Keep tires properly inflated.
Remember when you were a kid and you were out riding your bike and noticed one of your tires was low? Remember how difficult it was to pedal back home? The same principle applies to vehicle tires. The less air they have inside them, the more work it takes to get anywhere – only this time it’s your vehicle’s engine, and not your legs, that are doing all the work. When the engine has to work harder, your fuel efficiency goes down.
Change the air filter.
When I go in for an oil change at one of those quick lube places, I don’t always have them change my air filter. However, I’m beginning to rethink that. Much like a fan in your home gets clogged and coated with dirt and dust, so does the air filter in your car. In your home it means dirt and dust are always blowing around in the air, but in your car, it means the dirt and dust get blown back into the engine. That can reduce your gas mileage and harm your engine.
Curb your aggression.
We’ve all been there – sudden starts and stops, speeding, mumbling obscenities to the driver in front of us. But did you know that aggressive driving can actually lower your gas mileage? It’s true. So observe the speed limit and avoid excessive braking and sudden stops.
Lose some weight.
Do you feel a little slower if you’re carrying a few extra pounds around your middle? It’s much the same with your vehicle. If you carry an extra 100 pounds in your vehicle, your miles per gallon could be reduced by as much as 2%. Try to avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. Smaller vehicles tend to be affected more by extra weight than larger ones.
Be the master of your errands.
Did you know that several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as one trip with multiple stops and starts when the engine is warm? To combat this, combine your errands into one trip, when possible. And you should also try to find the most efficient route. C’mon – you know you want to map it all out on your GPS!
Know your gas.
Are you using the right gas for your vehicle? Using regular gas when your vehicle calls for premium could reduce your gas mileage by around 6 mpg, depending on your make of car. Check the owner’s manual to see what you should be using. If you want to improve your gas mileage, you should also avoid using ethanol because it contains less energy than gasoline and significantly drops your fuel mileage.
Don’t stay idle.
When you’re idling, how many miles per gallon are you getting? If you answered ‘zero’ you’re correct. You’re still burning fuel, but lowering your mpg. Vehicles with larger engines usually waste more gas when idling than vehicles with smaller engines, but regardless of the vehicle size, you should avoid unnecessary idling and turn off the engine for lengthy waits.
Make time for maintenance.
Regular vehicle maintenance goes a long way toward heading off major problems plus those little things that eat into your gas mileage. Most of us get regular physicals to ward off problems and increase our ‘mileage’, so why not treat your vehicle the same way.
Just stay home.
Do you really need to make that run to the ice cream parlor? Probably not. After all, one of the best ways to improve your gas mileage is to cut down on unnecessary trips. Of course, you can always send the kids off on their bicycles to run your errands.
