So driving to Massachusetts yesterday, Jack shouted the expletive "Holy #&%, gas is now over $4." This gave me pause. First of he interrupted my performance of Thunder Road with bad news, WTF? Second of all, will songs like "No Particular Place to Go," "Drive My Car" and "Fun Fun Fun" become obsolete becuase people won't know what joyrides are? And third and perhaps most important, why are we all slaves to the pump?Over a year ago, I decided to only use my car when I need to. I opt for public transportation when traveling to and from work as well as around the city. My car is efficient and gets good gas mileage, but still those numbers add up.
But I'm lucky, I'm able to utilize the MTA. What about people that live in the suburbs? And what about shuttling around kids to practice, piano lessons, dance, etc? It's gets insane.
So here are a few tips from the US Department of Energy.
1. Remove excess weight from your car, but removing all unnecessary items from your car and trunk. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2 percent
2. Keep up with your car's maintenance. Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4 percent.
3. Keep your tires properly inflated. You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure.
4. Observe the speed limit. You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.24 per gallon for gas.
5. Do not idle - turn the car off if parked too long. Idling gets 0 miles per gallon.
6. Use cruise control. Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.
7. Use overdrive gears. When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces engine wear.
8. Use the recommended grade of motor oil. You can improve your gas mileage by 1–2 percent by using the manufacturer's recommended grade of motor oil.
9. Organize your errands and trips to travel the least amount of distance.
10. Remove roof racks. A loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5 percent. Reduce aerodynamic drag and improve your fuel economy by placing items inside the trunk whenever possible.
11. Stagger your work hours to avoid peak rush hour traffic.
Please share your thoughts, tips and comments.
Eager to hear from you!
Alicia
Oh, the rising fuel prices can really give us a hard time to have bonding moments with our car. Sometimes, it's better to opt for mass transportation when traveling to and from work. Doing so saves you money and saves the environment, too. Maybe you can use your car in long trips because it is more convenient. I hope fuel prices go down as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteCassie Brendan
Oh, those are simple yet helpful tips! The extra pounds that we put on our car really hampers its performance. This forces it to shred more gas, resulting in lower mileage. If fuel prices will not go down, I'll probably have my engine tuned to run on water. What do you think?
ReplyDelete-> Stelle Courney