Keep Windows Closed at High Speeds
Are you the kind of person to crack those windows when you’re zooming down the highway? Then you’re actually reducing your MPG! While open windows feel awesome they create more drag and come at the cost of extra gas. Keep open windows to low speed journeys.
Keep Your Tires Properly Inflated
If your car’s tires don’t have enough pressure they’ll lose energy when they rotate and you’ll experience rolling resistance. This basically means your car’s working harder! You can avoid it if you get your tire pressure checked frequently; then you’ll be on a roll.
Lighten Your Load
You wouldn’t think that a strong steel vehicle would have a problem carrying extra weight, but you’d be wrong! Extra pressure can put added stress on your car and force it to push harder to move, so remove any luggage you don’t need from your back seat or trunk.
Drive Smoothly
Unless you’re on a race track, treat your acceleration kindly. Sudden acceleration and sharp braking make your car gulp gas, so use smooth transitions when you can by pressing lightly on the pedals. It’ll take you a lot further than you think.
Use Cruise Control on Highways
If your car has cruise control, long highways are a great place to turn it on! The system’s designed to help you reduce gas waste by keeping speed constant and smooth; make use of it and leave potential fuel fluctuations in the dust.
Use a Fuel Economy App
Why not embrace modern technology? Fuel economy apps can be useful when you’re trying to save gas. You can use something like GasBuddy or Fuelio to monitor your gas habits and see what needs to be tightened up to get more mileage.
Avoid Excessive Idling
Although it seems more convenient to keep your car idling, it uses gas and you don’t go anywhere - you’re essentially just flushing that fuel away. If you’re at rest for longer than a minute, turn your car off - it’ll thank you for it in MPG.
Combine Errands
When you’ve left your car off for a period of time, the engine cools and it’s less efficient. Do you have a lot of trips to make? Try combining them into one long trip; it keeps your engine running warm and actually uses less gas than multiple short jaunts.
Limit Use of Air Conditioning
The power from your AC has to come from somewhere and your engine is the provider - only rely on it when you really need it, or open your windows when you’re travelling slower if you need some air so you don’t leave your vehicle gasping.
Use the Right Motor Oil
Motor oil doesn’t always come cheap, and you might be tempted to use a more budget-friendly alternative than the one your manufacturer suggests. They don’t advise certain ones to drain your dollars, though! The wrong viscosity can make your engine less efficient, and as a result give you fewer MPG.
Replace Air Filters Regularly
Do you keep up with air filter management? It’s not something you should skip considering how when those suckers get dirty, they tend to choke your car’s engine. More sputtering means less efficiency, which has a knock-on effect with mileage. Let your vehicle breathe.
Keep Your Engine Tuned
Engines are complicated beasts and all kinds of things can go wrong. That’s why it’s important to get it checked and tuned frequently and keep it worked at its best! A fuel-efficient engine is a happy one and it will literally take you further in the long run.
Check Oxygen Sensors
If your oxygen sensors are faulty they might be sending out the wrong signals to your fuel or air mix. This can be detrimental in multiple ways, including to the environment! But it also gives you bad gas mileage, so you should make sure they’re working correctly.
Use Fuel With the Correct Octane Rating
A fuel with a high octane rating doesn’t necessarily make it better for your car! Only use the rating that your vehicle requires, because it could be negatively affecting your vehicle’s performance. If you need premium use it, if not? Stick with the recommended octane.
Avoid Roof Racks or Cargo Boxes
Aerodynamics isn’t just for things with wings, but if you really want your car to fly there are ways of decreasing its wind resistance. Anything bulky that messes with the car’s shape will do it, which is a good reason to opt out extra additions such as roof racks.
Plan Routes in Advance
Making plans to go the shortest route on a journey is the obvious way to avoid MPG, but there are other things to take into account, too. Areas with high traffic congestion, hills that can increase your car’s workload and even stoplights can can add extra mileage.
Shift Gears Wisely (Manual Drivers)
If you prefer things old school and own a manual car, how you shift gears can be an important MPG saver. Shift early and only use smooth transitions to reduce fuel usage.
Drive the Speed Limit
Speed limits save lives, but they also save gas. When you take your car over 50 mph your car starts to chug more fuel, so there’s incentives to take it slow and steady. It will save you money into the bargain.
Coast When You Can
Why should you force your car forward when you can rely on physics? Approaching a red light or going downhill, for example, are great times to take your foot off the gas pedal and let gravity do its work. There’s no point using gas unless you have to.
Keep Your Wheels Aligned
Wheel alignment might seem like busywork, but there’s a very good reason to get them checked. You see, if they’re misaligned it creates resistance, which then affects your vehicle’s performance. You won’t be getting a great deal of MPG on wonky wheels.
Don’t Warm Up for Too Long
This one actually depends on the age of your vehicle. In newer cars, their modern engines can warm up pretty fast - often, within 30 seconds unless it’s exposed to extreme weather. Don’t run the engine too long before setting out!
Avoid Rush Hour
If you’re constantly having to stop and start your vehicle, your mileage is going to plummet. With this in mind, try to avoid rush hour traffic if you can and stick to driving in off-peak hours.
Close Your Gas Cap Tightly
Even if your gas cap light isn’t on, make sure that sucker’s tight before heading out on your next road trip. Fuel can evaporate through it quickly, and drain your supply if you’re not careful. Then you’re looking at an all-time low MPG!
Use GPS With Traffic Alerts
Remember how we mentioned avoiding traffic jams and rush hour? Well, you don’t have to do that alone! Modern GPS comes with traffic alerts that can help you bypass the worst of it, saving you time, money and fuel.
Reduce AC Use by Parking in the Shade
You use air conditioning when you want to be cooler, so the solution is simple: make your car cooler without it! Park in the shade and you get nature’s air conditioning. That, and the sun won’t damage your vehicle.
Don’t “Rev” Your Engine
Car aficionados love the sound of a healthy engine, so it might be tempting to rev that beast and hear it roar. It’s fun too, but don’t let that fool you - running your motor’s mouth can waste a ton of gas if you get too carried away.
Regularly Clean or Replace Fuel Injectors
When you want your car to move like a well-oiled machine, you need to make sure its parts are functioning. Fuel injectors are especially prone to gunk accumulation and result in an uneven fuel spray - that will impact efficiency.
Avoid Drive-Thrus
Drive-thrus aren’t the best place to go if you want to get better mileage! Even if you don’t idle in line, all those stops and starts will drain your gas tank more than necessary. Park your car and go in for your food if you have the time.
Remove Winter Gear When Not in Use
It’s understandable if you want to load up your vehicle in winter, especially if you live in an area that’s prone to extremes. When the weather changes, however, remove those chains, roof boxes and snow tires to decrease resistance.
Use Synthetic Oil
If synthetic oil is approved for your vehicle, increase efficiency by opting for that! Your engine will experience less friction and efficiency will soar.
Keep Track of Fuel Mileage
Keep an eye on your mileage if you want to increase your MPG and watch for sudden or dramatic changes - they could signify a fault in your system, and the sooner it’s fixed, the better.
Fill Up During Cooler Parts of the Day
You probably don’t consider the time of day when you refill your gas, but bear in mind that fuel is denser in the morning and evenings. Hot gas releases more vapor, which means you lose out on energy per gallon.
Use Eco Mode (If Available)
Does your vehicle have eco mode? If it does, you might as well make use of it! By adjusting the transmission and throttle, it works to give you better mileage and proves better in the long run.
Avoid Unnecessary Acceleration on Hills
You might be tempted to put your foot down hard when you’re going uphill, but you don’t need to - it only makes you use more gas! Slow down a bit and you’ll get to the top with better mileage.
Keep Your Car Clean
It might sound silly, but keeping your car clean helps with aerodynamics! The less dirt and debris you have on your vehicle, the faster it will go (and of course, the less rust it's likely to accrue). Look after yoru car, and it will look after you.
