Each tip helps is what most people are looking for today. With traveling expected to peak this Summer, you can bet a lot of people are looking for leads and tips on how to be an economical vacationer through the use of their vehicles.
For that, the Alliance to Save Energy and its 13 diverse nonprofit, governmental, trade association, and for-profit partners in the Drive $marter Challenge fuel efficiency campaign aim to provide vacationers and everyday drivers with hundreds of dollars of money-saving gas tips, resources, and myth busters on an interactive website that responds to the call of frugal drivers.
Among the highlights for drivers include:
- Decrease your speed. Gas mileage usually decreases rapidly above 60 mph. Each five miles per hour over 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents or more per gallon for gas.
- Drive sensibly. Speeding, rapid acceleration (jackrabbit starts), and rapid braking can lower gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds.
- Use cruise control and overdrive gear. Cruise control cuts fuel consumption by maintaining a steady speed during highway driving. Overdrive gear, when appropriate, reduces engine speed, saves gas, and reduces engine wear.
- It’s a “drag.” Avoid carrying items on your vehicle’s roof. A loaded roof rack or carrier increases weight and aerodynamic drag, which can cut mileage by 5%. Place items inside the trunk when possible to improve fuel economy.
- Turn down the AC. Operating the air conditioner on “Max” can reduce mpg by 5-25% compared to not using it.
- Avoid idling, which gets 0 mpg. Cars with larger engines typically waste even more gas while idling than cars with smaller engines.
- Navigate with a GPS system. GPS systems can help you find your way and, increasingly, GPS programs can search for low-priced gas at nearby stations.
- Fill up before returning rental. Rental car companies charge higher gas prices if you don’t fill up the tank before returning the vehicle. Keep your gas receipts in case the company requires them to remove a gas surcharge.
Follow these simple tips and you may be surprised at the savings you will get. If you want to get an idea of how much money you are wasting on fuel, here is a website calculator that may be of some help as well.
(Source) Press
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