In fact, every 5 mph (8. 0 km/h) you go over 50, you can assume you’re spending an extra $. 25 a gallon on gas. [2] X Research source Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL): Predicting Light-Duty Vehicle Fuel Economy as a Function of Highway Speed, SAE 2013-01-1113. M Your efficiency decreases significantly the faster you go. What’s more, lights are often timed to the speed limit. If you go faster than necessary, you’re just stopping and starting anyway – which is also bad for saving gas.

Repeated braking simply wastes energy, converting it into unnecessary heat energy and greatly reduces the service life of your brakes. In the future most cars may be equipped with systems in which braking power will be converted into reusable energy, but it is highly unlikely that your car has this technology now unless it is a hybrid.

In short, you want to use the gas and brake pedals as little as possible. Keeping that in mind while driving will keep your gas usage to a minimum.

And as for weaving, don’t do it. It’s for much the same reason – when you weave in and out of lanes, you’re constantly speeding up and slowing down. Relax and stick to one lane. [3] X Trustworthy Source FuelEconomy. gov Official source for the U. S. government for fuel economy information Go to source

Cruise control keeps your car going at a steady rate, allowing the gas a break from pumping too hard or not pumping enough. However, it’s only useful in stretches – don’t bother using it in town, you’ll be stopping and starting too much for it to make any difference.

That being said, it’s generally true that gas prices spike up on the weekends, starting on Thursday afternoons. So if you think you’ll need gas on Saturday, it might be wise to fill up now. Scope out any especially good gas prices to see if it’s worth buying now. [6] X Research source

Whenever you’re waiting for someone, turn off the idle. Drive thru or going inside? Going inside. You can still play the radio without idling!

Lift up the hose a bit to get the gas resting in the line. Gravity causes the gas to lie at the lowest point, so lifting it up gets it out of there and into your tank.

And did we mention that your bum doesn’t get seared on contact? It’s better for your car and for you. It’s hard to drive when you can’t touch the steering wheel without burning yourself!

However, a tailwind (a wind behind you) helps. Which direction is the wind coming from? It should come as no surprise that high-traffic times are not good for fuel efficiency. You’re stopping and starting, idling, weaving, and probably taking part in just about every bad habit for your fuel economy.

For example, buy non-perishable necessities (including pet food, toilet needs, dry goods, and canned groceries, etc. ) in bulk so you don’t have to make a special trip for a few items.

But if you have to carry something, carry it in your trunk, not on the rack on top of your car. With something on top of your car, there is way more drag, slowing your car down, making it more difficult to accelerate.

In the scheme of car parts to replace, air filters are pretty cheap. Most are about $30-40.

Check your tire pressure more often when the outside temperature changes greatly. Hot tires will have high pressure from expanding air – but if air is let out to the proper amount of pressure, then when cooled they will become too low in the cooler conditions, so you’ll need to reinflate them when cooler. Under inflated and greatly over-sized tires have more rolling resistance and this will reduce your miles per gallon (MPG) and cause tire wear from the excessive friction. If you do need new tires, get radial ones. They have a low rolling resistance, keeping your car aerodynamic.

When you’re getting your tune up, ask your mechanic about what oil you should be using for your car and for saving gas. He may be able to throw in a bottle or two with your tune-up.