Spend Less At the Pump With These Gas-Saving Tips: Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Recent have, as usual, caused an uproar. Here are a few real world tips to help save money at the pumps:

• Check and adjust your tire inflations. The correct pressure is found on a tag on the driver’s door pillar, in your owner’s manual, on a sticker on your glovebox door, the center console lid or your fuel filler door. It is not found on the tire: that could be mounted on a myriad of vehicles. The average driver could save $200 per year or more.  
• Consolidate your trips. Plan ahead, and reduce the number of trips.  Put off until tomorrow those that can wait.
• Don’t defer needed maintenance. Fresh spark plugs can make a difference, as can properly functioning thermostats and oxygen sensors. Even a very minor brake drag can reduce fuel economy by 15 percent or more.
• Remove excess weight from the trunk.  
• Leave early and drive slower. The difference in fuel consumption between driving at 75 mph and driving at 55 mph can be as much as 60 percent! Wow!

Scams and things that don’t work:

• Magnets on fuel lines
• New air filters (unless yours is more than 85 percent blocked.)
• Over-inflating tires by more than about 5 psi.
• Driving faster. (Don’t laugh. Some folks think that because going faster means the car will be driving for a shorter time, it must save gas! Okay, now you can laugh.)
• Water ionizers.  

More details are available from your professional automobile service technician or from my recent article in MOTOR Magazine: http://www.motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=1891. Be sure to download the pdf for all the sidebars.

Sam Bell