5 simple ways to improve your gas mileage
Sometimes fuel consumption figures are considered fixed and unchanging. What appears on the EPA window sticker (i.e. city, highway and combined) when a vehicle is new are the preset numbers, no matter what.
However, you can increase these numbers by treating your vehicle like any other tool. How you maintain and use this tool can and will increase its performance, including miles per gallon. It often comes down to small, sometimes overlooked details that lead to long-term gains in gas mileage.
Here are five simple things you can do to increase your MPG on every trip.
5
Avoid excessive downtime
No need to let your engine “warm up”
If you’re of a certain age, you may remember the advice you received about letting your engine warm up on cold mornings. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with continuing to do this, especially if you like the convenience of remote start or need to scrape your windows, it’s also not entirely necessary for modern cars. In other words, you won’t harm or harm your engine if you ignore the warm-up advice.
This advice stems from an era of carbureted engines and is less relevant today, given advances in transmission and lubrication technologies, such as fuel injection and synthetic oil. With today’s vehicles, there is no need to leave them running for more than about 60 seconds, even in winter. You can start your car, buckle up, get into position, then slowly drive away while your engine finishes warming up.
Extended periods of inactivity, such as letting your car “warm up” in the parking lot after work, burn gasoline unnecessarily. Along the same lines, if your vehicle has a start/stop system, turn it on so your engine stops when you are stopped at a traffic light. Every little bit counts, and every reduction in engine idling time represents fuel savings.
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4
Drive defensively
Smooth acceleration saves fuel
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have determined that aggressive driving can reduce (no pun intended!) your fuel economy. Their study found that aggressive driving behavior can reduce gasoline consumption by up to 40% in traffic jams and up to 30% at highway speeds.
When the engines are “cranked” during aggressive maneuvers, the transmission is forced to hold a lower gear longer to push the speedometer up. The higher revs generated by rapid acceleration consume more fuel over time.
Instead, treat acceleration as a smooth, linear process to maximize fuel economy and avoid excessive engine wear. Also try to coast as much as possible, especially in the city where you might have a hill to enjoy while commuting. You can make additional fuel economy gains by letting your vehicle go down those hills for a short time before having to press the accelerator down again.
3
Check your tires
Portable inflators can be a good investment
Your tires will typically drop between one and two psi for every 10 degree change in outside temperature, and even this small change can affect your fuel economy.
When a tire is underinflated, it loses its rigid shape and “sags,” creating a larger contact patch with the road. This increases what’s called rolling resistance, meaning your engine works harder to overcome the extra friction from underinflated tires. Although some degree of rolling resistance occurs every time you drive, the idea is to keep it as minimal as possible.
One of the best ways to reduce rolling resistance is to keep your tires at the correct pressure all year round. This can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3%, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The recommended tire pressure for your vehicle is located on a plaque or sticker inside the driver’s side door jamb. Heat from your tires while driving can change the pressure reading, so it’s best to check your tires in the morning after your vehicle has been sitting (if you’ve been driving before, wait a few hours then try again).
Investing in an affordable battery-powered inflator with a digital gauge can make this process a breeze. Once you attach the hose to your valve stem, the digital gauge will give you an instant reading. Most tire inflators operate with the press of a single button and can even turn off automatically once the target pressure is reached. Most also come with a range of accessories, a built-in flashlight and a storage bag.
A common mistake is to inflate tires to the pressure indicated on the sidewall of the tire. This number is actually the maximum pressure the tire can handle, not the optimal pressure for your vehicle.
- Brand
-
AstroAI
- Weight
-
560 grams
- Ability
-
Up to 8 car tires (single charge)
- Battery Type
-
Lithium-ion
This AstroAI mini tire inflator is perfect to keep in your glove compartment when you travel. It’s portable and battery powered, meaning you don’t need to plug it in to use it. Plus, you can set the exact tire pressure you want them to inflate to and it will automatically shut off when it reaches that pressure.
2
Follow routine maintenance
Track Your Oil Life Monitor
Keeping up with routine maintenance, including regular oil changes, will improve your gas mileage and reduce the risk of costly repairs in the future. Although 3,000 miles has been the standard recommendation for centuries, this does not necessarily apply to today’s vehicles.
In most cases, vehicles now leave the factory with a specific type of oil, likely a synthetic oil, that can last well over 3,000 miles under normal driving conditions. That’s why it’s good to follow the oil life monitor and schedule your oil change after it comes on. This system takes into account various factors, such as outside temperature and engine load, to determine your next oil change.
If you have a vehicle that is not driven often, change the oil according to the time interval rather than the mileage, which should be at least once a year. If you have a hybrid vehicle, you may not reach the mileage interval because the engine does not always run. If so, change your hybrid’s oil once a year.
With the driving I do here in metro Detroit in a 2022 model year vehicle, my oil changes occur approximately every 6,000 to 7,000 miles, or every four to five months. This may depend on your exact vehicle, but mine starts warning me around 28-30 days that I need an oil change, counting one day each morning after starting my vehicle.
Either way, keeping up with oil changes is one of the best ways to reduce your fuel consumption.
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1
Lighten the load
Throw this trash in the trunk
Automotive engineers strive to make vehicles lighter for many reasons, but improving fuel economy is among their primary goals. Prior to joining How-to Geek, I worked in the Product Development and Benchmarking division at Ford Motor Company. At our factory in Allen Park, Michigan, our job was to make the components used to make new models as lightweight as possible.
You can use this same approach on your own vehicle. Open the trunk or rear hatch and see what’s there that can be removed. For example, keep your winter or road emergency kit, but maybe remove those heavy boxes, tools or golf clubs. It may not seem like much, but the less weight your vehicle carries while driving, the better your fuel economy. Even small weight reductions add up.
Likewise, remove seasonal items, like roof racks or bike racks. If you only use certain accessories in summer, you can probably do without them in winter and vice versa.
Combine these tips for the best results
If you can avoid unnecessary weight in your vehicle for an extended period of time, drive defensively, and get into the habit of checking your tire pressure, you should see better fuel economy over time. The benefits will be twofold: you’ll save money and be better for the environment.
Although most newer vehicles have a real-time fuel economy calculator, you can track any of these changes manually. To calculate your MPG, record your mileage on a full tank, then drive until you need to refuel. From there, divide the miles traveled since that first fill-up by the total gallons needed to fill up the second time. This number will be your average MPG.
