1.) Put your vehicle in overdrive on the highway. This lowers your RPM and in return saves you gas. (Check your vehicles manual to determine the recommended speed for shifting to overdrive).
2.) Buy radial tires. Radial tires can save you as much as 2 – 3% in gas mileage.
3.) Stay in the same lane. Try to keep your vehicle in the same lane as much as possible. Weaving in and out of traffic uses more gas and cuts down your gas mileage.
4.) Use cruise control on flat highways. Using cruise control on flat highways can increase your gas mileage a whopping 7% or more. You want to watch using your cruise control when on stop and go streets or streets with a lot of hills. This can actually lower your gas mileage.
5.) Park your vehicle in the shade. By parking your vehicle in the shade you can prevent your gas from evaporating.
6.) Fueling Tip. When fueling your vehicle, turn the gas nozzle upside down and pull the hose up in the air before taking the fueling nozzle out of your gas tank. This technique can give you an extra cup of gasoline each time you fuel up.
7.) Tighten your gas cap. When finishing fueling your vehicle remember to tighten your gas cap all the way. If your cap is not tightened, you can risk your gas evaporating.
8.) Don’t overuse your air conditioner. Running your A/C all the time can use quite a bit of gas.
9.) The alternative to using your air conditioner. Rolling down the window is a great way to save gas by keeping the A/C off. However, when driving down the highway or at high speeds, your A/C turned low can be the better alternative, as the windows being down at high speeds can cause drag on your vehicle and lose gas mileage quickly.
10.) Don’t fill up until you’re near empty. The less fuel in your vehicle, the lighter your vehicle will be. By waiting until your vehicle is near empty, you’re decreasing the weight of your vehicle, and giving yourself additional gas mileage from making the vehicle lighter.
11.) Turn off all electronics and climate controls. Before you cut off your engine, make sure all electronics and climate controls are turned off. The reason for this is because when you start your vehicle with electronics and climate controls on it puts a strain on your vehicle when starting and loses additional gas.
12.) Drive SLOWER. It’s that simple. Just drive the speed limit and you’ll get better gas mileage. Slowing down, speeding up, and driving at high RPM’s wastes gas. Gas mileage also decreases when going over 60 miles an hour.
13.) Changing a dirty air filter. By replacing your air filter you can gain up to 10% in additional gas mileage. A general rule of thumb is to change your air filter every 12,000 miles.
14.) Combine your errands. If you have a bunch of errands to run, try to knock them out all at once. It takes more fuel to start a cold engine then it does a warm engine.
15.) Lighten your load. If you have a bunch of junk in the trunk, you may want to consider unloading it. By weighting down your vehicle, you could be losing a tremendous amount of gas mileage.
16.) Try to avoid strapping things to the top of your vehicle. Some people prefer to use their roof rack on their vehicle rather then their trunk. By strapping things to the top of your vehicle, you are causing drag, which requires your vehicle to work harder.
17.) Check your tire pressure. If your tire pressure is not at the recommended pressure you could be losing gas mileage. Refer to your required tire pressure and check to make sure your tires are filled with the proper amount of air.
18.) Spark Plugs. Replacing old spark plugs can help your fuel efficentcy.
19.) Fuel Filters. Fuel filters can also decrease your gas mileage when they need to be replaced.
20.) Worn Tires. If your tires are in need of replacement, you could be losing gas mileage. Worn tires can put a strain on your vehicles performance.
21.) Accelerating Excessively. When you slam your foot on the gas and accelerate excessively you’re wasting unnecessary gas.
22.) Excessive Idling. Let’s say you’re waiting outside for your kids to get out of school on a nice day. Sitting idle with the A/C on can guzzle your gas faster than you’d think. Anytime your vehicle sits idling more than 5 minutes is a waste of gas.
23.) Buy a Hybrid vehicle. Buy purchasing a vehicle such as the Prius (roughly $350 a month), you can instantly save gas on a daily basis. Hybrids and fuel efficient vehicles are America’s new wave. In fact, Honda has just launched their zero emission hydrogen powered fuel cell sedan which can be viewed by visiting http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/.
24.) Know your octane. Make sure you read your vehicle manual and determine the correct octane. If a vehicle’s suggested octane is 87, 89 is not a fuel efficient decision. And, just because you’re saving by buying 87, if your vehicle’s suggested fuel is 89 you may be losing money in the long run.
Buy a hybrid Toyota Prius or Honda Insight is another alternative way to save gas.
I hope some of these tips can help you save some money in the future. But, if you’d like to save 100% on gas mileage, there is always an option to ride a bike or take the good ole’ ankle express.
