Mark Hultgren   Wordpress Specialist
The message screams at us from every sign at every corner gas station—gasoline prices are at an all-time high and there’s no indication that relief is anywhere in site. In fact, many experts are saying it could get worse—much worse—and that’s sending masses of motorists scrambling for ways to cut down on gas consumption.


But what to do, when old, outdated myths and outright scams are filling the airwaves and internet? Just today we saw a television news station advising drivers to fill up their gas tanks in the morning when gas is cooler and more condensed, as a way of getting more for your money.


This outdated advice may have been true once—we don’t know for sure—but we do know that today gas stations store fuel below ground in 30,000-gallon tanks. That means gas stays at relatively the same temperature and does not expand and contract with daily cycles.


We’ve seen all sorts of other bad advice that’s outdated, ill-advised or just outright fraud. Claims that devises which bleed air into the carburetor can dramatically increase gas mileage turn out not to be true when put to the test under closely monitored conditions.


Same for those fuel-line gadgets that supposedly help you save on gas by heating it before it enters the carburetor, or magnets that clamp on to the outside of the fuel line to magically change the molecular structure of gasoline, or metallic additives that claim they ionize gas for great savings. They’ve all been tested by the EPA, which found the only thing these devises reduced was the amount of cash in motorist’s wallets.

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Face it—with a long-term gas crises looming ahead, there are plenty of governmental bodies and even private industries that have good reason to want to help you save on gas. Here are ten tips they all agree will really help you do the job:

1.      Keep your tires properly inflated according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Under inflated tires make the vehicle run less efficiently and waste gas.

2.      Don’t be an aggressive driver. Jackrabbit starts, tire screeching stops and speeding can lower your gas mileage by 5% on city streets and as much as 33% on highways.

3.      Avoid excessive idling. Idling your engine for 15 minutes wastes one gallon of gas. Whenever possible, time your traveling to avoid lingering at traffic lights and reduce the amount of time you let your car warm up. In warm weather, driving is actually the most efficient way to warm up a combustion engine.

4.      Slow down. The faster you go, the less efficiently your vehicle uses gas. 55 is the most efficient mph on highways. Go above 60 and your fuel efficiency decreases rapidly.

5.      Remove excess weight. If you’re used to driving around with your golf clubs and a chain saw in your trunk, you’re paying a heavy price for it. Removing an extra 100 pounds from your car will increase your fuel efficiency by as much as 2%.

6.      Don’t use premium fuel unless your vehicle manufacturer requires it. And double or triple check your automakers advice by asking true auto experts—not just shade tree mechanics—for their best advice. We’re not pointing fingers at anyone, but some automakers with ties to big petroleum producers have been known to recommend premium fuels in cases where regular would do just as well.

7.      Have a mechanic check your oxygen sensors. A faulty oxygen sensor will mistakenly send more gas to the engine then is needed. Replacing a faulty oxygen sensor can save you as many as six fill-ups a year.

8.      Make sure your air filter is clean. A dirty air filter dramatically reduces fuel efficiency, so don’t just blindly follow some predetermined schedule for putting in a new one. Consider your actual driving conditions. Driving on dirt roads—or just plain dirty roads—or in heavily polluted cities will get your air filter filthy a lot faster than you might expect,

9.      Check on your “forgotten filters.” Most motorists know to check the air filter when they do a tune-up, but not many think to check on the fuel filter, the PCV valve and the breather filter.  Replacing these “forgotten” filters once a year or every 12,000 miles can help improve your gas mileage by up to 15 percent.

10.  Get a new gas cap—and make it one with a lock. Old gas caps can get out of shape. As gas fumes expand in your tank, they can escape past a faulty seal and waste precious fuel. Some studies suggest you can save as much as 17 gallons of gas a year just by replacing an old gas cap. And consider making that new gas cap a locking model because sadly, as gas prices go up, so do gas thefts.

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Jun 20th 2008 12:16