9 Easy Ways to Increase Your Gas Mileage
Every car owner wishes to get the most value out of their vehicle, while incurring the least amount of costs.
One of the best ways to do this is by increasing the fuel efficiency of your car and increasing the gas mileage, which allows you to travel more on the same amount of fuel.
While this might seem like a complex issue, there are actually some very simple solutions that you can apply in your day to day life that can increase your gas mileage by a lot.
Here are some tried and tested methods to increase gas mileage and get higher fuel economy:
How do you know if your Motorcycle needs alignment?
Most bike owners will notice that their wheels are misaligned, since it will be difficult to ride well with misaligned wheels. If you notice the balance seems off or there is a problem with taking turns or steering well, then it could be the wheel misalignment.
If you suspect the alignment, you can use a ruler or a rope to measure the position of both the wheels, which will tell you whether or not the wheels are aligned well.
Check tyres regularly
One of the easiest ways to increase fuel economy is to keep a keen eye on your tyres and air pressure. A lot of cars have tyres that are not inflated well and are therefore working on low pressure, which in turn reduces gas mileage.
Checking air pressure regularly, getting your tyres rotated and balanced will help with fuel economy and also ensure that the tyres don’t wear out too quickly.
Clean out the junk
The weight of the car and the load on the engine are key factors affecting fuel efficiency of a car. The heavier the car is, the more fuel is required to get it from one place to another.
So, an easy way to save costs of fuel is to clean all unnecessary junk out of the car’s back seats and trunk, to ensure the car is as light as possible.
Use high quality engine oil
Using the wrong motor oil can cause stress to the engine and thus reduce fuel economy. Thus, in order to ensure you are getting proper gas mileage, you must ensure that you use only the highest quality of motor oil.
Furthermore, use only the particular type and grade oil recommended by manufacturers.
Get the wheels aligned
Regular use of the car on rough roads or potholes in the street can cause the wheels to become misaligned over time. Misaligned wheels cause tyres to wear out faster, force the engine to work harder and also reduce gas mileage.
Hence, getting your wheels aligned every once in a while can improve your gas mileage a lot.
Reduce braking
If you have a habit of constantly pressing the brakes while driving, it can contribute to low fuel efficiency of the car. By braking more often than necessary, you are essentially using extra fuel to stop and start a very heavy car again.
This uses up more fuel than usual and thus reduces gas mileage. By braking only when necessary, you not only save up on fuel, but also ensure that the brake pads, discs, etc. don’t get damaged.
Don’t idle
This is one of the most obvious and simple ways of saving up on fuel. When the car is not in motion i.e. when it is parked, or waiting at a signal, it is best to turn off the engine.
When you idle, even for just a few minutes, you are using up fuel that could otherwise be saved. Thus, refraining from idling is an efficient way to improve gas mileage.
Replace air filters regularly
The engine air filter is what the engine uses to draw air inside. The engine’s ability to draw air is determined by the cleanliness of the air filter. If the filter is full of dirt, dust and debris, the engine requires more effort and therefore more fuel to suck air inside.
Getting your air filters cleaned and replaced often can reduce this extra usage of fuel and make the gas usage economical.
Exercise speed control
Just like braking too much can put pressure on your vehicle, accelerating excessively can also force the engine to work harder than necessary.
When you constantly drive at high speeds, accelerating every so often, the engine uses up more fuel to get that extra speed, thus reducing your gas mileage.
Therefore, driving at moderate speeds can be an effective way to achieve fuel economy.
Fill up the tank in cold weather
Fuel is filled up based on volume and the fuel’s volume is dependent on the weather outside.
In cold temperatures, fuel is much denser, which means that you would get more volume of fuel in cold temperatures than you would in hot temperatures, for the same amount of money.
Thus, if you fill up the tank in early mornings, or late at night, you could get more value for money and end up achieving fuel economy.
Conclusion
In order to get the best value from your car, you must aim to be as fuel efficient as possible, since fuel economy is one of the main factors determining the costs incurred to the car.
By keeping in mind a few simple tips, you can increase your gas mileage a lot and thus save up on a significant amount of money. Driving tips like not braking too much, driving at a moderate speed, reducing idling can be easy to apply.
Car maintenance tips like cleaning out the junk, watching out for tyre pressure and wheel alignments, using good engine oil, etc. should also be kept in mind in order to get high gas mileage.
