fuel tips saving

1. Slow down

One of the best ways to save gas is to simply reduce your speed. As speed increases, fuel economy decreases exponentially. If you one of the "ten-over on the freeway" set, try driving the speed limit for a few days. You'll save a lot of fuel and your journey won't take much longer. (Just be sure you keep to the right, so you won't impede the less-enlightened.)

2. Check your tire pressure

Under-inflated tires are one of the most commonly ignored causes of crummy MPG. Tires lose air due to time (about 1 psi per month) and temperature (1 psi for every 10 degree drop); under-inflated tires have more rolling resistance, which means you need to burn more gas to keep your car moving. Buy a reliable tire gauge and check your tires at least once a month. Be sure to check them when they are cold, since driving the car warms up the tires along with the air inside them, which increases pressure and gives a falsely high reading. Use the inflation pressures shown in the owner's manual or on the data plate in the driver's door jamb.

3. Check your air filter

A dirty air filter restricts the flow of air into the engine, which harms performance and economy. Air filters are easy to check and change; remove the filter and hold it up to the sun. If you can't see light coming through it, you need a new one. Consider a "permanent" filter which is cleaned rather than changed; they are much less restrictive than throw-away paper filters, plus they're better for the environment.

4. Accelerate with care

Jack-rabbit starts are an obvious fuel-waster -- but that doesn't mean you should crawl away from every light. If you drive an automatic, accelerate moderately so the transmission can shift up into the higher gears. Stick-shifters should shift early to keep the revs down, but don't lug the engine -- downshift if you need to accelerate. Keep an eye well down the road for potential slowdowns. If you accelerate to speed then have to brake right away, that's wasted fuel.

5. Hang with the trucks

Ever notice how, in bad traffic jams, cars seem to constantly speed up and slow down, while trucks tend to roll along at the same leisurely pace? A constant speed keeps shifting to a minimum -- important to those who have to wrangle with those ten-speed truck transmissions -- but it also aids economy, as it takes much more fuel to get a vehicle moving than it does to keep it moving. Rolling with the big rigs saves fuel (and aggravation).

6. Get back to nature

Consider shutting off the air conditioner, opening the windows and enjoying the breeze. It may be a tad warmer, but at lower speeds you'll save fuel. That said, at higher speeds the A/C may be more efficient than the wind resistance from open windows and sunroof. If I'm going someplace where arriving sweaty and smelly could be a problem, I bring an extra shirt and leave early so I'll have time for a quick change.

7. Back off the bling

New wheels and tires may look cool, and they can certainly improve handling. But if they are wider than the stock tires, chances are they'll create more rolling resistance and decrease fuel economy. If you upgrade your wheels and tires, keep the old ones. I have fancy sport rims and aggressive tires on my own car, but I keep the stock wheels with a good narrower-tread performance tire in the garage. For long road trips, the stock wheels give a smoother ride and better economy.

8. Clean out your car

If you're the type who takes a leisurely attitude towards car cleanliness -- and I definitely fall into that category -- periodically go through your car and see what can be tossed out or brought into the house. It doesn't take much to acquire an extra 40 or 50 lbs. of stuff, and the more weight your car has to lug around, the more fuel it burns.

method to wash a car

Step1

Choose a shady spot, preferably away from trees that are dripping sap or dropping leaves.

Step2

Close all doors and windows.

Step3

Put one capful of car soap into a bucket and fill it 3/4 of the way with warm water. Set the bucket aside.

Step4

Hose any excess dirt off the car, beginning at the roof and working down to the tires.

Step5

Lather a sponge or terry cloth rag in the bucket of soapy water and sponge the roof of the car. Spray off excess soap when the entire roof has been cleaned.

Step6

Repeat for all four sides of the car, washing one full side including windows, fenders and tires and rinsing completely before going to the next side.

Step7

Give the car one final rinse with the hose to get rid of any water spots when all four sides have been washed and rinsed.

Step8

Take a chamois leather ("shammy" leather) or towel and dry the car thoroughly by setting the towel flat against the surface of the car and dragging it along the surface to pick up any water spots. Start at the roof and work your way down to the tires.

Step9

Wash the windows with a rag soaked in plain water and dry them with a dry rag, or use window cleaner and pieces of balled-up newspaper on both the inside and the outside of the windows.

Step10

Give any metal or chrome an extra rubdown to get rid of water spots.

tire tips

1. Tread: You should have some. A minimum of 1/16-inch to be exact. You don't have to carry a ruler to gauge tread. Stick a Lincoln penny, head first, in the groove between the treads. If the tread doesn't come up to or beyond the top of Abe's head, there's not enough to provide good traction.

2. You shouldn't see the steel belts in a steel-belted radial. If you do, you failed the adequate tread test a long time ago. Another true story, same driver, different pick-up. This truck had a flat, which was the least of its tire problems. The driver tried to pump in air with a tire-fix-it aerosol can to drive to the tire store. As the can pumped in air, it gurgled out between what little was left of the tread. Bad.

3. Check the level of inflation. To be accurate, invest in a tire gauge, keep it in the glove compartment and check tire pressure before the tires have had a chance to heat up. The factory recommended inflation is printed on a metal tag usually on the driver's doorjamb, or inside the gas filler cap or the glove compartment door. Some vehicles, particularly pick-ups, will include two recommendations, one when the truck is carrying a load, the other for light or no loads. You can't really eyeball proper inflation. Radial tires have softer sidewalls and will look a bit under inflated when they're not. Proper tire pressure provides the best vehicle control, better gas mileage and longer tire life. Inadequate pressure causes excessive heat to build up in the tire—that heat can cause tire failure. If that's not enough reason to maintain recommended inflation levels, under-inflated tires were determined to be a contributing factor in SUV rollover accidents.

4. Uneven tread wear. You can expect to see a shade of difference in tread wear from the outside to the inside of the tire. Anything beyond that slight variation indicates a problem. That problem could be as easy to resolve as proper tire inflation. Other causes range from misaligned wheels (a relatively quick, inexpensive fix by a mechanic) or faulty suspension components. Ignoring the symptom only adds insult to injury. Eventually the cause of the uneven wear will rear its ugly head, then you'll have the repair plus the cost of new tires to deal with.

5. Cracks, cuts, bulges, blisters on the sidewall. The first two offenders can be a sign that while the tire may not have covered close to its warranted miles, it's been on the car long enough to need retiring. The mileage rating on tires can be used as a gauge of quality, but how and where you drive and the years on the car can cause tire deterioration before they've reached that benchmark. Bulges and blisters are serious flaws—the only place they should be driven is straight to a tire retailer.

6. Vibrations: We covered that flaw in our intro experience. If you've checked your tires regularly, kept them properly inflated, you'll never experience that nasty shake you can feel through the steering wheel. That vibration is the death rattle of a tire.

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