You get value for money only if you extract the best out of anything that you purchase. Fuel and your car are no exception. You would definitely want to recover the cost of every drop of gas you pumped in, and run the most miles in your car out of that. This in other words is termed as fuel efficiency, and is achievable by understanding and following a few simple tips.
Factors Related to Driving
No matter what car you possess, it is the way you drive that matters most. If you follow the ideal driving protocol seriously, you can make your car travel that extra mile.
No Speeding: Think what will make you tire out quickly, walking steadily or sprinting. You know that when you go steady, you can go a long way as you conserve more energy. Treat your car in a similar manner and drive smoothly, making aggressive driving a thing of the past. Remember, even frequent braking and rapid acceleration wastes your precious fuel. If your car has the feature of cruise control, use it on the highways to run at constant speed. Sensible driving saves you more cents.
Respecting Speed Limits: Your car can sure reach breathtaking speeds, but at a cost. The faster you drive taking the speed of the car beyond 60mph, the quicker is the decline in the gas mileage. Observing the speed limits not only saves the fuel, but also makes the travel safer.
Timely Shifting of Gears: We know that lower gears use more engine power, and speeding in these gears is sheer fuel wastage. Ideally, it is required to shift the gears according to their assigned speed range. In cars with manual transmission, it is possible to achieve this and reach the highest gear in no time, thus saving gas. However, such methodological gear change is not possible in cars with automatic transmission, making them inefficient fuel managers. Using the overdrive gears save gas and reduce the engine wear too. Always remember that moderate acceleration always peps up the fuel efficiency.
Factors related to Car Care
Even if the car is not moving, you have to consider many things so that your car remains fuel-efficient.
Switch Off Policy: A running engine burns fuel even if the car is stationary. You should avoid excessive idling, and unnecessary starting or stopping of the engine as well. Pressing the accelerator in a switched-on standing car simply uses up the fuel with no productivity.
Light Drive: Lesser the load in your car, more the comfort for the car’s engine, as it won’t have to put in more power to move, thus saving fuel in the process. This is a ‘heavy’ issue especially for the small cars.
Regular Maintenance: These shortcomings might not be visible, but the fouled spark plugs, clogged fuel filter, and out-of-tune engine not only dampen the overall vehicle performance, but also lower the fuel economy. Properly maintained and serviced cars have greater chances of saving more money for you.
Conditioned Tires: Tires devoid of proper air pressure will force the car engine to produce more power. The air in the tires has to be at an optimum level to normalize the engine running and save fuel as a result.
Right Ventilation: The use of air conditioning obviously puts more pressure on the engine causing it to consume more fuel. However, it is preferable to use the air conditioners on highways when speeding, as the rolled down windows produce a worse drag pressure negatively affecting fuel efficiency.
Now you know it is easy to make your car fuel-efficient. It not only saves you money, but also contributes to a reduction in global climate change by lowering your carbon footprint, minimizes the nation’s dependency on oil, and increases energy sustainability.