Most people worry about the mileage of a car when they buy it, but they don't realize that without proper maintenance you can very quickly change your 26 mpg car to an 18 mpg car.
1. Check your tire pressure at a monthly basis. If even just one tire is low on air, that can easily bring your mpg down a few units.
2. Make sure you follow proper maintenence. Without proper maintenece, your engine starts exerting a lot more energy than it needs to. For example, if you haven't changed your oil in a while, the higher viscosity from dirty oil will make your engine constantly having to work harder to do the same thing it could with clean new engine oil.
3. Don't keep junk in your car. Weight is one of the main factors that will determine how much fuel a car will use up given any scenario. Keep it clean and happy, and you'll feel the same way.
4. Drive moderately. Speeding is the number one gasoline chugger. Generally, at highway speeds the faster you go, the more gas you will consume. More than 90% of the fuel dedicated to move a car at high speeds is for air resistance. If you have tried sticking your hand out at highway speeds, you'll know what I'm talking about. But generally, a car will always have better mileage on highways when compared to city driving. That is because acceleration uses up more fuel than maintaining certain speeds. In the city, all you do is accelerate and decelerate, which uses more energy. So when travelling, make sure you take the route where you have to stop and turn the least, even if it means going an extra km or two.
5. Aerodynamics plays a major role. If you have a broken headlight or bumper or anything in the front of the car broken, tape it up and make it smooth if you can't afford to fix it. I have seen experiments where people merely sealed the small opening between the hood and the bumper, and all those other crevices a car has where air can enter. It made a very significant difference in mileage.
All in all, just take care of your car, and you should be fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment