Comments on: How to Increase Gas Mileage

on 11/22/2005 Start driving around 15 to 30 seconds after startup. If traffic permits, accelerate only moderately until the temperature gauge is in the normal range. In my own experience, this took me from 12 mpg to 16 mpg on an 18 mile round trip to and from work and home.

on 11/22/2005 Keep the muffler bearings lubricated for optimal performance. Use synthetic halogen fluid only (the blue kind), instead of the standard SAE 40 variety. Be sure to use thinner brake pads on the next brake job. By using pads with less friction material, you will create less drag between the pad and the rotor. Finally, inflate the tires with a product called HeliGel. This is a helium based gel that is injected into the tires of the vehicle. Once the gel hits the air in the tires, it vaporizes into helium gas and will lower the vehicle weight by 30-50 pounds.

on 11/22/2005 Every time your fuel gauge goes below 1/4 tank, you are ingesting more air into your system, thus causing a less efficient gasoline burn. The result: your mileage goes down. To further compound the issue, your fuel pump must work harder below 1/4 tank, making it more prone to overheating and failure. At several hundred dollars, it's a repair that completely negates any savings from using fresh fuel.

on 11/22/2005 Keeping your headlights on does not affect your gas mileage. The car's alternator is spinning at all times when the engine is running. Your car headlights do not use 5-7 mpg in gas!

on 11/22/2005 As an engineer, and the son of an engineer, I can tell you that next to accelerating, wind resistance is very important. Power lost (i.e., gas consumed) due to wind resistance equals speed cubed. Driving a little slower will save you a lot of gas. The difference between 75 and 70 mph is far greater than the difference between 45 mph and 40 mph. At lower speeds you worry more about accelerating and braking. Headlights consume 50 watts which is less than 0.1 horsepower.

on 11/22/2005 Depending on the distance you are going to drive, the difference in efficiency of a warm engine over a cold engine, doesn't outweigh the fact that the ZERO(0) MPG you are getting in the driveway warming up doesn't average in. For example, a 5 mile trip at a nominal 15 mpg is only 1/3 gal. A 10 minute drive at 15 mpg plus a 10 minute warm up at 0 mpg, equals 20 minutes at 7.5 mpg. If your car doesn't warm up in 5 miles, if it had half the mileage cold as it did hot, you don't break even. Only allow enough time to get some oil circulating, and take it easy until you've got normal range on the temperature gauge.

on 11/22/2005 My truck is designed to get 21 miles per gallon. By driving wisely, I can get about 38 miles per gallon.

1. I take my foot off the gas about 100 yards before a stop sign/light.
2. I take my foot off the gas when I go down hills.
3. I try to keep the speed limit.
4. I accelerate slowly after stopping.
5. I make an effort every time I drive to see how much gas I can save.
6. I make a game out of it and try to top the mileage I got on the last tank of gas. It not only is a challenge, it makes each trip go by faster,too.

on 11/22/2005 Gas weighs something, so less gas in a tank actually improves mileage. Try carrying around 10 to 15 gallons of gas and you'll see how much of a burden it can be.

on 11/22/2005 Cars today are "learning" your driving habits. Obviously, they aren't talking to you, but most of the newer systems in a lot of the cars save data about how hard you accelerate, brake, pass, etc. When you let someone else drive your car for a while, it re-learns the operator's driving habits. If you have a car with personalization features that can be switched between multiple drivers, each profile has its own section of data on how that driver drives. For example, if you let your wife (or husband) drive your car for a few weeks and they have a "lead foot," the computer compensates to get the best gas mileage it can under the conditions. When you get the car back, it has to re-learn your driving habits.

on 11/22/2005 Run your tank to almost empty prior to filling up! This gives you a "fresh" tank each time. The difference between cool gas and air temperature gas can be as much as a gallon difference in expanded capacity. You will see the difference! You are paying for the lesser amount.

on 11/22/2005 Replace the stock air filter in your car with an air filter that allows for increased air flow. (An example is a "K&N Filter".) This will give a slight boost to a car's HP. If you don't change your driving habits, this will increase your mileage. If you don't know where to find such air filters, do a search online or ask a mechanic.

on 11/22/2005 The most accurate way to check gas mileage is to fill up the tank all the way and then reset your trip odometer. When you next fill up the tank (the whole way), record the mileage on the trip odometer. Use the [gallons pumped/mileage on trip odometer] as your gas mileage.

If you continue to do this and keep a log of gas mileage/driving conditions, you will soon learn what the true mileage is on your particular car with the way you drive. This will also come in handy when you want to try a new method for increasing gas mileage, providing you with a record of how well it's working.

on 11/22/2005 Definitely buy lots of parts and additives to improve your mileage, since you don't have anything better to do with all the money you saved!

on 11/22/2005 I have removed many gas tanks and have yet to see a "V" shaped tank. All the ones I have seen look roughly like a box with rounded corners.

Here is the formula I use to check my mileage:

Miles / gallons (as shown on the gas pump) not Miles / tank size

on 11/22/2005 Keep your headlights off if they don't need to be on. The energy that powers your headlights doesn't come from nowhere, it comes from your gas. Some cars use up to 5-7 mpg more with headlights on.