Making your car more fuel efficient not only helps your pocket but also the environment. You don’t need to swap your car for a hybrid to handle the situation. A vehicle burns up to 30 percent more fuel when lacking proper maintenance. Here are 5 tips for making your car more fuel efficient.
- Do not let your vehicle idle: Idling can end up consuming anywhere between half-a-gallon to one gallon of gas per hour. And pumps needless CO2 into the atmosphere throughout. The way the modern engines are built, they consume less fuel turning off and restarted. During winter, to warm up the engine, you need not rev it. Engines actually warm up quicker if you were just to start the engine, wait for around 20 seconds and drive on. The 20 seconds wait builds oil pressure.
- Check for tire pressure: At least once a month checks your tire pressure. As under-inflated tires burn more fuel to the point of rolling resistance increase by 5 percent if tires are just 8 pounds underinflated.
- Take your car in for a regular check-up of the engine and more: Go for the old-fashioned tune-up from time to time. It is not going to cost too much on your pocket and instead may actually end up saving much more than it costs. Have battery cables cleaned as corroded ones cause the alternator to end up using more Change the air filter as per the owner’s manual and if you have been driving in dusty road conditions, you may want to change it even more frequently? Refer to the users’ manual to choose the right octane gas and stick to it irrespective of tempting advertisements. Similarly for motor oil.
- Master fuel-efficient driving techniques. Use cruise control whenever possible. You can actually save up to 6 percent in fuel consumption while on the highway. Drive in the highest gear possible without stressing the engine. For instance, when you drive at 60 km/h, a vehicle uses 25 percent more fuel in third gear than fifth. On the contrary, driving at fast rates on low gears can burn up to 45 percent more fuel than is optimum. Avoid heavy braking, apply light throttle, keep less load in your car and with all of this together you would drastically reduce fuel consumption and wear and tear. Drive steadily and avoid tailgating under all circumstances. Avoid rough roads and resting your left foot on the brake pedal as pressure upon it not only wears down the components but also uses up additional fuel to overcome the “mechanical drag” so caused. You’d probably be surprised to know that correct driving techniques reduce fuel consumption by 30%.
- Check your vehicle regularly: Check and inspect all car parts especially the chassis and suspension for misalignment. Bent wheels, broken springs, worn shocks and bent axles create drivetrain drag that disproportionately burns fuel and are thoroughly unsafe too.
So keep your vehicle in good condition and soon you’d be saving money on fuel and doing your bit to help the planet while you are at it.
Head on over to Chuck Patterson for all your car needs.