Driving For Improved Fuel Economy

While the type of vehicle you drive dictates a particular range of mileage, improving fuel economy can also be effected by many other factors. The way you drive can improve mileage, no matter the type of vehicle. In these ways you can save money, reduce emissions, and hedge your average spending during a gas price spike.

Your gas mileage and fuel economy depends on your driving style more than you might think. Roaring out of an intersection, speeding, and abrupt braking are all flagrant fuel burners. Sensible and reasonable driving improves fuel economy by up to thirty percent at high speeds. Especially on the highway, rapid acceleration and deceleration is dangerous and sucks on your gas tank. For every five miles per hour you drive over 65, your mileage decreases by seven percent. You can set your cruise control to maintain a steady speed, which also improves mileage on flat open road.

Most modern, fuel injected vehicles don’t need to be warmed up. At the most, starting your engine for thirty seconds is more than sufficient, and a blast of hot air from the heater will warm up in the interior fairly quickly. If it’s icy, an ice scraper makes quicker work of a frosty windshield than a defroster. With this in mind, you can avoid idling by shutting off the engine at long traffic lights or in the drive through, for example, or any other time your car will be stationary for an extended period. Excessive idling equates to zero miles per gallon. The engine will still be warm, so there is no ill effect from a ‘cold start.’

Keeping your vehicle well maintained improves vehicle performance and also improves fuel efficiency. A clogged fuel filter or a compromised spark plug will effect the miles per gallon. Proper maintenance includes using the right octane gas and the recommended grade of motor oil. Using the recommended fuel grades for your vehicle will give you optimum fuel efficiency, all of which should be listed in the vehicle owners manual. Fixing a serious maintenance problem, like a impaired oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as forty percent. Properly inflated tires safer, last longer, and have a big impact on fuel economy, reported by the DOE as improving mileage around 3 percent.

A washed and waxed vehicle exterior improves the aerodynamics, thereby improving gas mileage. Keeping windows rolled up and the air conditioner off also decreases the amount of drag. It’s sometime difficult to do both, but having windows up is the most beneficial when traveling at highway speeds, so you would be fine around town with the windows down. Roof carriers and roof racks are beneficial in that you can fit more on a smaller car, which is usually preferable to a large car the gets less miles to the gallon. However, even an empty roof rack increases the aerodynamic drag. You will also lose fuel efficiency with extra weight inside the car. Getting rid of a hundred pounds of weight in the trunk with increase mileage by one to two percent.

Gas pumps measure fuel by volume, and gasoline is more dense when its temperature is colder. Pumping fuel during cool mornings will magnify the value and miles you get out of each tank of gas.

Combining trips and limiting miles is an easy calculation to figure fuel and money savings. The DOE reports that multiple short trips can use twice as much fuel as a single, longer trip that covers the same distance. The residual heat under the hood keeps the engine warm and fuel efficient. Staggering the times you drive to school or work to avoid rush hours will save gas. All the stopping and starting during rush hour can be avoided by leaving as few as ten minutes earlier or later, depending on local peak traffic times.

Of course, the easiest way to reduce wear on your car, increase fuel economy, and curb emissions is to not drive at all. When driving is necessary, any or all of the above methods will keep fuel spending low and your vehicle running better.

No matter what kind of car you drive, changing your driving style can have an effect at your fuel economy and gas mileage. Inside info now at http://www.funandsafedriving.com/fuel-economy.html