Five Fastest Ways to Hurt Your Fuel Economy

Five Fastest Ways to Hurt Your Fuel Economy

With the cost of gas steadily rising year after year, you are no doubt beginning to feel the sting of high fuel costs. For myself, I feel this sting whenever I get into my vehicle and gaze at the fuel gauge. Every quarter tank is anther $12.50, and though my vehicle only costs around $45 or so to fill, it still feels as if I am sucking money from my bank account every time I start my car.

Do you think that your driving is affecting your fuel economy? If you do the things below, you’re probably correct.

1. You floor it when you accelerate. Everyone needs to feel a bit of muscle from their vehicle every now and then, but when you do decide to floor it you are burning 50%-100% more fuel than if you accelerate gradually.Push the gas pedal half way, you’ll still reach the speed limit and you’ll save a few bucks at the same time. Aggressive driving can lower your gas mileage by up to 33% at highway speeds and by up to 5% around the city. By driving less aggressively, that 5-33% improvement in fuel economy can result in a gas savings of $0.16 to $1.06 per gallon.

2. You drive over 55 miles per hour on the highway. Many studies have repeatedly shown that speeds in excess of 55-60 miles per hour cause a dramatic decline in fuel economy, approximately 10% for every 5 mile per hour increase in speed… effectively costing you $0.20 to $0.30 more per gallon of gas. This means that driving at 80 miles per hour is burning 50% more fuel than 55 miles per hour. That adds up mighty fast on the long, open road. By staying within the speed limit you can improve your fuel economy by 7-23% and see a gas savings of $0.23 to $0.74 per gallon.

3. You drive in too high of a gear. Drive in a gear that is appropriate to the speed that you are traveling at. Though keeping your revs low is a way to minimize fuel consumption, traveling in high gear at a low speed will cause you to floor it when you want to accelerate, meaning high gas usage for a gradual increase in speed.
   
   
4. You carry around useless weight. There’s no reason to be transporting your dumbbells, textbooks and golf clubs every day of the week. Only have in your car what you need every day. Reducing the amount of weight that you are hauling around will help you save on gas.This is because the vehicle won’t have to work as hard to travel and that means that it consumes less gas. Hauling an extra 100lbs can reduce the number of miles per gallon that you get by up to 2%. Each 100lbs of removed weight results in a gas savings of $0.03 to $0.06 per gallon.

5. Your vehicle isn’t properly maintained. Your tires aren’t properly inflated, your oil needs a change, and your spark plugs aren’t firing optimally. Keeping your vehicle in tip-top shape can save you quite a bit of gas; in fact, it can even pay for the costs of the maintenance! A properly tuned engine can yield a fuel economy improvement of up to 4% with a savings of around $0.13 per gallon. Fresh air filters can improve fuel economy by as much as 10% and yield a savings of $0.32 per gallon. Properly inflated tires will improve fuel economy by up to 3% and will result in a per gallon savings of $0.10. Changing your motor oil and using the manufacturer’s suggested grade will result in a 2% improvement in fuel economy (using the wrong grade of motor oil can result in a 5% reduction of fuel economy!) and will produce a $.03 to $0.06 savings on a gallon of gas.