How Can I Get the Best Gas Mileage?

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Everyone wants to know how you can get better gas mileage. I mean why would you want to spend more on traveling than you need to? Even the richest among us don’t like throwing money away so in this article we are going to look at one simple way to get the best gas mileage you can no matter what you drive.

You can start by checking out some of our other articles with gas-saving tips such as keeping your car tuned up and well maintained and removing gas-mileage robbers like heavy loads and roof racks but this article is going to focus on your driving habits and how they can waste gas and add wear and tear to your vehicle.

Your driving habits actually have a very significant effect on your fuel mileage, especially in city driving, but even on the highway. Below are 6 changes you can make to your driving that will save you fuel.

Fuel Saving Driving tips:

1.) Relax
Often times while driving it is our goal to get from start to finish as fast as we can. Now unless you are a race car driver, or get paid by the mile for your driving, that is probably an unrealistic and wasteful goal. The first step in getting better fuel mileage actually starts before you even put the keys in the ignition. Plan your day accordingly so your commuting and travel time in between jobs, appointments or errands aren’t rushed. Schedule yourself an extra 10% to 20% to get places. For example, if you have a 30 minute commute, consider leaving 3 to 6 minutes early. You won’t miss the sleep but you will arrive at work with more gas in the tank and you will probably carry less road rage into the office. If it’s a 15 minute trip, plan on it taking 18 minutes and you won’t be late getting home.

2.) Use the Cruise
Using cruise control has a lot of benefits. Keeping the cruise set right at the speed limit can certainly help avoid those costly speeding tickets you get because you aren’t pay attention to your speed. Cruise control also can help save fuel. Constantly slowing down and speeding up uses much more fuel than maintaining a constant speed. Also, slowing down when you are going up hills and having to speed up on the other side uses more gas than maintaining your speed uphill. Cruise control will keep your vehicle in a steady state saving gas used on acceleration. If you live in an extremely hilly area or in the mountains, the cruise control may have trouble predicting the land scape so you may have to give it some help from time to time.

3.) Windows or Air Condition?
Having your windows down is a lot of fun and can make your driving experience much more enjoyable. However, it can also make your vehicle significantly less aerodynamic. The less aerodynamic your vehicle is, the more fuel it takes to push it down the road. The faster you are going, the greater effect aerodynamics has a fuel mileage. Similarly, your car’s air conditioning can keep you comfortable but it also takes energy to run the compressor and fans so it too will use more fuel. The key to stay comfortable and not wasting fuel is knowing when to have the windows down and when to use your air conditioning. For most vehicles, a good rule of thumb is at about 45 MPH it is more efficient to use your air conditioner and below 45 MPH is saves fuel to turn the AC off and have the windows down.

4.) Its ok to “Lose”
Even though it’s not a race, sometimes we drive like it is. How many times on the highway do you catch yourself zooming past someone to make it to the off ramp? Or how many times do you gun it at a stop light to get in front of the other guy to make a lane change, or just for the satisfaction of having the open road in front of you? While you’re driving consider “losing” on purpose to save fuel. On the interstate, let of the gas and slow down to merge behind someone to make the off ramp. At the stop light, consider accelerating slowly and merging behind or being content to stay in line. Acceleration uses the majority of the fuel in your car so the slower you can do it, the more gas you will save

5.) Avoid Traffic and Lights
Anytime your vehicle is idling, like while you are sitting at a traffic light or stuck in traffic you are literally getting zero miles per gallon. To avoid your car using fuel without it getting you anywhere try to take routes where you can keep moving. This will not only help you avoid idling but also avoid acceleration, another fuel mileage robber. If you have multiple routes to take for your journey, consider counting the number of traffic lights and stop signs and taking the route with the fewest. Also, check traffic conditions before you travel and chose the route that will keep you moving and save you fuel.

6.) Use FuelMD
The last driving habit you should use to save Fuel actual happens with your vehicle off. Adding BlueDevil FuelMD to your fuel tank will help your car to feel like new, and will improve vehicle fuel mileage, efficiency, startups, power and acceleration. BlueDevil FuelMD is an all in one fuel system treatment that will help you get the best possible fuel mileage every mile you drive. You can purchase BlueDevil FuelMD online.

You can also purchase BlueDevil Products at our partnering auto parts retail locations: