Car Tech: DRIVER TIPS: Getting Great Gas Mileage

DRIVER TIPS: Getting Great Gas Mileage

Hello everyone. The sting of high-priced fuel is getting worse, and now more than ever MPG is becoming an important factor in everyday life. So here's some REAL tips on how to save gas.

TIP 1: Don't Drive Like A Street Racer

Simply put, the harder you put your boot down on the gas, the more fuel your engine will use. Also, the higher your engine is running in RPMs, the more fuel it is consuming per second.

Learn how to pull out in traffic without letting your engine rev up to 5,000 RPM or wherever your redline is. This is very important in multi-carburated, turbocharged, and big-engined cars, because the use of fuel goes up tremendously with a step of the gas.

Also, in diesel engines, the throttle controls the fuel flow directly, so learning to use that tremendous torque curve with a touch of the gas is essential.

TIP 2: A/C OFF Unless You Absolutely Need It

You can argue this all day, but the fact remains. When you switch on your A/C, the Compressor is turned by the engine, and it needs a few foot pounds of torque. This means more drag on the engine, more fuel used, and ultimately, can waste up to 5 miles per gallon, even on an 8 cylinder engine. If the day is cool or warm, you can crack your windows if you have to. If it's cold out, you may be able to use body heat to warm up the interior. If it's freezing out, then you may have no choice but to use the heater. That or wear your winter gear!

TIP 3: Try Not To Put Your Windows Down

While the A/C is worse, when driving at high speeds, putting the windows down can increase aerodynamic drag. This will drop your MPG a bit on the highway. For best results, crack the windows intermittently to freshen the air. Do note that at low speeds, there is not enough drag to warrant sweating your brains and bowels out.

TIP 4: Constant, Steady Speeds

When driving on the highway, maintaining exactly one speed is the best way to save gas. If you speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down, up, down, up, down, etc., you are wasting more fuel on the acceleration than what you saved letting off the gas. You are also getting your passengers car sick. If your car has cruise control, go ahead and use it when traffic is light. It will also save your right foot.

Always be anticipating the actions of the drivers ahead of you. If it looks like they are going to slow down, change lanes if you can. Whatever you do, don't frequently tap the brakes. You waste more gas getting back up to speed. Match speeds with the driver ahead instead. Figure out an average if he/she is yo-yoing speeds.

TIP 5: Inflate Your Tires To The Proper Air Pressure!

When your tires run too low on air, the sidewall bows out and the tread flattens on the contact patch. While this adds grip on sand, fine gravel, mud, and snow, it causes your car to "wallow" more on turns, makes it easier to hydroplane, and in extreme cases can actually cause a tread separation! The flexing of the rubber and threads heats up the tire and provides more rolling resistance, which is bad for tire life and fuel economy. Check your tire pressures regularly and inflate them to the recommended level.

TIP 6: Don't Modify Your Gas Engine With Go-Fast Parts

Most people that do this put a performance chip, upgraded intake, exhaust, bigger injectors, etc. bent on getting more power out of their vehicle. Unfortunately, it also means losing gas mileage. By improving air flow, your gas engine has to improve fuel flow to compensate. Guess what that means? You got it! Less gas mileage.

TIP 7: Suspension Alignment Does More Than You Think

I see many people that have cars that need an alignment. They pull to one side, there's too much toe, maybe the camber is off, etc. but they don't want to spend the money to go get it fixed. Instead, they waste money on tires as they wear out unevenly or too quickly. Also, they may be wasting money on fuel. When there is too much toe, the wheels are pointing inwards or outwards to much. While this is good for cornering if set up right, it is bad for straight-line driving. The tire rubs the tarmac slightly sideways, and will increase your rolling drag and tire wear. While there is normally 0.1 deg. or so of toe, when you have 0.4, 0.5, or maybe a whole degree of toe, you have trouble.

TIP 8: High-Wattage Devices Mean Harder Working Engine

When your engine is running, the electrical system is powered by your car's alternator. With the exception of audio systems that draw power from your car's battery, the more stuff you turn on, the more torque the alternator takes from the engine. If you have a high-watt alternator, it can go up a lot when you have everything turned up. The trick here is not to be running a laptop computer on the cigarette lighter with a loud radio on at night when the high beams are on and the Sat Nav is telling you where to go and the kids are watching a movie on the DVD system.

That's all for now. Just a bit more advice. Aside from the A/C, you have to do everything on the list together to gain fuel mileage. Just getting the alignment done or just inflating your tires correctly won't help.