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Automobile |
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Your fuel costs. Pollution. Our country's dependence on foreign oil. The vehicle you choose to drive and how you drive it affect all of these issues. To minimize these effects, please look at these ways to improve your vehicle's fuel efficiency. |
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- Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gasoline.
- Consider buying a highly fuel-efficient vehicle. A fuel-efficient vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or an alternative fuel vehicle could save you a lot at the gas pump and help the environment. See the Fuel Economy Guide for more on buying a new fuel-efficient car or truck.
- Combine errands into one trip. Several short trips, each one taken from a cold start, can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.
- Replace clogged air filters to improve gas mileage by as much as 10% and protect your engine.
- Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems due to worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, low transmission fluid, or transmission problems.
- Keep tires properly inflated and aligned to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%.
- Use the grade of motor oil recommended by your car's manufacturer. Using a different motor oil can lower your gasoline mileage by 1%-2%.
- Check into telecommuting, carpooling and public transit to cut mileage and car maintenance costs.
- Reduce drag by placing items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks. A roof rack or carrier provides additional cargo space and may allow you to buy a smaller car. However, a loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5%.
- Clear out your car; extra weight decreases gas mileage.
- Use air conditioning only when necessary.
- Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.
- When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces wear.
- Avoid high speeds. Above 60 mph, gas mileage drops rapidly. The http://fueleconomy.gov/ Web site shows how driving speed affects gas mileage.
- Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, and hard braking) wastes gas. It can lower your highway gas mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.
- Idling gets you 0 miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Anything more simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
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