Gas is getting more and more expensive! We all know all know the usual ideas of how to save gas; walk more, car pool, or just plain drive less but some of us have to drive to get to work or take the kids somewhere so here are some simple tips that we all should be practicing!

Your car consumes most of your gasoline as it accelerates. It is just the law of physics; force is equal to mass times acceleration. A moving car doesn't require as much gasoline to keep moving, due to inertia or the car’s constant momentum. Speeding up and slamming on your brakes uses up way more of your gas then you are thinking. So even in heavy traffic the most efficient way to save on gas is to keep a constant pace. You can easily get 15% - 20% better gas mileage staying at a consistent pace and not starting and stopping.

Obviously the most fuel efficient cars right now are hybrids but they are out of many of our price ranges. Another way to save is think manual transmission, it is definitely the way to go if you are in the market for a car and are concerned with gas mileage. And for that matter the manual transmission cars are usually themselves cheaper than there automatic transmission car counterparts but most of us drive automatic cars and there are some of us that can’t even drive stick!

So more likely your car is automatic transmission, if your car has automatic transmission you should shift into neutral when just sitting at a light or turn off engine completely when you know you will be idle for more than half a minute will save you on gas. Every time you turn on your car, it uses a bit of gas and while the car is idling, it uses a fixed amount of gas for a period of time so turning it off or in neutral will conserve during these wasteful times like at railroad tracks or long traffic lights. Another important tip you can utilize with your automatic is your cruise control; remember it will keep your speed at a constant because hard accelerating is where you use most of your gasoline.

Another thing that is easy to do is reduce your car weight. Get the boogie boards, garbage, and school books out! Another trick is don't fill your tank until you have to, saves that little bit by reducing the weight to empty. Reducing your car weight reduces your overall mass decreasing friction and blah blah blah…it ultimately saves you on gas!

Another idea that I am sure you have heard but may have forgotten is do not drive with your windows down because this increases wind resistance which will cost you more in gas. But almost to the contrary you hear often is don’t use your air conditioning because that costs gas as well!

Well great what are you suppose to do sweat to save money, absolutely not! Both are great ideas actually when traveling at low speeds try having your winds down and when traveling at higher speed air conditioning on. Yet again, this is the most efficient way to use these methods and save on gas.

A common tip many forget to do is keep your tires inflated to the specified levels. And for goodness sakes don’t drive around all year with snow tires or chains, it costs you money. Make sure you use the correct grade of motor oil and replace all air filters when you need to.

Using these tips will ultimately keep you away from the pump a little longer than usually and save you some coin!

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