Buy gas for your car lately? Talk about sticker shock! Instead of buying a bike or a pair of walking shoes, try these simple tips to help you get the highest mileage possible from your current car.
First - Pump up your tires. Every modern car has a sticker on the door post or in the door jam that lists the manufacturer's recommended tire pressures. These are compromise settings that take safety, comfort, handling, tire wear, road noise and fuel mileage into consideration. At a minimum, your tires must be set to these levels. A large percentage of cars on the road have uninflated tires - some dangerously so. (I saw such a vehicle yesterday going 65mph, an accident waiting to happen.) Get a good tire pressure gauge like the ones recommended here and go to the gas station to fill your tires. Properly inflated tires will reduce rolling resistance and bump up your mileage. If you can stand a little harsher ride, go up a few pounds. (But do not exceed the recommended sidewall pressure!) This will further reduce rolling friction and help a bit more with gas mileage.
Second - Empty your trunk. Car manufacturers spend millions to remove 20 pounds from your car without affecting comfort and safety. but if you carry around 50 pounds of junk (ever look in a teacher's trunk?) you are costing yourself money with every fill up. Go do it now! (I'll wait.)
Third - Change your spark plugs - No matter what it says in your owner's manual, your plugs will not work at peak efficiency for 100,000 miles. Their efficiency drops with every mile. If you have over 30,000 miles on your last tuneup, change your plugs (it's very easy). I like NGK, Champion and Bosch.
Finally - Change your air filter. If you have driven more than 15,000 miles on your current air filter, change it now. A new filter will help let your engine breathe and should deliver your car's best mileage. May I recommend you consider a high performance unit like Fram's Air Hog?
Common sense things like not idling the motor to warm it up, driving at sensible speeds (your car's best mileage is probably achieved at 50 to 60 mph) and don't rest your left foot on the brake as you drive (I can't believe how many bozos do that) all will add precious MPGs.
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