Increase Fuel Economy

How to Increase fuel economy and miles per gallon posts are a dime a dozen these days. Some offer radical ideas that turn into heated discussions about science and perpetual motion. Then there is the fluff article with little useful information that doesn't help at all. I'm hoping that this page will be neither of those and connect you to other articles I wrote on the subject at the bottom.

So far in 2013 we are seeing steady but high gas prices with small periodic pull backs. This is at a time of the year when price trends are usually lower. We actually set some records in the first quarter. A few experts predict $5 a gallon or more by the end of 2013. We will not forget what is possible on the roller coaster ride that is petroleum pricing! Heading over 4 dollars a gallon in the United States in 2008 and reaching seven dollars a gallon in 2009 for Europe where it remains high.

This is an introduction page, an overview of how to increase your fuel economy. Or at least get the maximum miles per gallon that your car will allow. At the bottom will be more in-depth articles on this subject. I'm sure you've heard some of these topics covered before. The important part is to take action and stick with it. Increasing fuel economy is like going on a diet. It's not fun and it only works if you stick to the plan.

More miles per gallon

The whole idea is to get the biggest bang for the buck, so if there are some ways you can get more miles to the gallon why not pursue them? So the question is how to increase fuel economy on your own vehicle.

While there are a number of things and some of these are common sense measures that will definitely increase your miles per gallon while other measures may entail some adjustments.

I will touch on a few maintenance items that are often overlooked that effect the bottom line numbers. Of course I cover the mods subject that makes people freak out because we have been led to believe there is nothing we can do except pay the pump. With that said being skeptical about devices and products that claim to increase your mileage or seem too good to be true is healthy.

Whether they are legitimate solutions or just snake oil in a box is the question that I will attempt to answer in the articles below. One improvement I have personally installed was a cold air intake. Now this does improve miles per Gallon and performance.

How drastic the improvement depends on how well the original equipment one was designed from the factory. After installing the air intake on my Blazer the miles per gallon went down because I wanted to feel the new power! The hard part for most is keeping ones foot off the floor. If you want to try one Amazon has good prices on cold air induction kits.

Forcing my self to crawl around for a tank full I did see an improvement of about 2 mpg. This is not bad and for sure a step in the right direction. Coupled with other things you may not be doing it could be huge. This is why I think it's worth learning about the fuel economy of automobiles. The more you know about the subject the better the chances of increasing average economy going forward.

Driving habits increase fuel economy

The most common mistake by new and experienced drivers alike is the acceleration procedure. Discipline and consistency are so important to increase fuel economy.

When the light turns green nailing the accelerator on your car or truck, and getting that rush as you're pushed back in the driver's seat is a lot of fun, but it's also expensive. You should be aware of what this does to your overall average gas mileage. Quick starts cause the engine to literally suck down the petroleum in large amounts, rather than taking fuel in a smooth civilized manner.

While we are all probably guilty of engaging in the stop light drag races next time you feel the temptation ask yourself if it is really that important to show the guy in the GT Mustang who the real king of the road is. Remember it's your wallet so why impress a total stranger?

Saying you will no longer smash the gas pedal to the floor and holding to that promise are two different things. For me knowing what my real time fuel economy is while driving helps me keep on track. My car has instant miles per gallon function that I display on my driver information center at all times.

When I am coasting I can sometimes see an instant reading of over 50 miles per gallon (very motivating). When I take off from a stop light this number can be below 10 mpg. If I am able to increase the good number while reducing the bad number my fuel economy improves. If you do not have the ability to read instant mpg they have devices like the ECO Meter and the PLX that can display on multiple devices including android phones.

Keeping your highway speed at 55 mph can increase fuel economy as much as 25% compared to 75 mph. Keep in mind that over 50% of the energy required to move a vehicle down the road is spent overcoming aerodynamic drag.

The faster you drive the more air you will have to push out of the way. And this dramatically increases rolling resistance. Consequently, the fuel economy decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph because of the increase in air resistance.

As a rule of thumb you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $.21 per gallon for gas. If you do the math this adds up in a hurry. This tip and the other tips to follow on the next pages could equal total gas savings of thousands of dollars in a one-year driving period. Your personal experiences will vary with commitment level.

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Increase fuel economy articles

When you buy a vehicle and you look at the window sticker you hope for the bigger highway number. You most likely get closer to the smaller city number. See if turning off the car AC improves city gas mileage.

I touched on some hypermilling tactics on this page but I have some more information on this driving style subject. I also would like to clear up the proper procedure for calculating fuel economy. Next link takes you to the page about saving gas with hypermiling techniques.

I found yet another way to save on gas. You will love this method because it works so well at reducing monthly costs of commuting to work. See how my Dad saved on gas by not driving.

Maybe not driving isn't an option for you. This next article talks about the most important criteria for securing vehicles that reduce fuel costs.

I came across a very comprehensive package that included the Internets most popular resources on the radical fuel saving subject. This is what was included in the no longer available gas saver guide.

General Motors is trying to recover post bailout. Find out what their plan is to win you back. Hint: it's not all about fuel consumption.

Sacrifices are necessary in life. Now you can learn how to remove all fun from driving at my next article on how to improve driving habits.

This next page includes the full review of the water4gas hydrogen on demand system that claims to increase fuel economy. I purchased the product, see what I think about Water-4-Gas.

On this next page I provide some unique and often overlooked things that help towards increasing fuel economy.

Oil is running out and this is most evident by diesel fuel prices. Learn all about the subject of bio diesel and even learn how to make your own.

Remember that diesel powered cars and trucks get 30% more miles per gallon than their gas powered counterpart. You will see more environmentally friendly diesels cars on the market later this year.

Even if you can not produce enough to say goodbye to big oil maybe you can make enough to mix with regular diesel fuel and create a biodiesel blend. This means you might cut your fuel costs. Why not see if making bio diesel is right for you?

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