Jason’s Tips and Tricks

Buy your gas when it’s cool. Gas is more dense the colder the weather, so you get more for your money.

Keep your car clean. Mud on the undercarriage can weigh a significant amount and slow you down.

Consolidate your daily trips and errands. This will also save you the cost of restarting your engine, which uses a lot of gas.

Avoid air conditioning when possible. However, when driving at higher speeds, having your windows open also creates drag.

Don’t throttle the gas or brake! Sudden starts or stops use more gas than gradual changes of speed.

Don’t idle for too long. Turn off the engine if you anticipate a lengthy wait.

Limit car warm-ups in winter (often not applicable in Los Angeles).

Clear out the trunk. More weight, more drag.

Avoid high speeds. We know this is almost impossible for L.A. drivers when traffic breaks, but you can improve your gas mileage about 15 percent by driving at 55 mph rather than 65 mph.

Use overdrive. If your car is equipped with overdrive gearing use it as soon as your speed is high enough.

Use cruise control. Keeping a constant speed is ideal for improving your gas mileage.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 14th, 2006 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Used Engines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.