The Comprehensive Guide To Saving Money on Gas

Step 4 Steps 7, 8 & 9 - Good Habits

Cut back on the AC
When you're driving around town, (anything less than 50mph) Roll down the windows instead. A/C can drop or mileage by as much as 8%.

Park in the Shade
Gasoline evaporates easily, so having a hot car means your money is floating away! Plus, you'll likely turn on your AC to compensate.

Turn it to Economy Mode
Many cars now have an Economy/Sport/Winter setting switch, or an "Xtra PWR" button somewhere. These can drop you mileage depending on your car and your driving habits. Stay far, far away.

Comments

[arionisa]

Any car buil in the last 20 years or so has a sealed fuel system, parking in the hot sun or in the shade makes no difference at all since any fuel vapors caused from evaporation are captured inside the sealed system and will return to a liquid state once they cool down. In fact, newer vehicles ("96 and up) generally have a sensor built into them so that if you don't tighten your fuel cap all the way (to capture the vapors), your check engine light comes on. A good idea if you drive an older car I guess, but useless for anything "recent".

[aristide202]

That's true, there are two pipes from the fuel tank, one comes from the fuel pump inside the tank, the other takes fuel back from engine to the fuel tank. Consider that the fuel pump cools and so endures more it's working life if submerged by fuel. That means more or less something like two gallons fuel in your tankat least. Remember it does exist a fuel filter too between the fuel pump end the engine, better to clean , possible in some diesel engine, or change. It surely helps pump life too and I can tell gas pump failure is a real bad nightmare, I changhed mine in a parking lot, a most difficult task I ever tried . Gas filter in my car was almost filled of an unclassified black dirt after 50.000 miles when I changed it .
Clean new engine air filter and a well checked tire pressure are mandatory as it results in my personal mileage, fuel, oil and filter changes database. Keep a hand or pedal air pump in your trunk it may help or even save a lot.

[Joenavy85]

so why do new cars have a fresh air tube on them?? If the system is sealed and you pump all the gas out of the tank you'll have a vacuum in the tank and won't be able to get the cap off to refill it.

[fwater]

"Many cars now have an Economy/Sport setting switch, or an "Xtra PWR" button somewhere. These can drop you mileage 50% in some cases."

*sigh* 50%. In what cases? Another ridiculous statistic. The "power" switch seen in some cars only forces the automatic transmission to shift earlier than it normally would. In "power" mode, it does nothing, in "economy" mode, it short shifts. Using light throttle in either setting will have the same effect, slightly increased gas mileage. Seriously, 50%!

[RickO5]

The "power" switch seen in some cars only forces the automatic transmission to shift earlier than it normally would. True, in some cars this is the case. In others, it completely changes the fuel map the ECU references, ignition timing, and/or valve timing. Yes, 50% is a maximum, and its based on people driving incredibly stupidly. The particular car I tested that on, a volvo 850 turbo, used 50% more gas on a few acceleration runs when in sport mode. I imagine mostly due to shift points, I dont know, I havent checked on that particular car (I think it might also effect boost pressure, some Saabs do this.). That obviously will not transfer into 50% overall gains. Why did I include this number then? because I know in at least one circumstance this is the case, and it gets the point across. Should you expect 50% gas mileage gains? No. Could you achieve the same results by staying off the throttle? Maybe. Those switches not only raise how long you can stay in gear, but some raise the minimum rpm level to upshift. In such cases, When it comes down to it though, cars are a lot better at remembering to drive efficiently than people are, and they're a lot less likely to get tempted to rev the engine up far higher than it needs to go. Either way, fair enough complaint on the stats, I should take that down. Dont think Im just pulling these numbers out of a hat though.