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Frugal Driving
Frugal
Driving - Improving Efficiency
With the consistently rising costs of gasoline,
fuel efficiency in our vehicles is becoming more important than
ever. This guide will help you take steps to make sure you
are getting the most out of your mileage.
Obviously, the first and foremost step
to ensuring fuel efficiency occurs before you actually purchase a new
vehicle. The criteria used to choose a vehicle should most
definitely include gas mileage per gallon. Generally, the
smaller the vehicle, the better the mileage, though this also depends
on what type of engine the car you are looking to buy has. A
6-cylinder will burn more fuel than a 4-cylinder, regardless of whether
or not the vehicles are the same size and weight. Make sure
to get an automobile that suits your needs and makes you happy, but get
the one that will do the trick that also gets the best mileage
possible.
If you can afford it, go for a hybrid that runs
partly on electricity. The money it saves you on gas over the
time you have the vehicle will more than make up the difference in the
cost of the vehicle (which is not all that much these days as the
prices of hybrids has gone down). Just add up the monthly
payment plus gas for a regular vehicle, then add it up for a hybrid,
and I'm sure the choice will become more clear. Also, there
are certain tax benefits to owning one of these vehicles as well.
There are also vehicles known as Flexible Fuel
vehicles you can look into, which can take fuel high in ethanol as well
as regular gasoline. Ethanol fuel is cheaper than regular
fuel these days, and more gas stations are starting to have it
available at the pump.
Another thing to consider when choosing
a new car is safety ratings. Not only will higher safety
ratings keep you and your family safer in your vehicle, your insurance
company may also charge you less for driving a safer automobile.
Now for the little day to day things you can do,
regardless of what type of vehicle you are driving. Consider
what time of day you are putting gas in your car. If you fill
up your tank at night or early in the morning when it is still cool,
you will get better mileage out of your gas. The cooler it
is, the denser the gas is in the underground tanks. Since gas
pumps measure the volume of the gas and not density, you will actually
get “more” gas this way than if you fill up your
tank in the heat of the day.
Now that we are done with the physics lesson,
let’s go through a list of other things you can do to
increase your car’s efficiency:
-
Drive in the proper gear for
the speed you are going. Driving in a lower gear than you
should be can increase gas consumption by as much as 40%.
- Don’t drive above
the speed limit. The faster you go, the more gas your car
burns. Driving at 70 miles per hour burns 20% more fuel than
driving at 55 miles per hour.
- Open the windows on nice days,
or just use the ventilator. Using the air conditioner
decreases fuel efficiency by 10-20%.
- Don’t open the
windows when driving at high speeds. The loss in aerodynamics
will decrease your fuel economy by up to 10%, so if you are on the
freeway, use the ventilator when you don’t need
A/C. Cruise control when driving at steady speeds will
increase fuel efficiency, and remember to remove roof racks and other
things that decrease your aerodynamics when they are not needed.
- Don’t store
unnecessary items in your car. Using the trunk for a storage
space uses gas unnecessarily because of the weight overload.
- Avoid dirt and gravel roads
whenever possible. These unfinished services can cause your
vehicle to lose up to 30% of its fuel efficiency.
- When it comes to acceleration
and slowing down, do both gently. Speeding up quickly and
breaking fast waste fuel. Avoid rush hour’s stop
and go traffic, and when you do get stuck in it, try to maintain a
crawl.
- When approaching an uphill
slope, accelerate before you get to it. This will burn less
gas than accelerating while you are going uphill.
- Don’t let the car
idle. It is more efficient to turn the car off then on again
than to let it idle for more than 45 seconds. Also, newer
cars do not need to idle on cold mornings for more than 30 seconds
before driving them.
- Check your tire pressure once
a month. Under inflated tires can decrease gas efficiency by
up to 2% per pound of under inflation. Not to mention that
not keeping the tires to the proper pressure will run the life of the
tires much shorter than intended, thereby increasing costs dramatically
when you have to buy new tires twice a year.
- Maintain your car
properly. Keeping up with oil and filter changes, and proper
alignment will keep your car at its top economy levels.
- Every few months, calculate
your vehicle’s miles per gallon. A decrease can
indicate a mechanical problem you might not otherwise be aware of.
Before you initialize the above steps, take note of your
vehicle’s current fuel economy. Then try following
the steps and take note of your new fuel economy. You may be
pleasantly surprised, and can use the cash you save for a rainy day!
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