Do you ever find yourself worrying about fuel prices and how you can improve your fuel economy? At All Tech Automotive, we think about these issues all the time. People often just don't know that they CAN change the fuel economy of their vehicle with just a few simple tweeks, they just assume that their car either sips gas or guzzles gas. So we spent some time on the internet to find you a great resource on what changes you can make to your vehicle to help solve some of these issues just in time for all of your summer driving!
GET BETTER GAS MILEAGE - IMPROVING YOUR FUEL ECONOMY
They used to say that you could only rely on two things in life - taxes and death. Not true. There's three things. Taxes, death and the cost of petrol sprialling forever upwards. So consider this page your guide to making the best of a bad situation. Follow these tips and you should be able to improve your mpg - miles per gallon. Better fuel economy = more money in your bank account.
FIRST THINGS FIRST : MEASURING YOUR GAS MILEAGE
It seems obvious but a lot of people just don't know how to measure their average gas mileage. Fuel economy is a total mystery to them. So bear with me - I realise to a lot of you this is the age-old adage of teaching you to suck eggs.
So - a lot of cars nowadays have an mpg readout that you can select from their onboard computer. Whilst these are useful, they do tend to be a bit optimistic. I've found over the past 6 to 8 years that on-board mpg displays tend to over-read by about 7%. Not much but enough to give you a skewed view of reality. So how do you measure your average mpg? It's easy. You need to start with a full tank and always fill your tank to the point where the pump cuts off. It's painful to your wallet, especially at today's prices, but it's the best chance you have.
So first - fill up. Fill your car to the point where the pump cuts off and zero your trip counter. Now you know you're starting from a 'full' tank. I say full because each car has a different amount of dead space at the top of the tank and in the fuel filler neck, but if you let the pump cut off on its own each time, it will generally fill to around the same level each time.
Next time you fill up, again fill the tank to the pump cutoff and importantly, make a note of the number of litres or gallons you put in, and the trip counter reading. Divide one by the other and you get either miles per gallon (mpg) or km per litre. Zero the trip counter again and keep a note of the mpg calculation.
Each time you fill up, fill it to the pump cutoff, and make a note of the amount that went in and the trip counter reading, calculating your mpg or litres per km each time.
Once you have four or five calculations, you can start to figure out your running average using some simple maths, or an online mileage tracker like mymilemarker.com or trackyourgasmileage.com.
NEW CAR OR SOMETHING ELSE?
One of the first things that people think of once they think they're getting bad gas mileage, is buying a new car - not necessarily brand new - perhaps a more fuel-efficient used one or even a hybrid. But be careful - you have to do your homework here. Take into account how much you could sell your existing car for and how much you're going to pay for the new one. Hybrids in particular can cost up to 20 percent more than other cars. It's important because generally speaking, going this route will normally result in a net loss - you'll end up losing money unless you keep the new car for 5 years or more. Better fuel economy will mean that the day-to-day running expenses will be less once you've got the new car. But think about it - the initial outlay to swap cars will likely be huge.
So then you're left with the other option - getting better mpg out of your existing car. In order of ease-of-attainability then, the carbibles.com ten tips for better gas mileage:
1. YOUR RIGHT FOOT
So simple anyone can do it. If you're caning it away from the traffic lights, you're wasting petrol and your mpg will be down. If you're endurance racing at 80mph on the motorway, you're wasting petrol. Here's the thing - your gas mileage can drop off as much as 15% between driving at or below 65mph and driving above 65mph. Now I love speed as much as the next person but you have to be realistic here - do you want better fuel economy or to get there marginally quicker? I sound like a total wet blanket telling you this of course, but driving slower absolutely will improve your mpg. Why? Because once you get over about 65mph, you're using more engine power to overcome drag, which means consuming more petrol to do it.
What about when you're not on the motorway? Well consider a little less braking if you can. If you can see the next set of lights ahead of you are red, don't race up to them and come to a complete stop. Try to moderate your speed a little if you can do it safely. If you can get there as they turn green and the traffic in front begins to move, you're doing OK. That's because it takes more energy to get you going from a complete stop than it does from a slow roll. So if you can do this, it will improve your mpg.
2. CHANGE OCTANE IF YOU CAN
Too many people drive around with medium or premium gas in their tank when they just don't need to. If your owner's manual says "regular", it means it. Putting mid-grade or premium in is just wasting money. Why? Unless you have a high-compression engine which could be prone to detonation (pinking / pinging), you have absolutely no need for high-octane petrol. The only thing that higher octane gives you is less probability of detonation. In high-performance cars with high-compression engines, that means allowing the engine management system to work at peak efficiency but for probably 75% of you, your car will quite happily run on the cheapest petrol you can put in it. Not an improvement in fuel economy per se, but a money saving at least.
3. USE THE INTERNET
Again - not so much about improving your mpg as saving money; no matter where you live, there will be one or more internet sites that can provide you with petrol prices in your area. Vote with your money. Buy from the cheap ones, and shun the expensive ones. It's not improving your mpg, but it is saving you money, and in the long term, that's what counts here. Apathy in this area is what the petrol companies rely on. To get you going, here's a couple of examples. US petrol prices. UK petrol prices. For others, use your favourite search engine.
4A. CHECK YOUR TYRE PRESSURES
This is a total no-brainer. Check your tyre pressures regularly - make it part of your sunday routine or something. All motoring sites and magazines tell you the same thing and that's for a reason. If your tyre pressures are low, you will be increasing the rolling resistance of the tyre on the road and that will be robbing your fuel efficiency - your gas mileage will be down. So make sure they're up to manufacturer recommended values (at the very least) and watch your mpg get a little better.
4B. GET LOW ROLLING-RESISTANCE TYRES
You might never have considered this, but manufacturers do make tyres designed for low rolling resistance. This means that there's less effort required to roll the tyre along the road surface. Less effort means less load on your engine. Less load means better mpg. When I went for aftermarket alloy wheels and tyres on my Honda Element, my gas mileage dropped by about 1mpg due simply to the change in tread pattern of the tyres.
For the rest of this article please go to carbibles.com. If you are ready to make some of these recommended tweeks to your car and you find that you are not comfortable doing it yourself, come on in to All Tech Automotive! We will be happy to help you with all of your automotive needs!