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5 Fuel Savings Tips for Savvy Drivers

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Saving money at the pump.

High fuel prices can drain your wallet, making it difficult for you to make ends meet. You cannot do anything about pump prices, but you can put some distance between your visits to the service station, by employing several fuel saving tips immediately.

1. Use Cruise Control

fuel saving tipsMost cars come with cruise control, a device that keeps your vehicle at a constant speed. Cruise control is ideal for the open highway when long traveling distances mean consuming much fuel.

Set your cruise control at highway speed and you may be able to find fuel savings averaging 7 percent according to Edmunds.com.

2. Keep Your Engine Tuned

Tune ups are a thing of the past, but your car’s engine still needs to run optimally. Many cars can go as far as 100,000 miles before replacing spark plugs becomes necessary. Even so, there are other parts that may need replacing sooner such as the PCV valve, fuel filters, ignition components and air filters.

By following the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance intervals as outlined in your owner’s manual you can save about 4 percent on fuel, perhaps much more if your oxygen sensor is faulty.

3. Keep Tires Inflated at the Proper Level

Under inflation can lead to tire failure putting yourself at risk of an accident. Tires that are regularly under inflated can see tread life reduced by up to 25 percent notes TireRack.com.

Improperly inflated tires can have a negative affect on your fuel economy too, coming in as much as 3 percent lower when tire pressure is 10 psi below the car manufacturer’s recommended level.

2016 Jaguar XF
Avoid idling to reduce fuel consumption.

4. Avoid Prolonged Idling

Among the newest features found in many cars built today is stop-start technology. These technologies cut engine spark and fuel when idle, such as at a stop light, automatically reactivating same when you take your foot off of the brake.

Car manufacturers have been rolling out start-stop technology as an important way to enhance fuel savings. Even if your car is not equipped with the technology, you can save fuel when your idle times last for more than one minute. Double-digit fuel savings are possible when you shut down your idled vehicle.

5. Lighten Your Load

Do you use your trunk to store sporting gear? Do you drive around in your pickup truck with excess weight in the truck bed? If so, that added weight can make your engine work harder and run less efficiently.

For every 100 extra pounds that you have in your vehicle, your fuel savings can drop by up to 1 percent according to the EPA. Whenever possible lighten up to conserve fuel.

2016 Ford Focus RS
Always ensure tires are properly inflated. Check the spare while you are at it.

Take it Easy

You can realized additional savings if you ease up on the gas pedal by avoiding both jackrabbit starts and harsh braking.

Add it all up and your fuel savings can top 25 percent. This means if you currently spend $60 per week on fuel, you may be able to save as much as $15 a week or $780 per year.

See Also — 8 Steps to Buying a Used Car

Jaguar and Ford photos copyright Auto Trends Magazine. All rights reserved.

AOCA Offers Timely Gas Saving Tips

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Gas prices have now topped $4 per gallon for regular gasoline, forcing consumers to cut back on usage or think of other ways to reduce the pain at the pump. The Automotive Oil Change Association (AOCA) offers some tips on how to improve fuel economy and, surprisingly, it doesn’t include changing your car’s oil every 3000 miles. Good thing too — most cars today can go for as long as 7500 miles between oil changes.

So, what does AOCA recommend? Some of the usual tips but also good reasons behind them:

Oil Changes — Regularly changing your oil will add many miles to your engine. Changing your engine oil according to your car manufacturer’s
recommendation in your owner’s manual will help lubricate the engine,
minimize friction and carry away excessive heat, all of which will
lead to greater fuel efficiency.

Use the Right Grade — Make sure that you are using the right grade of motor oil for your vehicle. This is usually printed on the oil cap or in your owner’s manual.

Drive Sensibly — Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage up to 33 percent at highway speeds and up to 5 percent around town.

Observe the Speed Limit — While every vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed, gas mileage usually decreases at speeds above 60 mph. As a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon of gas.

Air Filter — Filters are a crucial part of regular vehicle maintenance and act as the ‘vehicle’s lung’. Dirty air filters make it harder for the engine to breathe. If the flow is restricted by a clogged air filter, the fuel economy and vehicle performance will suffer. Replacing a clogged air filter can increase your mileage by up to 10 percent.

Tires — Under-inflated tires affect your mileage by increasing resistance and making it more difficult for the engine to move the car along the road. For every 1-psi you are under the optimal rate, you lose 0.4 percent of your miles per gallon. The average person can improve mileage by approximately 3.3 percent by inflating their tires to the proper psi for their vehicle.

Remove Excess Weight — Avoid keeping unneeded items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your fuel economy by up to 2-percent. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle’s weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.

Avoid Excessive Idling — When your vehicle is idling, you are getting 0 miles to the gallon.

Use Cruise Control — By using cruise control on the highway you will be maintaining a constant speed and saving gas.

Secure Gas Cap — Make sure your gas cap is on and not loose or damaged. 147 million gallons of gas vaporize every year due to these conditions.

Gas prices are expected to continue to rise, but you can realize improved fuel economy by changing your driving habits and keeping up with maintenance.

See Also — Hypermiling Defined!

Source: Automotive Oil Change Association