How to get better gas milage?

In conjunction with the increase of petrol prices recently, I want to shed some light on saving money at the pump. Hope this benefits drivers out there. =)

Things you’ll need:

1. Common sense.

2. A change in the way you drive.

3. A little patience.

Tip 1. Measure your car’s fuel consumption (KM/L). Then you’ll be able to see whether your driving changes are paying off or not.

Tip 2. Maintain your car to it’s optimum standard. Ensure your tires are at their correct pressure. Check your air filter and make sure it is clean. Use a lower viscosity oil.

Tip 3. Change your driving style. Changing your driving style can not only increase your gas mileage, but also make you a safer driver. The following things can be done to increase your mileage:

Accelerate slowly after stops. Do not step on the gas to accelerate from a stop. If you have an automatic car, allow the automatic trasmission to start your car moving my just taking your foot off the break. Then when you accellerate, use the gas pedal lighly.

Look ahead at the traffic, and traffic lights. If you see the traffic lighs change, do not continue accelerating, take your foot of the gas and allow the car to roll up to the stopping point. Rememver whatever energy you put into the car (using gas) you have to remove by using the break.

Drive slower. Taking an extra 5 minutes to get to your destination may save you a couple of KM, which overall adds up to a few ringgit per day.

Tip 4. Do your best to avoid stopping and going in traffic jams. Allow a little more room between you and the car in front so that if that car stops, you can continue to slowly move towards it until that car moves again. Thus illevating the need for you to come to a complete stop. Remember, getting your car moving from stop requires more energy (gas) than to keep your car moving at a crawl.

Tip 5. Use cruise control. Not just to maintain speed, but also to manage accelleration and speed changes. To do this, once you reach about 50 km/h, activate the cruis control, and then adjust your speed using the ‘Accel’ and ‘Decel’ buttons. Of course this is only available for certain cars. =P

Tip 6. Turn your engine off at stop lights. If you arrive at a stop light that you know has a long cycle time. Put your car in neutral, and turn your engine off. This can often give you the greatest saving in gas mileage. Some times traffic light cycle time can be upwards of 5 minutes. That is a whole 5 minutes of not buring gas uselessly. In actual fact, this is one of the main areas that a hybrid allows higher gas mileage. I personally wouldn’t recommend this but it’s worth a try. Does anyone remember the HOTLINK advertisement on TV where the guy has to rev his car up the hill and turn off the engine while rolling down? It does make sense huh? Lol.

Tip 7. Change into neutral (N) for long coasting to a stop. This is a contraversial method because it can levae you with less control over you car. For example, when doing this on a down grade, the engine is not acting as a breaking system, and so the speed may get away from you. However, you must not change back to drive (D) while the car is still moving because it’ll kill your gearbox. I just had mine replaced and it costs a bomb!

Tip 8. Once again, record your gas mileage, and adjust your techniques to find the optimum driving style.

If you’re thinking of pumping regular petrol (RON 92) for your car, forget it. It might increase you fuel consumption and you will gain nothing in return. Stick to the usual premium petrol (RON 95) and you won’t go wrong. For sport cars, I recommend pumping Shell V-Power as it would deliver better performance and also more gas milage.

Alternatives to petrol cars: Diesel cars, hybrid cars and NGV. To learn more, click here.

That’s all for now readers. I’ll update once I’ve found out which products that can be used to help save some fuel and actually works. Stay tuned.

Updates:

Lose weight – save gas! If you planning to buy a more fuel efficient car, go for the ones which are lighter. To those who are overweight, exercise regularly to keep fit. I’m terribly sorry, no offence meant though.

Add bling-blings to your car. Have your conventional steel wheels changed to alloy or aluminum wheels.

Get rid of your spare tyre. Use air pump as an alternative. I’m sure I’ll get you to you to the nearest destination to get it changed.

Get rid of unnecessary items in your car, even if it means your car’s back seat! (thanks E).

~ by justin2u on 7 June 2008.