Gas For Less Money

Gas Mileage Improvements won’t change the high price of gas, but they will save you money. Some gas mileage improvements can have a significant impact on your overall fuel economy, some not as much. But taken together, these gas mileage improvements can add up and depending on the make, model, and condition of your vehicle, save you the equivelant of $1.00 per gallon or more!

(For a bulletted list, see the post Gas Mileage Tips)

If you have some good gas mileage  improvements that you don’t see here, send ‘em in! And if you really want the Jackpot of gas mileage improvements, get our FABULOUS “Gas For Less Money” book! (Coming out July 1st, 2008)

Octane - Gas For Less Money!

Octane is the numerical grade refiners give to their gasolines. Generally, octane ranges from 87 to 92 or 93. The oil companies would like you to believe that the higher-octane fuels will improve your car’s performance and mileage. In almost all cases, this is not true.

Octane is actually a measure of the temprature at which the fuel combusts inside your engine. And while refiners used to put helpful additives only in the higher-octane grades, they are now generally added to all grades. So what is the benefit of high-octane gas?

Very little. In fact, if your car will run on the lowest octane gas, and nearly every car, truck, and pickup will, then you are simply wasting money buying “Super”. Unless your engine ‘knocks’, there is absolutely no benefit to your mileage or ‘wear-and-tear’. Buy the lowest - and cheapest! - gas available.

Aerodynamics - Drag!

It probably doesn’t need to be said, but the harder your engine has to work, the more fuel it consumes, meaning the lower your gas mileage will be. You can lessen the work your engine has to do by reducing drag. There are many ways to reduce drag:

Keep your tires properly inflated. Under-inflated tires ‘grip’ the road much harder than properly-inflated tires do. It takes less work - hence less gas - to move a car with properly-inflated tires.

Keep your wheels aligned. If your tires are out of alignment, you are again making your engine work harder than necessary.

Keep your brakes aligned. Not only will your engine not have to work as hard, but you will have to brake less.

Reduce weight. Time to clean out that trunk and back seat! Every 50 lbs. you take out of your car improves your gas mileage by approximately 1%.

Driving!

Some of the best gas mileage improvements revolve around the way we drive. Of don’t drive…

Idling. Don’t do it. You get exactly zero miles per gallon when you are stopped. And as long as your car is running, your cost per mile for gas goes up to infinity. Now of course it takes more gas to start your car than to idle - to a point. If you are going to be stopped for more than 30 seconds, you will save by shutting your car off.

Braking - again. Unless you are driving a Hybrid, braking reduces your overall gas mileage. In most cases, you will use less gas by driving slower and braking less, even though it takes longer to get there. And speaking of taking longer to get there…

Drive slower. Particularly at highway speeds, most engines become extremely inefficient at higher speeds. In fact, the old national 55 mile per hour speed limit was imposed as a result of the 1970’s gas embargo, as a way to reduce fuel consumption.

Combine trips. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that driving to the store and back, then to the dry cleaners and back will probably use more gasoline than driving to the store, then the dry cleaners, then home.

Additives!

We’ll be adding a whole section on gasoline additives like “octane boosters” very soon.

Take advantage of these gas mileage improvements. The savings add up; if you follow all these tips, you can expect to fill up less often, maybe even considerably less often!