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How to increase gas mileage!
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lodhi7
(lodhi7)
2007-03-22 15:09:00 +0500
#1
Lighten your load. Get the lightest car that will serve your needs. Weight is one of the biggest causes for loss of kinetic energy in non hybrid cars. If you're not shopping for cars, then take any extra weight off of the one you're already driving. If seats that you don't use can be removed, take them out. If you use your trunk as a storage space for heavy things, find another place for them. An extra 100 pounds increases fuel consumption by 1-2%.
Slow down. The faster you move, the harder your engine has to work to push through the wind. Speeding can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 33%.
Use cruise control. In most situations, using your cruise control reduces fuel consumption by maintaining a constant speed.
Accelerate smoothly. When the light turns green, resist the urge to bolt ahead of the car next to you. This keeps the engine at lower Revolutions per Minute (RPMs) thus using less fuel.
Prevent braking wherever possible. This usually means looking ahead and letting go of your accelerator when you see a red light or traffic jam ahead.
Set your tires to the proper inflation. Properly inflated tires can reduce fuel consumption by up to 3%. Hitting potholes can knock air from the tires hit. Your tires also lose about 1 PSI per month, especially during the winter. It is recommended to check tires at least monthly, preferably weekly.
Tune up your engine. A properly tuned engine maximizes power and can greatly enhance fuel efficiency. Beware, though, that many tuners will disable efficiency measures when tuning for power.
Check the condition of your engine air filter. A dirty filter will reduce fuel economy, or make the engine stall when idling. Just like mowing dusty grass, driving dusty dirt roads will clog the air filter: avoid dust clouds.
Replace your fuel filter according to your manufacturer's recommended schedule. This will go a long way to enhancing fuel efficiency.
Avoid excessive idling. Idling a vehicle wastes a significant amount of fuel. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it slowly until it reaches proper operating temperature.
Try to avoid using the air conditioner in stop and go city driving as it causes the engine to work hard and consume more fuel. However, studies show that at highway speeds cars get somewhat better mileage with the AC on and the windows rolled up. The drag caused by rolled down windows at high speed reduces fuel efficiency more than the AC.
Find your car's "sweet speed". Some cars get better mileage at specific speeds, usually 50 mph. However, most Jeep Cherokees are best at 55 mph. Some pickups are best at 85 mph. Find your vehicle's "sweet speed" and pick your roads accordingly.
Use synthetic oil in your car to save on average 5% gas, plus fewer oil changes are needed, saving trips to the oil change place as well as less used oil in the environment.
When getting your oil changed, use a synthetic oil additive to either natural or synthetic oil, such as Slick 50. This can increase your gas mileage by up to 15% if you follow the manufacturer's instructions and recommended usage.
If your car has an automatic transmission with overdrive, make sure you drive in that gear at all times. Overdrive is the "D" inside a circle on most shifters. Several cars have buttons on the shifter which allow you to turn off the overdrive gear. Don't turn it off. Overdrive saves you gas mileage at higher speeds by using a lower ratio from engine speed to wheel speed - this places the engine at a more efficient operating point (by reducing throttling losses, etc).
Learn to watch and predict traffic signals. This can admittedly be problematic in many cases.
Don't circle in a parking lot, and keep well away from the store fronts. Look for a spot in the empty half of the parking lot. Many people spend significant time idling and creeping, waiting for a "close spot" to open up.
Maintain a log over time of how many miles you go (the main odometer) and how much gas you put in (from the gas pump, including fractions). Put it in a spreadsheet. It will keep you focused, and other methods are inaccurate; you will never know for sure if you're saving fuel, wasting fuel or just seeing errors from gas pumps that stop pumping at different points, or fractions of miles being dropped off your 'trip' odometer when you reset it.
Maintain a safe following distance! Don't stick to the bumper of the car directly in front of you. You will brake more and accelerate more to keep that unnecessary and dangerous narrow gap. Relax. Hang back a bit. He's not getting anywhere significantly faster than you are even if you're 1000 feet behind. This also gives you a lot more room to play with when you are timing lights. When he slams on his brakes, you can coast down and see if the light quick-changes green again (some do).
Avoid idling. For example, in cold weather warm the car engine no more than 30 seconds. This period of time is sufficient to ensure that the engine is properly lubricated for driving. Generally, if you can avoid 10 seconds of idling you will save gas by turning the engine off and restarting.
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