With fuel prices around the world increasing on what seems like a daily basis. Fuel economy is at the front of everybody’s minds. Simple ways to improve your gas mileage and save money has become important in saving as much money as possible on fuel costs.
We have compiled a list of simple ways to improve your gas mileage so you can attempt to improve your gas mileage. The greatest thing about this list is most of these tips are free, or at least cost you very little.
Check out the tips and start saving fuel now. When you are filling up at the pump and enjoying your savings, think about us!
- Slow down
This is one of the easiest methods of saving fuel. If you slow down 5-10mph from your current cruising speed you can increase your fuel economy from between 7-14%. So instead of setting your cruise control to 75mph this morning on your way to work. Set it at 65mph and see the fuel economy increase.
- Keep your vehicle clean
This tip can be easier said than done. At least it is for me, my kids try everything they can to keep my vehicle cluttered and dirtying my freshly cleaned floormats. For every 100 lbs that you remove from your vehicle you can increase your vehicle’s fuel economy by 1%. If you are used to driving around with tools, supplies, etc. in your trunk. Try putting them in your basement instead.
- Drive smoothly
When driving ensure that you are driving as smoothly as possible. This means accelerating slowly, as well as braking slowly when coming to a stop.
- Use cruise control
By using cruise control you can ensure that you are maintaining a set speed and not constantly decreasing and increasing your speed. By maintaining this constant speed you can see an increase in fuel economy of up to 14%
- Look ahead
Keep an eye on the traffic ahead of you. Anticipate what the vehicles ahead of you are going to do. Does traffic look like it is going to slow down soon, let off the gas and coast. This will get you ready to slow down faster and also allow you to maintain your speed and possibly avoid having to stop if traffic speeds up again.
- Turn off the engine
DO NOT IDLE your engine. Depending on your engine size you can burn close to 0.5 gallons of fuel every hour by idling. This may seem like a long time of idling but think about how much you idle your vehicle every week. Waiting on your kids at school, waiting in the drive through, letting your vehicle “warm up” before leaving in the morning. It all adds up and can add dollars to your fuel cost.
- Check your tire pressures
Properly inflated tires are not only very important for vehicle safety and tire wear but it can also have a large effect on your vehicle’s gas mileage. As each tire loses 10psi your fuel economy will decrease by roughly 3.3%. This is a staggering amount of fuel when you picture the entire country. The Department of Energy currently estimates that due to incorrectly inflated tires, roughly 1.25 billion, yes billion, gallons of fuel are wasted each year. Check out our great article on tire pressures to learn more about how you can do this simple maintenance task yourself.
- Check your alignment
The alignment of your vehicle sets the angles at which your tires contact the road. This has an effect not only on tire wear but also fuel mileage. If your vehicle is not aligned properly it can cause your vehicle’s tires to drag or scrub. This not only causes your fuel economy to increase it will also wear your tires at a faster rate.
- Remove accessories
Clean up the outside of your vehicle. Cargo carriers, roof racks, bike carriers are only a few of the items that we attach to the outside of our vehicles. These items can increase the aerodynamic drag on our vehicles.This causes our vehicle to burn more fuel and decreases fuel economy. When not using these accessories, remove them from your vehicle and store them properly.
- Do not use the a/c
Now I understand, some of you are probably yelling at your screens right now by the mere suggestion of turning off the a/c. However this is an excellent way of saving fuel. The air conditioning system has components that rob the engine of horsepower thus causing fuel economy to suffer. You can improve fuel economy by simply turning off the a/c.
Hint: This tip is only going to work if you keep your windows up as well as turn off the a/c
- Check your air filter
Your engine needs a constant supply of fresh, filtered air to run at its peak performance. Depending on how dirty your air filter is, you can increase your fuel economy by 10% by installing a new air filter.
- Fix the check engine light
If you have a check engine light on your dash, get it fixed asap. Depending on the fault that caused the light to illuminate, you can increase your fuel economy dramatically by getting it repaired. A simple faulty fuel injector for example, can cause your vehicle to consume more fuel. So fix the check engine light as soon as possible.
- Plan a better route
This is a very simple way to increase your fuel mileage but requires some careful planning before your trip. When planning a route for a drive, pick a route that is as flat as possible with the least amount of stop signs or traffic lights. This will ensure that you do not have to waste fuel slowing down and speeding up multiple times.
- Switch to low rolling resistance tires
We discussed checking your air pressures earlier in this list but there are other ways that your tires can help to increase your fuel mileage. Make the switch to low rolling resistance tires. These tires are designed with fuel mileage in mind, they offer a lower amount of drag. Because of this reduced drag between the road and the tire an increase in fuel mileage of 5-15% is possible on a typical passenger car.
- Replace your fuel filter
Your vehicle’s fuel filter overtime collects dirt and can become plugged. This prevents your engine from getting the proper amount of fuel to the engine which can cause it to run rough. This can increase your fuel consumption and decrease your gas mileage.
- Fill up early in the morning?
We left this one close to the end because it may be a rumour that is spread in the automotive world. The case can be made that fuel is metered at your fuel station by volume, therefore if you fill up early in the morning when the temperature is low the fuel is more dense. Resulting in more fuel. This is a myth as most modern fuel stations keep their fuel tanks in the ground. This results in a much more consistent fuel temperature throughout the day. Let’s chalk this one up to a myth.
- Get Crazy
Start removing the seats, carpet, dash, and even headliner from your vehicle. Create custom aerodynamic hubcaps, raise your hood to prevent drag from your wipers. You can get as crazy as you like, and there are many around the world that like to do just that to try and get the best gas mileage possible. Find out many other ways you can increase your fuel economy at hypermiling.co.uk
- Ride your bike
If you are looking to save the most amount of fuel, walk to work or ride your bike. (I know, I am sorry, I had to include it because it is the ultimate way of saving fuel after all.)
So there it is, everybody 18 Simple ways to improve your gas mileage and save money. If you have any tips that we missed and you would like to share please comment below. We would like to keep this list going to help everyone save as much money on fuel as possible.
