We might groan when someone mentions this (I know I do), this really is THE BEST way to get best gas mileage (not to mention your car will live longer). Driving less aggresively for example can increase gas mileage up to 33%. It's the number one way to get best gas mileage, as anything that makes your engine work harder will cause it to use more fuel. There are many ways you can get best gas mileage by just changing how you drive:Determine your car's actual gas mileage or your car's miles per gallon. Fill your tank, write down your odometer reading. Drive the car until you need to fill the tank again. Write down the odometer reading again and the number of gallons you used. Next, do this:
(odometer reading #2 - odometer reading #1) / number of miles driven between fillups = miles per gallon gas mileage reading
all you're doing is taking the difference between odometer readings and dividing it by the number of gallons you put in your tank for the second fillup. The result is a rough miles per gallon calculation. This is your starting point.
Before buying another car just for best gas mileage, make sure it's a good financial investment or the money you save on gas could go to a new or higher car payment.
Driving habits and gas mileage
aggressive driving and gas mileage
jackrabbitting away from stops - Accelerate lightly away from stops. This is easier on your transmission AND your wallet.
highway velocity - Do 55-60 MPH instead of 65-70 MPH (or higher). The gas mileage improvement from doing this is well documented and very significant. Engines are more efficient at the lower highway speeds. Your engine has to overcome a lot of wind resistance above 40 MPH.
driving fast in a lower gear - this can reduce your gas mileage by as much as 45%. If your car has a manual transmission, shift up as soon as you can without "bogging down" the engine which wears engine parts faster.
momentum conservation - this involves saving your velocity when possible, so you don't have to put your brakes on only to have to accelerate again. Sudden changes in speed waste gas.
hills - be careful here, but if you start slow at the top of a downhill slope, you can keep your foot off the gas for a while. If you have to go uphill, try to get a little more speed so you can allow your car's velocity to carry you up the hill and slow down at the same time.
Coast up to a stop or a traffic light - instead of going faster and hitting the brakes once you get there. Saving your speed will save your gas mileage, your money, and your brakes.
maintain the speed limit when possible - Quite a number of traffic lights are timed, so if you are driving on a road that has a few, maintaining a consistent speed close to the speed limit can get you all green lights.
cruise control versus gas pedal (throttle) control - while cruise control is a good way to get best gas mileage, it's not necessarily the best way because it's a speed controller, not a throttle position controller. In other words, if your car goes up a hill, it will use much more fuel just to maintain the same speed. If you can instead turn off the cruise control and keep a steady pressure on the gas pedal, while your speed will go down, you are better off. Make sure you can do this safely.
idling / warm up - Idling for long periods of time (more than one minute) is not only bad for your gas mileage, but your engine as well. Your engine is not very efficient at idle, so unburned fuel can literally "wash" the oil off the cylinder walls, which accelerates engine wear. Modern engines only need 30-45 seconds of warm-up, even on cold mornings.
** If your car has a carburetor, have the choke cleaned / maintained properly. A stuck choke (and they often stick) will waste gas. Make sure it is disengagged once the engine has warmed up.
** If your car has fuel injection, periodically have your injectors cleaned. An injector that is stuck partially open can waste a lot of fuel.
different route to work - If possible, take a different route to work, one that could allow you to reduce stop and go driving. Only a few of us have this luxury. Stop and go driving is hard on the gas mileage, engine, transmission, and brakes.
consolidating trips / carpooling - This is a no-brainer, but so many people fail to plan their errands, so they end up making 2, 3, or more trips when they could have made one, and not only saved gas mileage, but time also. Carpooling falls into this category too. If you and a co-worker can feasibly share one car, you can literally double your gas mileage because you're driving your car only half the time. You'll slow the number of miles you put on your car, and if you pay tolls, you will save money there, also.
how / when to buy gas for best gas mileage
colder time of day - Fill up in the evening or early morning. Gas is denser when temperatures are cooler. Remember, gas stations charge you by volume of gasoline, not density. The more gas you can get in one gallon, the better. Filling up in the evening when the air is cooler reduces gasoline evaporation.
don't overfill / "top off"- Filling the gas tank to the top can allow the gas to slosh over and out of tank while you are driving.
gas cap - Keep your gas cap tight all the time when you're not filling up. Gasoline evaporates like water and can escape through a loose gas cap. It wouldn't hurt to change the gas cap once in a while, as gasoline evaporates faster in higher temperatures.
busier stations - Go to busier gas stations to fill up. You can be assured the gasoline there is fresher with less chance of contamination. Watch out if the station just filled its tanks. Dirt at the bottom of the tank can get stirred up and enter your fuel system.
better quality gas - Watch out for name brand gas you've never heard of. The price may be lower, but the fuel could be contaminated. Gas mileage is sometimes better with higher quality gasoline.
don't drive on fumes - We've all been guilty of this one. This allows the fuel pump to pull up whatever dirt or sediment happens to be on the bottom of your gas tank. This could clog your fuel lines, fuel filter, and fuel injectors.
don't top off a lot - gas pumps need time to push the fuel into your tank, so you may end up paying more for the first little bit of gas.
best gas mileage enhancers - get the best gas mileage with these important tips
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