Increased Mileage

Improve your gas mileage by filling up the gasoline tank in your car in the summer. Don’t overfill your tank. Spilling gasoline on the ground just doesn’t improve gas mileage. Gasoline includes liquid gasoline and gasoline vapors.

In the summer time it is possible for some of the liquid gasoline to turn into vapors inside your gas tank. To avoid this fill the tank to the normal full level and try to keep it there. This reduces the amount of space available for gasoline vapors and actually increases gasoline mileage.

You can also improve gasoline mileage by keeping the tires of your vehicle full of air. Check the tires before you have traveled a long distance or before it gets to warm during the day. Warm air expands in the tires and may give a slightly false reading. Keeping the tires full with air may save up to 5 per cent on your total gas mileage.

The best way I’ve found to improve my gas mileage is really quite simple: I pretend I have really bad brakes! If you are driving a car with really bad brakes, you have to anticipate stopping and slowing down, and coast to a halt as much as possible. By simply laying off the gas pedal and coasting to slow down, I use much less gas than I did when I was just driving and braking. I’ve found that accelerating slowly, and keeping my car in a high gear help as well. In a city, these methods don’t really add to drive time, because traffic and stoplights keep your speed in check anyway. Besides saving on fuel, these methods also save your car a lot of wear and tear, and therefore extend the time between repairs. That’s a lot of money saved just by being a more thoughtful driver!

Right now with gas sitting within a Popsicle’s price $3.00 a gallon or more it makes sense to make a few changes that can help get more miles to the gallon out of the old clunker. Here are a few helpful tips listed by what they cost.

Free

Air in the tires more air equals less rolling resistance and more freeway friendly gear ratios (if the tires are inflated bigger they act like an increased overdrive). At the very least tired should be set at what the manufacturer of the car recommends, but I experimented with my 1987 Porsche and found I like about 45 pounds in the tires. It saved about 2 mpg, for free. Additionally replace the factory tires with tires that are the same width and a little taller, even more overdrive gearing with less tire on the ground rolling resistance.

Knock off the jackrabbit starts- my Porsche has a MPG gage which is basically a glorified vacuum gage but it is a constant reminder of loss and a good tool to show you how much foot you should use when.

Combine trips- or shop at places where you can get everything, or multitask like Super Wal-Mart, Target or Big K.. Bank online and have direct deposit.

Regular maintenance

Tune up- At the very least you can change the plugs every 3,000 miles. If you can’t do it, many High Schools and Community Colleges will fix your car for free for the students getting a chance to gain experience.

Wax on wax off- Mr. Miyagi said it best, a clean car with wax on it reduces wind resistance.

Replace the factory air cleaner with a large volume low restriction intake. Check local ordinances before you buy and modify. Be careful what you are buying because some of those intakes can get pretty pricy, so shop around decide what you want, check out everybody’s price including eBay. Keep your old air filter and box in the event you need to pass smog sometime. Some good air intakes are under $100.00. The intake doesn’t have to be the best, you are seeking to reduce restriction, not race Indy.

Repair

Exhaust . . .specifically the Catalytic Converter most cars now come with a straight thru converter (where you can see daylight when you look down the exhaust). This is imperative and if you have the other type, you must replace it with this type. Cost between $100 and $300.00 dollars, with a savings of about 3 MPG. Consider replacing the muffler with a low restriction muffler or glass pack. Check with local ordinances on noise and muffler replacement.

Repair body damage- this can and usually does detract more from your mileage than not cleaning and waxing, particularly if the damage is in the front or on the side.

If your coil fails look into something that provides a little more spark.

Cam shaft- should you need a cam shaft there should be a number of suitable replacements that offer better fuel economy that are cheaper than a factory camshaft.