start your engine, drive.

Turn off your engine if you are stuck on traffic. This makes hybrid cars so fuel efficient. Hybrid cars automatically shut off its engine when at full stop, eliminating the fuel consumption caused by idling.

Avoid drive thru. Park and turn off your engine instead and head inside the restaurant to grab a bite.

Use your cruise control if your vehicle has one. Activating this feature enables you to maintain a constant speed and of course, to save on fuel.

Drive sensibly. Abrupt acceleration, speeding and hard breaking due to driving aggressively decreases your fuel efficiency by as much as 33% in the highway and 5% if you are cruising in the city.

Avoid high speeds. You car's fuel efficiency lessens when you are on 60 miles per hour.

If you are driving a car with manual transmission, shift to the highest drivable gear. High gear at low speed requires less pressure on the gas pedal compared to low gear at high revolution.

Estimate the distance before you hit break. If you know that a stop light or your final stop is near, avoid accelerating. Excessive acceleration needs excessive breaking, avoid these two situations. Another thing you have to check on is your air-conditioning system, as using it increases your gas consumption. If you could turn it off and just open your windows, just do that. Do not use your roof rack if the item can be placed in your trunk or inside the car. Placing a heavy stuff on your rack produces a drag and lessen fuel efficiency by 5%. Moreover, observe the recommended tire pressure.

Switch to hybrid cars if you can afford it's cost. Compared to regular gasoline-engine automobiles, they have higher fuel-economy. Most of all, hybrid cars helps the environment with its little or zero carbon dioxide emission rating. This is also true with electric car or vehicles that run on alternative fuel resources.

A car that is light, aerodynamic and has a small engine maximizes fuel efficiency. Hence, when you are planning to to buy a car, remember these 3 vital elements that are found in small cars, and not those gas-hungry SUVs.

Maintaining your car

Regularly replace or clean your air filters. When this part is clogged, air is prevented to enter the cylinder that results to poor vehicle performance and higher fuel consumption.

Keep your wheels properly aligned.

Subject your car to regular tune up, change oil and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems caused by dragging brakes, transmission problems, low transmission fluids or worn spark plug.

Try carpooling, telecommuting or public transit to reduce fuel consumption and maintenance cost.

Only use the proper type of oil on your car.

The practice of saving energy starts at your own home and later extends to the road. Just apply the tips that I have mentioned and experience its perks on your budget and the environment. - 29952

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