Simple Fuel Saver Strategies

Fuel Saver Strategy #8

Keeping your highway speed at 55 mph can increase your fuel saver miles by as much as 25%, compared to 75 mph. Keep in mind that over 50% of the energy required to move a vehicle down the road is spent overcoming aerodynamic drag, the faster you drive, the more air, you will have to push out of the way.

Speeds above 60 mph result in being anti-fuel saver. As a rule of thumb you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.25 per gallon for gas. If you do the math this adds up in a hurry. And in today’s rapidly rising fuel costs, this figure is rising rapidly too.

I’ve touched on this principle in my previous post concerning flag flying which is an anti-fuel saver practice.

Simple Fuel Saver Strategies

Fuel Saver Strategies #7

Keep your engine operating at its peak efficiency. A well-maintained engine will help you be a fuel saver. Incorrect fuel ratio, bad spark plugs, and incorrect spark timing can have a big effect on gas mileage.

Follow the service schedules listed in your owner's manual. Replace filters and fluids as recommended. If you have engine performance problems like rough idling, poor acceleration and so on, solve these problems as quickly as possible. This will greatly impact your car as a fuel saver. Studies have shown that, a poorly tuned engine can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10 to 20%.

Always use good engine oil, preferably a synthetic or synthetic blend with a friction-reducing additive. These have been known to improve fuel efficiency by as much as 12%. Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish, if you don’t change your engine oil and filters as recommended by the owner’s manual, you may end up not only with poor fuel efficiency but your engine may be damaged and require an expensive overhaul. That bill could be 50 times more expensive than the cost of following the service schedules. This is one fuel saver strategy you can’t afford to ignore.

Simple Fuel Saver Strategies

Fuel Saver Strategy #6

Avoid unnecessary engine idling time. It’s an anti-fuel saver habit. When the engine is idling you are receiving 0 miles per gallon.

Most late-model cars do not need to be warmed up. In fact, no matter how efficient your car is unnecessary idling wastes fuel, costs money, and pollutes the air. If waiting for more than a few minutes at a drive-through lane or similar circumstance. Turn off the engine. Be a fuel saver.

Also do not leave the car idling while running into a store for a quick errand. This is especially hard on a vehicle during the hot summer months and is an open invitation for auto theft. That’s dumb.

Simple Fuel Saver Strategies

Fuel Saver Strategy #5

Always consolidate your daily trips and errands. Sounds obvious isn't it? But ever so often we are guilty of making that 4th trip to the same grocery store in a week. Consolidate your trips, rearrange your schedules and you'll find that you could actually have more time on your hands to be more productive than just spending more time in your car. So at the end of the day you save time and you're a fuel saver!

I realized that in the process of being a fuel saver, I am saving more than just fuel. Looking back at the previous strategy (#3), being a fuel saver has many side benefits. It can help save on maintenance costs, your life, the earth and now your time. Ain't it great?

Simple Fuel Saver Strategies

Fuel Saver Strategy #4

Avoid stop and go traffic by taking alternative routes or less congested travel paths. This is a great fuel saver. Traveling the shorter route is usually the best way for fuel savers, but it doesn't apply when your shortest route experiences heavy traffic. In fact, the longer but smoother route may just prove to be a better fuel saver!

When driving in the city, nearly 50% of the energy used to power the vehicle is for acceleration and unnecessary braking wastes that energy, thus going into anti-fuel saver mode. Also, accelerating quickly causes the engine to enter a less efficient fuel enrichment mode whereby additional fuel is delivered to increase the rate of acceleration. In most cases, this is overkill since a lot more fuel than required is actually being delivered. Highly anti-fuel saver.

With gas prices at all time highs, avoiding congested routes and even having to pay highway tolls may just be still a better alternative than taking that short but congested anti-fuel saver route.

This way you'll have a more enjoyable drive, better state of mind when you arrive at your destination, avoid bumper to bumper traffic that ever so often result in accidents and be a fuel saver at the same time.

Simple Fuel Saver Strategies

Fuel Saver Strategy #3

Not tailgating the car in front. This is a fuel saver strategy that can improve gas mileage by five to 10%. This driving strategy is not only safer, but it will also reduce wear on the tires and brakes.

So not only you save fuel, you save on car maintenance and save your life. Best of all, at the end of the day you save the earth!

Simple Fuel Saver Strategies

Fuel Saver Strategy #2

My next fuel saver strategy is to anticipate traffic conditions ahead of me. By so doing I avoid having poured on the gas only to have to jam my brakes to stop at a traffic light or lose my momentum behind a slow moving lane. This fuel saver strategy requires your mind to be active in looking out for traffic in front of you and avoiding them or making decision to slow down instead of pressing harder on the accelerator.

For example, the fuel saver habit in me, having seen that the traffic light 200 meters in front of me is red and cars are stopped behind it, it would be highly unlikely that I would be able to continue driving at the speed that I was doing. So I would release the accelerator pedal and let the car cruise. If before I reach the traffic light, it turns green, then I take advantage of the momentum still available to gradually pick up speed again.

The anti-fuel saver in me, in such a situation, instead would have had continued to press on the accelerator and reached the traffic light earlier, thus had to stop. Seconds later, the light turns green and I would have had to waste more gas by overcoming the inertia of the car, having no momentum to ride on. It's much like riding the wave.

The worst are anti-fuel saver habits that seeing a red light in front accelerates further and jams brake upon reaching it. If you're guilty of such a habit, it's time to change and cultivate new fuel saver habits.