Gas saving tips

With the price of gas continually rising and global demand increasing, I thought I would post some information that could help us save some real money and reduce our carbon footprints.

Tips for everyday life:

1. Unless your owner’s manual specifically calls for higher octane gas, do not buy premium unleaded. Many people have piddled thousands of dollars over the years in their gas tanks in the belief that buying Premium grade gas will make their cars and trucks run more smoothly, deliver more power and get higher fuel economy. This has proven to be patently false for about 90 percent of the autos on the road. Only 10 percent of cars (high end luxury cars and SUVs, high performance sports cars, classic cars and very old high mileage cars with severe knock) derive any actual benefit from its use. If your car is in mechanically good shape and does not specify premium grade, skip it, and save hundreds of dollars every year.

2. Keep your car running properly. Take time to make sure your points and plugs are in proper shape, as well as vacuum lines, a/c and fuel delivery systems. Proper maintenance costs money up front but can save you big bucks at the pump over time.

3. Keep the tires properly inflated. Under inflated tires can costs hundreds of dollars a year in wasted fuel. Invest in a decent and easy to read tire gage. The recommended pressure can be found in the owner’s manual and also on the inside of the door opening. It is estimated that the American public loses millions of gallons of gas everyday from driving around on under inflated tires.

4. Slow Down. Going from 55mph to 75mph can cost as much as four to five miles to the gallon, depending on what you drive, you have to weigh whether the five or ten minutes in saved time is worth the hundreds in accumulated costs. Avoid rapid launches at the stop light, smoother, slower take-offs can save a lot of gas.

5. Be very wary of ads for “pills” or “devices” that supposedly increase your gas mileage, NONE of them work. Save your money.

Vehicle Purchases:

1. Examine your needs versus your wants. If you are childless couple and have nothing to tow or no need for off road ability, does a guzzling, V8, eight passenger truck-framed SUV make any sense? If 90 percent of your driving involves an in-town commute does a 270 plus horsepower V6 sports sedan make sense? Stop and just think about fuel costs when buy a car.

2. Hybrids are a good purchase for the long term. Over time their fuel savings can be significant if compared to similar vehicles. Not all hybrids get super-high mileage but the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic hybrid are outstanding for fuel economy and both have top of the class reliability records.

Anyone wishing to add to this are welcome do so, we all could stand to save some $$$ in this economy.

How about :
1.Take the bus
2. Walk

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trippinmickey said:
How about :
1.Take the bus
2. Walk

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I just got my car no way lol.

LOL, can't walk here...everything is way too far. As for the bus system...it sucks here. It doesn't run on Sunday. It only runs minimally on Saturday and only runs once an hour during the weekdays. If it ran more often and had more buses I would be ALL OVER that.
When I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area all I did was use the public transit or walk.

For the right living circumstances those are fine ideas, unfortunately they are not practical for everyone.

I really really really want a Prius, but they are like $25,000 new, and impossible to find used. So I'll settle for my 30 mpg Subaru now.

And yeah - when I lived in San Francisco too, I did not own a vehicle. But now I live in a smaller town that is very spread out and it's not really practical to live without a vehicle. As much as I would love to.

My mom ordered a base model for 22K last year.

always fill your gas tank up when its half full.....there is less air/vapor than can expand.........when its empty you lose a lot of gas thru vapors
expanding in tank becuase its not pressurized

I agree with this! If I always fill my tank when it reaches half full, and keep the air in my tires up (every 6 weeks or so!) then I get 3 mpg more.

Fuel up when it's cool. If that's early morning, or night doesn't matter. You pump more FUEL when the weather is cool. When it's hot, gas expands, and what you pump will be less dense than what you pump on a cool part of the day.

Carpool!

I don't see the situation as a gas crisis, only a money crisis for the consumer. Halifax creates it's own ...using sewage and it only takes 30 minutes for each barrel of oil! (Where is the media on this!!!??? )

We have plenty of oil reserves, yet untouched, but don't have refineries here in the USA to produce any more than they do. They are not going to build more refineries as they make more money this way, plus, the newer non-oil energies are being developed (air, solar etc) and maybe within 10 years we won't need any more refineries. (Petroleum based products seem to always be though, plastics, rubber, etc.)

That we have not been required to drive more slowly, and that we do not have to carpool (like in the 70s, but don't get me started lol we have tankers off the coast of FL that couldn't unload because all the resevoirs were FULL) but that no limitations have been set as a nation should say something to you.

I hope the higher prices will get the drivers off the road that have no where to go anyway. Less accidents, less traffic... yeah, my cup of tea!

TC!

We just got a new Prius for $23k in a very expensive area. It was very reasonable and with the gas money we're saving the payments haven't been a problem. It was much better than the used cars for $5000 less.

Good suggestion!! and very true, thank you

You have a lot of great points here. Allow me to add a few as well.

I believe that as a society we can and must end our use of fossil fuels. I have written a letter to my representative proposing that congress have a meeting with the heads of all the major auto companies and give them a goal of replacing all internal combustion engine vehicles with either Hydrogen-Hybrids, or long range electric cars by 2045. After that ICE's would only be allowed by permit for commercial use.

I also believe that Nano-Tech if properly developed will replace manufacturing by use of petroleum-based plastics. If you can create these things at the molecular level there will be no need for the clumsy and environmentally damaging processes of today. We must push as a society for the unbridled development of Nano-Tech.