How to Get Better Gas Mileage

In these days of high gas prices we need all the advice we can get to make our gas go as far as possible. Here are a few tips that might help get that extra mileage.

1. Drive smoothly, the smoother your ride, the less gas you will use. By avoiding acceleration, and deceleration you can save the equivalent of 33% on the highway and 5% in town. With smoother driving you can pocket the equivalent of 85 cent per gallon.
2. Drive slow, if you reduce your speed 5 miles an hour you can lower your fuel by 7%. If you normally drive 70 miles on the highway, slow down to 65. You can save about 19 cents a gallon.
3. Don't drive with your foot on the brake. You will only wear your brakes out and use more gas. You can save about 85 cents a gallon by keeping your foot off the brake.
4. Turn off your rear view defogger when you don't need it. The front defogger runs off the heat from the engine but the rear one uses electricity which is produced by the alternator.
5. Fix or replace a damaged gas cap. A broken or missing gas cap reduces your gas mileage, replacing it can save you 2 cents a gallon.
6. Tune it up. A properly tuned auto can improve your mileage by 4%, which is like saving 11 cent per gallon.
7. Take out all the extra weight. For every 100 pounds you unload you will save the equivalent of 4 cents per gallon.
8. Inflate your tires properly. Under inflation of 7.5 pounds will cause a loss of 2.8 in fuel efficiency. Correcting improperly inflated tires will knock 8 cents off a gallon of gas.
9. Repair improper alignment. Poor alignment will not only wear your tires out more quickly, but will make your engine work harder, which can reduce gas mileage by 10 %, Fixing it will save 28 cents per gallon of gas.
10. Replace your air filter. A clean air filter can improve your gas mileage by as much as 10%.You can save the equivalent of 28 cents a gallon, or your car will run 23 more miles on a tank of gas.
11. Don't idle. It is not necessary, if you stop for more than 30 seconds turn your motor off. Every two minutes you don't idle you'll save 1 cent per gallon of gas.
12. There is very little difference in using the air-conditioning and letting the windows down.