Gas Saving Tips
Getting
better gas mileage with today's high prices has become an important topic.
Not only for our personal finances, but also for the environment. Here
are some helpful tips that will to maximize your mileage.
Fuel-Saving Maintenance Tips
- Keep your tires properly inflated: Proper inflation costs nothing and is the
number one source of reduced gas mileage. Think of how hard you have
to work peddling a bicycle with low tires and then imagine how hard
your car has to work with them.
- Replace Dirty Air Filters: When your air filter
is clogged with dust, dirt, smoke particles and bugs it chokes off
the air and creates a "Rich" gas/air mixture. This means
too much gas for the amount of air. This wastes fuel and causes
the engine to lose power. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve
gas mileage by as much as 10%.
- Fuel Caps: About 17% of vehicles on the roads have
gas caps that are either damaged, loose or missing. This causes 147
million gallons of fuel to evaporate every year. Make sure your gas
cap is in good condition and secured tightly. Most current cars require
3-4 clicks to properly tighten the Fuel cap.
- Replace Worn O2 Sensor: Inside our cars is a sensor
that detects and adjusts the air to fuel mixture, known as the O2 Sensor.
When this sensor is worn or defective, it is unable to properly mix
this ratio and can significantly impact your car's mileage and power.
- Replace Dirty or Substandard Engine Oil: Dirty
engine oil increases friction inside the engine. Increased friction
makes the engine work harder and that reduces mileage.
- Replace Worn Spark Plugs: Vehicles have either
four, six or eight spark plugs, which fire as many as 3 million times
in 1000 miles. This naturally cause lots of heat and electrical and
chemical erosion. Dirty spark plugs cause misfiring and inefficient
combustion, this in turn wastes fuel.
Condition |
MPG Penalty
(Up to) |
Under inflated tires |
1-2mpg |
Dirty air filter |
2.0mpg |
Worn spark plugs |
2.0mpg |
Worn O2 sensor |
3mpg |
Dirty or substandard engine oil |
0.4mpg |
Loose or damaged Fuel cap |
2.0mpg |
Fuel Saving Driving Tips
- Don't be an aggressive driver: Aggressive driving can lower gas
mileage by as much as 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent on city
streets, which results in 10 to 66 cents per gallon.
- Avoid excessive idling: Sitting idle gets zero miles per gallon.
Letting the vehicle warm up for one to two minutes is sufficient.
- Observe the speed limit: Fuel mileage decreases rapidly at speeds
above 60 mph. Each mpg driven over 60 will result in an additional
Ugx 230 per litre. To maintain a constant speed on the highway, cruise
control is recommended.
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