How to Get Better Gas Millage

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

If you don't have a vehicle that's good on gas, consider getting one!
Check prices at different gas stations - it's amazing how the price can fluctuate within a 10 mile radius! But don't go out of your way to check, just pay attention.

Step 1

• Replacing a dirty air filter (about every 3,000 miles) can improve your gas mileage by as much as 10%
• Adjusting your tires to the proper inflation every week can improve your gas mileage by around 3%
• When starting up and slowing down, do so in a slow, gradual manner. You could save up to 35% in gas economy! Coast down hills. (Your brakes will bless you with a longer life as well!)
• Use cruise control when you can on freeway driving.
• I don't know about you, but I fill up when it late and cool. It doesn't seem as though as much gas vapor comes out while you're filling up.
• Get a tune up or do your own tune up. Check you owner's manual for specific guidelines.
• If you don’t need a premium grade of fuel - don't fill up with it! Today's cars are most fuel efficient with the grade of gas recommended by the manufacturer and might even be damaged by higher grade gas!
• Turn off the vehicle when you park and wait. Anything over 5 seconds is wasting gas! Or is it 3? You get the point, don't you?
• Don't drive as much - plan trips ahead of time and make the most of wherever it is you are going, starting with the farthest destination. Consolidate errands as much as possible and cut down the times you cold start your car - saving gas and time!
• Don't speed! Fuel efficiency drops once you go over 60 mph. The EPA estimates that each 5 mph driven above 60 costs you an extra 20 cents a gallon.
• Extra weight in the trunk or passenger compartment makes the engine work harder and uses more gas so lighten up as much as possible.
• Keep the gas gauge at half or less to lighten the vehicle's load as well - as you can see in the pic, I filled it a little too full but not too bad!
Step 2

Dirty Oil!

Don't change your oil so fast! The myth is that engine oil should be changed every 3000 miles. Maybe older cars needed a change that often but today's cars run cleaner and the oil has improved a lot, especially the synthetic oils. Most auto manufacturers recommend oil changes at a minimum of 5,000 miles - some even say up to 10,000 mile intervals under normal driving conditions! Even you can see when the oil is dirty but if you aren't sure, take a good look at it on the dip stick right after having your oil and oil filter changed. It will be a bit golden and clear. The darker and cloudier it gets, the more likely it needs to be changed.
Step 3

A Great Place To Go!

Go to a place like Valvoline. We bought a used car two years ago and wanted to get the oil changed - ASAP! The person who checked our car over said the oil was great and we didn't need a change yet! That's right! We were told we didn't need a change yet. The next time we went in - about 3 months later - we were again told we didn't need it changed by a different person. They also check all fluid levels every time we stopped, filling up whatever was necessary (radiator, windshield wipers - they would have added oil if we needed it), and adjusted the tires. We had it checked two more times before they actually said it was a good time to change it! The coupon I received in the mail brought the oil and oil filter change down to a little over $30 with tax! The last time we stopped, our Valvoline specialist was named Curtis. Just as every person I've ever talked to there, he was friendly and smiling, helpful and really earned our nickname for him - Courteous Curtis! Great place and great guy! (Wish we had stock in this company!)

Comments

cyclecyco said

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on 8/3/2008 Say,great article doublem nice research!

MidniteWriter said

on 7/28/2008 Gr8 ideas, things I never would have imagined. Thanks!

on 7/26/2008 They do a standard 21 things when you get your oil changed and they do most of them when you come in for a check! They are absolutely amazing - wish they sold gas, too! They genuinely seem glad to see you!