Most automobile owners nowadays have a major concern in their minds – how to improve that gas mileage. You can not blame them as the nations’ economy is facing an energy crisis, gas prices are shooting through the roofs, salaries are being cut because of the economic recession and a car that isn’t fuel efficient can end up making you spend $3338 extra in less than 5 years as fuel costs fluctuate if you are dependent on your car daily!

If you commute or travel a lot, you know time = money.

If you commute an hour to work on a gas-guzzling vehicle, that could be your whole monthly income if you’re barely making under $15/hr.

An alternative solution is to take public transportation – which is fine if there are bus/trolley/train routes to your work place. Moreover, while public transportation can save you time, you may actually have to get up way earlier and might get home a bit later. The good part is you’re bound to meet new people on the bus, but the time to get to work or go back home may be slow depending on how far you live from home.

You can ride your bicycle – but that only makes sense depending on your area and how far you work. And if you work a corporate job having to wear to a suit-and-tie carrying a 30 pound briefcase, this solution may not be ideal

You can get a private jet – but that would be too expensive if you have not reach the so-called “richie rich lifestyle” status yet. Remember that time = money. Save time, but that may not be saving money if you’re on a budget.

Instead of non-renewable fuel, you can try to make your car run on water. Does it sound absurd? There are products out there that hold such revolutionary claims, but you have to check it out for yourself. Who knows? Perhaps it will work for you. What’s next? Run your car on orange juice?

A future development can be a teleportation device – but that’s still in the realm of science fiction movies. And that’s likely to remain there for a very long time.

Realistically, if you still want to drive your energy-inefficient car, I think this itself is a good enough reason for you to start thinking about a gas saving tactic. Let me now discuss the ways in which you can cut your gas bills when driving.

Driving sensibly

• Do you know what makes you waste gas? Frequent braking, rapid acceleration and speeding that is, aggressive driving pushes up fuel consumption. When you drive at a speed of 45 – 55 km per hour, you derive the best mileage. And of course driving on highways improves your mileage compared to city driving.

Speed limit has to be observed

• Different cars and different vehicles have different optimal fuel economy points at a range of speeds. But even then, it is usually at speeds above 60 km per hour that fuel efficiency starts decreasing rapidly.
• When you drive at speeds of over 60 km/hour, you spend 24 cents more behind gas. When you drive at a normal speed, that is, at 50 km/hour, you can save around 7% to 23% fuel and between 19 cents and 61 cents per gallon.

Overdrive gears

• If you attach overdrive gear to your car’s engine, it will pull down the speed and the gas will be saved. Even engine wear and tear will be minimized.

Cruise control

• If you frequently drive on the highways, you can consider using cruise control which will limit the speed level and prevent fuel wastage.

Excessive idling must be avoided

• When you start idling, you may end up with 0 miles every gallon. It is usually the larger and heavier cars like sedans, MUVs, SUVs, saloons and their likes with large powerful engines which are called fuel guzzlers.
• The hatchbacks with smaller engines are considered more fuel efficient. These fuel guzzling cars tend to waste plenty of gas when you idle.

Remove excess weight

• When a car gets too heavy, fuel efficiency decreases by 1% to 2% per 100 lbs, that is, by 3 to 5 cents per gallon. So you should try to remove all those unnecessary items that you store in the car dickey and make your car lighter. The MPG is minimized by around 2% when the car becomes heavy by an additional 100 pounds.

Just imagine, if you can save between 5% to 33% fuel, the equivalent gasoline savings will be between 13 cents and 88 cents per gallon.  So now that you know some tips on how to improve your gas mileage, implement them in your life and watch all the difference. Wish you a happy fuel efficient driving.