10 Tips to Help You Save on Gasoline

ajrsmom · #1 (**permalink**) 07-10-2005, 03:05 PM

10 Tips to Help You Save on Gasoline

Gas prices continue to be near all time highs meaning that car travel is taking a larger portion out of each of your paychecks. AAA estimates that the cost of driving a car including all direct and indirect costs has surpassed 50 cents a gallon with that price expected to rise.

Reducing the cost of driving your car can be done fairly easy simply by paying a bit more attention to your car. Here are 10 easy ways to cut the amount of gas your car uses:

1. Purchase your gasoline when it's coolest outside such as in the early morning or at night. Gas becomes denser in cooler temperatures. Since gas pumps only measure the volume of fuel - and not the density - you'll get better overall gas mileage for your money by purchasing fuel when it's cool outside rather than in the heat of the day.

2. Religiously check your car's tire pressure each month (make sure to purchase a good-quality dial-type gauge for yourself -- pencil-style gauges and the ones mounted on the air hose are unreliable according to federal government surveys). Under inflated tires reduce fuel efficiency by 2% for every pound they are under inflated. Under inflation also causes premature tire wear giving your tires a shorter use life.

3. Slow down and drive at the speed limit. Cars use about 20% more fuel driving at 70 miles per hour than they do at 55 miles per hour.

4. Avoid using air conditioning whenever possible. Air conditioning reduces fuel economy by 10% to 20%. Use the air ventilation system instead.

5. Don't drive with open windows when traveling at high speeds. Open windows on the highway can reduce fuel efficiency by 10%. It's much better to use the ventilation system.

6. Remove car racks and other items which make your car less aerodynamic when they're not being used. Leaving them on only makes your car less fuel efficient and costs you money.

7. There is no need to let your car idle. Even on cold mornings, cars don't need to idle more than 30 seconds. Newer cars are designed to be driven almost immediately and letting your car idle longer is a waste of gas.

8. It's more efficient to turn off your car and turn it on again than to let it idle for more than 45 seconds while waiting.

9. Remove all the excess weight from your car. Many people use their car trunk as a storage space adding unneeded pounds to the car's weight. This unnecessary weight reduces the car's fuel efficiency by about 1% for every 100 lbs.

10. For most cars, higher octane gas is simply a waste of money. Regular unleaded (approx. 87 octane or so) is the least expensive and what you should purchase. It's important to remember that octane is a measurement of how hard it is to ignite the gas, not the quality of the gas. Purchase mid or high octane gas only if your engine pings, knocks or rattles when using regular unleaded fuel.

About the Author
Copyright (c) Jeffrey Strain. He is owner of
http://www.paidtodriveautowrap.com - a website dedicated to telling
you the truth on why getting paid to drive a car isn't as easy as many
make it out to be.

** Printed from the FamilyCorner.com Frugality Corner newsletter **

barbszy · #2 (**permalink**) 07-11-2005, 09:23 AM

Thanks, Tami!

With the price of gas being so high I can use all the gas-saving tips I can get!

Abby01 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 01:24 PM

I have found that driving with the cruise control on helps a lot on saving on gas!!!

How much is gas in your area? Here in Michigan, I just paid the outrageous price of $3.69 a gallon. They have been talking about doing investigations in the state to see if there's price gouging going on. We have 2 trucks that are gas guzzlers. It sucks!! I miss my little car I used to have. I remember when I used to fill my car up on only $15.00. Those were the days!!

DeBora4BobbyL · #4 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 01:50 PM

Tami, thanks for the info. I did not know that the time of day that gas is purchased mattered.

Abby, the price of gas here is about $3.40-$3.50 per gallon.

ajrsmom · #5 (**permalink**) 07-20-2008, 10:05 PM

Bumping up.

There are some good ideas here, although #8 is being questioned now.

ajrsmom · #6 (**permalink**) 07-20-2008, 10:06 PM

Bumping up!

There are some good tips here...although #8 is being questioned now by some "experts".

Can You Guess? · #7 (**permalink**) 07-21-2008, 01:09 AM

This is interesting.

barbszy · #8 (**permalink**) 07-21-2008, 05:14 AM

Sheesh, I wish they'd make up their minds on #8. I have been trying hard to do that. Now they say it's not worth it?

RobertaD · #9 (**permalink**) 07-21-2008, 08:13 AM

I've heard recently if you are driving under 45 mph to have your windows open. But if driving highway have the A/C on as the drag of having windows open lessens the mph.

I've also heard that idleing the car reduces the mph.

Roberta

ajrsmom · #10 (**permalink**) 07-21-2008, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barbszy

Sheesh, I wish they'd make up their minds on #8. I have been trying hard to do that. Now they say it's not worth it?

On the evening news last week they did a big interview with a guy who was saying that it's not worth it all of the time. I'll have to ask my DH to explain it to me again. I can't remember the details...he's all into that stuff.