Gas - Real Money Saving Tips

By: Robert Rogers

Real Money-Saving Steps

There are numerous no- or low-cost steps you can take to combat
rising gas prices. Most cars can run on regular unleaded - 87
octane. High performance vehicles will usually require 91 octane
or higher. Check your owner's manual to determine the right
octane level for your car. It's also usually written inside your
gas lid, door panel, and sometimes right on your dashboard under
the fuel gauge. It will say something like "Premium Unleaded
Only" which means 91 octane or higher. All gas pumps must post
the octane rating.

Gas Cards

Check out gas card offers from gas stations and credit card
companies. The can save you an additional 1% to 5% off every
gallon or earn you free gas. One of the best cards out there
right now can be found http://valueauthority.com/savegas.htm

If you put 20 gallons in your car at $3.00 per gallon, that's
$60. A 5% cash back would save you $3.00 making your effective
cost per gallon just $2.85. It's like getting a free gallon of
gas with every fill up!

Drive more efficiently:

-- Stay within posted speed limits. The faster you drive, the
more fuel you use. For example, driving at 65 miles per hour
(mph), rather than 55 mph, increases fuel consumption by 20
percent. Driving at 75 mph, rather than 65 mph, increases fuel
consumption by another 25 percent. This is caused by the amount
of energy it takes to push your car through the air and the
amount of drag created by your cars body.

So if your car gets 25-mpg highway at 55 mph, driving 65mph will
drop it down to 20 mpg! Driving 75 mph drops it down to just 16
mpg!

My personal experience with my 98 VW Beetle: I drove to New York
at the posted speed limits between 55 and 65 mph. I got about
35mpg and 450 miles on one tank!!! When I drove to Florida the
posted speed limits were between 55 - 70 mph. I actually drove
about 75 mph most of the way. I only got 27 mpg and about 350
miles on one tank. I lost almost 100 miles distant per tank! I
couldn't believe it.

-- Use overdrive gears. Overdrive gears improve the fuel economy
of your car during highway driving. Your car's engine speed
decreases when you use overdrive. This reduces both fuel
consumption and engine wear. Most automatic transmission cars
will have an overdrive button right on the gearshift. Look for a
"D" and/or "O/D". You will see a light on the dash indicating
weather it's on or off. Check your owner's manual to be sure. If
your car has a tachometer, you should be able to tell by
watching your engine's rpm speed on the highway. Buy switching
the overdrive on, your rpm's should drop significantly.

-- Use cruise control. For longer trips using cruise control can
help you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, reduce
your fuel consumption. Set it to 55 mph on highways.

-- Avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration, and improve your
fuel economy by 5 to 10 percent. In city driving, nearly 50
percent of the energy needed to power your car goes to
acceleration. Go easy on the gas pedal and brakes. "Jack-rabbit"
starts and sudden stops are wasteful. Let off the gas early when
approaching yellow and red lights, stop signs etc... Most
fuel-injected cars will cut off the fuel supply to the engine
while you slow down saving you even more gas.

-- Combine errands. Several short trips taken from a cold start
can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same
distance when the engine is warm. It takes about 15 to 20
minutes for a car to reach normal operating temperature. Until
then, your car is using almost twice as much fuel to keep the
engine running!

-- Remove excess weight from the trunk. Avoid carrying unneeded
items, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in the trunk
reduces a typical car's fuel economy by one to two percent.

Maintain your car

Keep your engine tuned. Studies have shown that a poorly tuned
engine can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10 to 20
percent depending on a car's condition. Follow the recommended
maintenance schedule in your owner's manual; you'll save fuel
and your car will run better and last longer.

-- Keep your tires properly inflated and aligned. Under inflated
tires on a car is like running on the beach with no shoes. Car
manufacturers must place a label in the car stating the correct
tire pressure. The label usually is on the edge of the door or
doorjamb, in the glove box, or on the inside of the gas cap
cover. If the label lists a psi (pounds per square inch) range,
use the higher number to maximize your fuel efficiency. Under
inflated tires cause fuel consumption to increase by 6%. --
Change your oil. Clean oil reduces wear caused by friction
between moving parts and removes harmful substances from the
engine. Change your oil as recommended by the vehicle
manufacturer.

-- Check and replace air filters regularly. Your car's air
filter keeps impurities in the air from damaging internal engine
components. Not only will replacing a dirty air filter improve
your fuel economy, it also will protect your engine. Clogged
filters can cause up to a 10% increase in fuel consumption.
Imagine running up a flight of stairs with only using one
nostril in your nose to breath.

Gas Cards

Check out gas card offers from gas stations and credit card
companies. The can save you an additional 1% to 5% off every
gallon or earn you free gas. One of the best cards out there
right now can be found http://valueauthority.com/savegas.htm

If you put 20 gallons in your car at $3.00 per gallon, that's
$60. A 5% cash back would save you $3.00 making your effective
cost per gallon just $2.85. It's like getting a free gallon of
gas with every fill up!

About the author:
Robert Rogers is a writer in the Washington DC area and
specializes in money saving. For More Information - Visit
http://valueauthority.com/savegas.htm