Learn how YOU can make a big difference
in YOUR mileage
YOU can make a world of difference in the mileage that you get from your ride... with a few adjustments to YOUR driving methods. Most of them are common sense, once given some thought, but we often get into a rut and forget! So, wake up and improve your mileage.
1. Empty your trunk. Yes, even the spare. That's what cell phones and AAA are for! Why carry around all that extra weight? With gas prices headed ever upwards, that extra weight costs you more money every day!
2. Read all the mileage websites and you will hear it over and over... keep your tires properly inflated. They'll last longer and you will get better mileage. I've always over-inflated my tires but that can cause you to have loss of control in wet or icy conditions... so I have quit recommending that! Look at the SIDEWALL of your tires and determine the highest pressure that the manufacturer recommends... and pump them up to that number... and keep them there! You can, with your next set of tires, purchase "low rolling resistance" tires that will REALLY help with your mileage. Consider them, when you purchase your next set of tires!
On the subject of TIRES... If you want a great set of tires and don't want to pay "through the nose" for them... do what I did and order yours online from www.TireRack.com The tires came to my door by UPS. I took the tires to my local WalMart store where they were mounted and balanced for less than $6 per wheel. Try that at your local tire store!
I love my new tires and it's all Thanks to... www.TireRack.com!
With winter coming soon, here in the northern United States, take a look at the great bargains you'll find at www.TireRack.com for your Winter Tires! They have great specials. Get yours today, already on rims, ready to mount and get you to your destination safely and on time!
3. Starting and stopping should be done gently! Jack-rabbit starts waste fuel so don't do 'em. Ease away on the Green Light or from a Stop sign. And when coming to a Red Light or Stop sign, let off the gas 'gently' and coast up to it. If you can manage to NOT actually stop the forward motion of your vehicle, you'll save a lot of gas. The momentum that remains when you're still only doing 5 MPH up to the light saves a bunch when you're getting back up to speed again. However, sometimes you just can't help it and you get stuck at a Stop. If it's going to be more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine and save fuel. Otherwise, you're Polluting un-necessarily and wasting gas. Try it, and you'll see a BIG difference over time.
4. If you really want to save money on your fuel, connect a Vacuum Gauge to your car's intake manifold and watch the pointer when you change the position of your accelerator pedal. Stomp on the accelerator and the gauge's pointer heads to 0. Let off and it rises. For the best mileage, your goal is to keep that pointer reading as HIGH as you can. That does not mean that you should be a slow poke... just pay attention to that pointer and you'll pay 'less often' at the pump! NOTE: Do not connect the Vacuum gauge to your brakes vacuum line. If you don't know how to do this, have a mechanic do it for you. And don't let them tell you that it doesn't work... They'll just want to sell you something else, for a lot more!
5. They tell me that in some states (maybe all) it's illegal to coast down hills. I'm a believer in what they don't see me doing they won't catch me doing... and coasting down a hill does not use gas like going down that same hill with your gas pedal stomped to the floor! Get it? So, if nothing else, when you go over the top of a hill... let off the gas and coast. In a car that has an automatic transmission, it's a no-brainer. If, however, you have a manual transmission, don't take the car out of gear! Just press on the clutch as you let off the gas and just coast... When you start to go slower than the other guys, gently let out the clutch as you gently bring the engine back up to speed and continue on your way. As you do this over and over, you'll get so that absolutely noone will know what you've done as you'll make that "back into gear" transition so smoothly that it can't be detected from the car next to you.
6. I wish that I had thought of the name for all these techniques... but I was more interested in getting high mileage than in coming up with fancy names for it all. The new name for these high mileage techniques, IS....., if you're interested: Hypermiling
7. Keep your car tuned up to give peak efficiency. With most all cars today, a tuneup is almost simple. Plugs, distributor cap and rotor... and occasionally a set of new plug wires. Oh yes, that Air Filter is a MUST change on a regular basis. You can find GREAT air filters for your vehicle on eBay like I did!
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