Everyone should be driving to save gas, or more accurately, driving in such a way that you do save gas and therefore money while also helping the environment by creating less pollution. This is all part of being green and saving money. You kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Your car lasts longer, costs less to run, and you feel good about the cleaner air around you, for you are now driving to save gas. Here are 5 great tips to help you.
1. Slow things down. At 70 miles an hour you are not driving to save gas. A car engine operates most efficiently at around 55 miles an hour. At that speed you will burn the gas you need and waste as little as possible. You will also get to where you are going just fine, so keep the speed down.
2. Every time you plunge your foot to the floor, or brake hard, you are not driving to save gas - you are wasting it. Sure, it may look macho, but everything about your car suffers, and so does your pocket. When you are driving to save gas you will drive gently. You will accelerate moderately and brake smoothly. Always anticipate the need to slow down so that you don't have to slam the brakes on at the last moment, or corner harder than you meant to. Driving to save gas comes easy when you think ahead.
3. Keep your tires properly inflated. Your engine uses some 20% of its efforts just overcoming the resistance of tire rolling. That percentage figure increases when the tires are under-inflated. The amount of gas you burn increases too. Keep your tires inflated at the manufacturers recommended level at all times, and only then will you start driving to save gas.
4. Lighten the load in your car to a minimum at all times. We're not talking about passengers here, but the junk that most people carry around with their cars. Go through the trunk and dump anything you don't absolutely need. Do the same in the car's interior. You will be surprised at just how much you have accumulated. It could be as much as 100 pounds. Carrying that much excess weight is not driving to save gas!
5. Only run your car's engine when you actually need it. Consider this: it has been estimated that customers sitting in line in idling cars at Burger King waste an amazing 16 million gallons of gas a year. That's certainly not driving to save gas! Starting your car uses about the same amount of gas as it will burn in one minute when idling. If you think you will be waiting longer than a minute, switch off. Driving to save gas is mostly common sense with a little thought. You can do it!
