| Better ways to better Mileage |
| Drive at a given speed, say 50 mph, that your vehicle is comfortable at (and that is legal in most areas). Notice how much gas you are giving your vehicle. Next time you take off from a stoplight/sign just give your vehicle that much gas. It will get to the specified speed, but it will take a bit longer. This shows that you don't need to always give it lots of gas to get going. It is not always most convienient to accelerate slower, but it will save you money and often times, you will get to where you are going in the same time. From that point, think of bumper to bumper traffic. Are you one of the people that will drive 40 mph for 5 seconds to stop at the car in front of you? When you are sitting behind them, you are getting 0 miles to the gallon, its a fact. So if you want to achieve better mileage, you need to attempt to use the least amount of fuel. Slowly working your way up to the vehicle in front of you at 20 mph will ultimately achieve much better mileage than driving fast for 5 seconds and sitting still for 2 minutes. Starting up a vehicle uses about as much gas as idling for 30 seconds. When you are sitting in 5 o'clock traffic, you can turn you vehicle off to save gas. It may not sound like much, but every bit you save will ultimately add up at the end of the week. Accelerate and brake smoothly. If you are giving your vehicle gas while you are driving, then nearly slam on your brakes to stop for a stop sign, you could have let off the gas earlier and coasted to the stop sign, thus saving your brakes wear and saving gas (double saver of $$$). Keep your tire pressure up to specifications recommend by your vehicle's company. For every 10 psi you gain/lose approximately 1 mpg. You also reduce wear if you keep them properly inflated (more monetary gains). Use 5w30 (cold weather) and 10w30 (warm weather). Use of heavier weight oils will add friction (and some protection, but most vehicles are designed to run on these typical weight oils). Remember the oil additives, simply are a thicker oil added to your regular weight. You can do that on your own with a thicker weight oil. Use a vacuum gauge. My personal favorite is the Equus. This is essentially a "load meter." It tells you how hard your engine is working. Since gasoline engines are essentially large air pumps, the vacuum gauge lets you read how it is running. It can also be used to diagnose engine problems. They cost about $15 and are worth every bit of it. The goal is to reduce fuel consumption when you can, and reduce friction (from the road and inside your engine). |
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| vacuum guage |