Improving the fuel economy in your car might just be easier than you’re inclined to think. It’s assured that you’ve heard everyone saying that the only way to significantly improve the fuel economy in a vehicle is to replace it with a more fuel-efficient vehicle, but wouldn’t that by itself really defeat the whole purpose? If you’re buying a brand-new car that gets ten extra miles per gallon than your old car, what’s the real savings? You have to make payments on the vehicle, increased insurance costs, and a host of other expenses that you didn’t have with your old car. So, how can you make that old car last longer, drive cleaner, and cost you less money than that fancy new hybrid will? The basics, that’s how.
The first step in improving the fuel economy of any vehicle, whether it be a tiny two-door economobile or a super heavy duty pickup truck, is to ensure that it’s running at its absolute top condition. A tune-up is the absolute minimum that you should consider performing. On today’s cars, fortunately, this is a relatively simple procedure. Let’s discuss a vehicle at about its half-life, approximately 100,000 miles. This is the point when belts and hoses begin to wear out, fuel lines begin to rust through, and general maintenance begins to take a real front seat. Begin by changing the spark plugs and spark plug wires. Even plugs that are rated to work well up to 150,000 miles usually could do with replacement at around 100,000. The reason for this is simple. The 150,000 mile rating is considerate of light driving duties, and little if any stop and go. In addition, these ratings are largely speculative. The spark energy they produce is tested on a bench in a laboratory and then mathematically figured. There’s no accounting for different fuel types, overheating engines, or other things that can decrease the spark plug’s life. You’ll notice a difference as soon as the new plugs are installed.
Next, check all the belts and hoses in the engine compartment and have them replaced if they appear to have cracks or extensive wear. When you do this, flush and fill the coolant system to prevent the engine from overheating, which can significantly reduce the power of the engine, and by extension, the fuel economy. Ensure that your tires are properly aired up, and that the interior and trunk of your car are relatively clean and junk-free. Extra weight in a car kills fuel economy faster than any other individual aspect.
Once the basic tune-up is out of the way, change the oil. It may sound simple enough, and it’s likely that you’ve heard that you really don’t have to change your engine oil as often as you’ve been told, and that’s true- up to a point. New engines that are past their break-in stage don’t need oil as often because they are running at their peak efficiency. An engine with 100,000 miles on the odometer, however, will not be running at that peak efficiency. At the absolute least, you need to change the oil in an older vehicle every four months or four thousand miles, using a high-mileage oil filter and synthetic oil matched to your engine’s viscosity needs. Only use conventional oil if your car specifically requires it.
Change the air filter every time you change the oil, or replace it with a washable filter that you clean every time you change the oil. This allows the engine to breath more freely. Think of it in terms of a smoker versus a non-smoker running one mile uphill. If they’re otherwise evenly matched, the non-smoker can fill their lungs more easily, and thus will have more power to climb the hill without wheezing to a stop at some point. Cars work the same way. You have to feed them air for them to survive.
Next up is changing your driving habits. If you’ve never heard of hypermiling, it is best summed up by coasting. The idea is that you use the momentum of the car to speed up when going downhill, and then feathering the accelerator or avoiding it when you get to the uphill side of the hill. This puts less stress on the engine, and uses less fuel. In addition to this, saving fuel economy through hypermiling requires that you avoid taking off quickly from stop lights and stop signs, select routes that have largely straight and non-hilly terrain, and use your air conditioner as little as possible, all of which contribute to increased fuel consumption and higher gas costs in your family car.
These tactics will work to increase the gas mileage of literally any car or truck, van or SUV. It’s implementing them that often is a little tough for drivers, because we’ve become so used to doing it the other way.