15 Gas Saving Tips

By Author: Dennis James
Total Articles: 59
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In the recent years the oil prices has more than doubled. Because of political disputes, conflicts in oil-producing areas as well the rise in consumption, the crude oil prices, and thus the fuel prices, will not drop significantly in the next years. If drivers would know and follow some tips on economy driving, millions of dollars would be saved in fuel cost.

These tips do not require any additional equipment purchase and can be followed by anyone, no matter the type of vehicle you are driving.

A common mistake people do is to warp up the engine in excess. Modern cars do not require you to warm up the motor for a long period. You can reduce the fuel consumption if your warming up period is reduce to up to 45 seconds.

After you have warmed the engine, do not forget to disengage the choke, because if it will get stuck, the engine will receive a wrong mixture of fuel and air and it will function abnormally.

Avoid as much as you can starting and stopping the engine repeatedly. You can idle the car, as one minute of idling your engine will result in the same fuel consumption as staring the motor.

Do ...
... not rev your engine needlessly. And do not make another common mistake, to rev the motor prior to shutting it down. If you so this, fuel will be consumed in vain and oil will wash down from the cylinders, leading to a loss of oil pressure.

When you start the car from a dead stop, accelerate slowly until you reach the desired cruising speed. Do not press the acceleration pedal to more than ¼ of its travel, as it will pump gas in vain.

Another trick is to buy fuel when the weather is the coldest during the day, usually early mornings or the evenings. you get more this way, because when cold gasoline, is denser. The pump will only measure the total volume of gasoline, not its density.

Chose the best type of gasoline on the market, as it will be cleaner than other types.

Never fill the gas tank past the first click of the fuel nozzle of the car.

There are also tips on driving your car in an economic manner.

Avoid speeding. If your car exceeds 40mph, you force your engine to work in excess to break the air resistance.

The speed limits are imposed for safety reasons, but respecting them can bring you fuel economy. You will save up to 21% more fuel if you travel with 55mph compared to driving with 70 miles per hour.

Remember, keeping you transmission in a low gear will eat up more gas than running in a higher one. Cars with manual transmissions let you decide the gear you want to travel in and obtain better fuel economy. But do not under-rev the engine, as it will prematurely wear off.

Drive as much as you can with your windows up, because at high speeds, having an open window can raise your fuel consumption with up to10%.

Try to impose a steady rhythm to the car. If you do a lot of accelerations and slowing downs, you will end up wasting fuel.

Remember to think the road in advance and when approaching areas that will impose you to change the speed, such as a hill. Accelerate until the hill's base and save fuel by not forcing your engine while climbing the hill itself.