Although each step to increasing your fuel economy only helps by a few percentage points, when you add them all up, you can save quite a bit of cash.  The little bit of investment it takes to maximize your vehicle for better fuel economy is trivial when compared to the savings. 

Step 1: Learn Better Driving Habbits

Aggressive driving such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking  wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money. It’s important to learn to relax while you drive.   Feeling anxious or trying to “rush” to your destination is costing you much more than you realize.

 

Step 2:  Slow Down (Follow the speed limit)

While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. As a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas. Observing the speed limit is also safer.

 

Step 3: Use Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants

The advanced lubricity (slipperiness) of AMSOIL synthetic lubricants has been proven to increase fuel economy by up to 5%. Some tests have even shown increases of as much as 15% under certain weather and driving conditions.  AMSOIL reduces friction and allows your engine to use its heat-energy more efficiently.   The low intrafluid friction and metal-to-metal friction reducing properties of AMSOIL synthetic motor oils also improve fuel economy by delivering more of the energy created through combustion of the air-fuel mixture to the transmission.

 

Step 4: Use Amsoil P.I. Fuel Additive

The newly formulated AMSOIL P.I. Performance Improver is the most potent gasoline additive available today. As a concentrated detergent, it is unsurpassed in cleaning combustion chamber deposits, intake valve deposits and port fuel injector deposits, eliminating the need for expensive fuel injector cleaning procedures. The product is ideal for use prior to emissions inspections. It also helps maintain peak engine efficiency, fuel economy, power and drivability in newer low mileage engines. In engines with accumulated deposits, testing showed AMSOIL P.I. provided the following clean-up benefits after only one tank of gasoline.

 

Step 5: Check your tire pressure

Just by simply running on tires that have the recommended amount of tire pressure can save you about one mile per gallon, not to mention improving the life of your tires and the overall ride. If this seems like obvious advice, consider that under-inflation of tires is considered the most common car problem on the road today.

 

Step 6: Check your air filter

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, replacing a clogged air filter can increase your mileage by 10 percent.  Thats a big savings considering how inexpensive an air filter is.

 

Step 7: Proper Maintenance

It is essential that your car is running healthy if you expect it to get good gas mileage.  Fouled spark plugs, a dirty fuel filter or bad spark plug wires could all significantly affect your milage.  A bad oxygen sensor could cost you as much as 40% loss in mileage according the the U.S. Department of Energy.    

 

Step 8: Wash and Wax

Regularly washing and waxing your vehicle improves aerodynamics and therefore affects fuel economy. Engineer Tom Wagner, Jr. reported to Stretcher.com (as in stretching your dollars) a 7-percent improvement in fuel economy, from 15 to 16 mpg, during a 1,600-mile road trip.

 

Step 9: Take a load off

Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2%. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle’s weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.  Empty out your trunk (or even your backseat) of unnecessary items.  If you have a roof rack or roof carrier, install it on your vehicle only when absolutely necessary. Not only does the carrier add extra weight, but it also increases the aerodynamic drag on the vehicle, which further contributes to a loss of fuel economy.

 

Step 10: Use Cruise control

 Using cruise control can improve your gas mileage by helping you maintain a steady speed, but only if you are driving on mostly flat roads. The constant slowing and accelerating caused by your foot on the petal consumes more fuel.  If you are driving in hilly terrain, using cruise control typically causes your vehicle to speed up faster (to maintain the preset speed) than it would if you were operating the accelerator yourself. Just think abou the terrain ahead before you push that cruise control button.  According to a recent test done by edmunds.com, using your cruise control can save you up to 14%.

 

Step 11: Think about ventilation

Running your air conditioner does cause your vehicle to consume more fuel, but driving with your windows rolled down can be even worse due to the increase of drag on the vehicle. If you are driving slowly, such as around town or in city traffic, then you are better off leaving your windows open, if at all possible. For highway driving, roll up the windows and turn the air conditioning on.

Step 12: A little extra thinking

A little planning can make quite a  difference in fuel economy. When your engine is cold, it uses more fuel than when it is warm. Combining errands can improve your gas mileage because your engine will be warm for more of the trip. It might also mean you travel less total miles. According to the DOE, several short trips all begun with a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a single, longer trip that covers the same distance.

Avoiding excess idling can also make a big difference.   This seems a bit odvious, but it is easy to forget about.  It’s simple fact that you get zero miles per gallon during idle.  It’s just good habbit that if you are stopping more than a minute to simply shut it off.  When you leave your car running while you are waiting in line at the drive-thru, or as you wait outside your kids’ school, you are wasting fuel.

Conclusion:

With a little work and a little thinking you can save yourself quite a bit of money in fuel costs.  If you consider benefiting just a little from each of these steps, you be looking at a 20% increase in your overall fuel economy.  That can easily translate in to hundreds or even thousands of dollars very quickly.  With the current rise in fuel costs, it is more important than ever to use less fuel, therefor saving yourself money now while decreasing demand, saving yourself even more money in the future.

Stats based on $2.55 per gallon.