Better Gas Mileage-Simple Tips to Improve Mileage

With the price of gas rapidly and closing in on $4 a gallon and experts predicting $7 a gallon within a few years, everyone is feeling the pain. So many SUV drivers are trying to unload their gas hogs that many car dealers either won't take them or only pay half of the book value.

Obviousouly, a high mileage compact is the best solution if every week you find yourself wondering if you're going to have enough gas to make it to payday. For those of us that can't afford a new car there are a few tricks that increase the mileage of your current one by as much as 20 percent.

Proper Tire Pressure

Check your tire pressure or have someone knowledgeable do it once a month. Under inflated tires not only drag down fuel mileage, they wear out quicker and are unsafe. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that about 30 percent of all vehicles have at least one under inflated tire.

Why does this affect your fuel mileage? The less pressure, the more of the tire makes contact with the road, requiring more energy to move. How much energy? Not maintaining proper tire pressure can drag down mileage four to six percent.

Idling

Letting a car idle is like pouring gasoline on the ground. Every hour of idling uses half a gallon to a gallon of fuel, more if the air conditioner is running. The idea that starting your car consumes more gas than idling is one of those myths that have become gospel for too many drivers. When starting in the morning, let it idle only long enough to make sure windows are clear.

Note-do not take to this to an extreme and turn of the engine at stoplights; it isn’t safe and can really be embarrassing if it won't start when the light turns green.

Cruise Control

If you got it, use it. It prevents accelerating surging, which just about every driver is prone to do. I commute 64-miles to work. Using cruise control on the highway and freeway portions, I have recorded an average of 2.5 more mpg when using the cruise control on my 2001 Ford Taurus.

Heavy Accelerating

Drivers who accelerating smoothly and slowly get about 30 percent better fuel mileage than lead foot drivers do. I have to shake my head at the guys who slam the gas pedal down as soon the light turns green. Chances are they are going to fast to catch the next light green, so they jackrabbit start, hit the brakes for the red light, then rocket off to the next red light.

Cheap Gas

The cheaper the better. Despite the hype Shell, 76, BP and other oil companies shell out about their special additives, using premium brands doesn't increase fuel mileage. Test it yourself by using a tank of the expensive gas and a tank of say, ARCO, and compare the difference in MPG. It will negligible and certainly not enough to justify the extra 20 to 30 cents a gallon.

Devices Improve Fuel Mileage

While most devices advertised to improve gas mileage are questionable, for the do-it-yourself type there are plans on the market that can have a marked improvement on how many miles your automobile squeezes out of a gallon of gas:

Truck runs on water, sort of

Elden Huntling's 1992 Dodge pickup has 217,000 miles on its odometer. And until this week, its Cummins engine was powered by diesel fuel.

It now also burns water - actually hydrogen gas created in water.

"Can you believe that?" the retired plumber asks as he opens the truck's hood revealing the engine and a hydrogen generation system...Full Story

Detailed Plans For Gas/Water Conversion

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