Why Throw Away Your Gas Money?  

We know that you don't like to throw your money away, so we have put together some money saving tips so you can save money on car costs and increase your miles per gallon of fuel. We want our money saving tips to help you keep your money where it belongs - in your pocket. 

Car running costs and the number of miles per gallon we get are of concern to just about everybody. So, as good money saving tips increases your miles per gallon, you should first understanding that a well maintained car is safer, better looking and more pleasurable to drive – and much more economical. This means saving money on everyday running costs. Minor issues such as incorrect timing, plug or point gaps, wheel alignment - even incorrect tyre pressures; all waste your fuel and reduce your miles per gallon. So if you prefer to save money rather than throwing it away needlessly, try these money saving tips to reduce you vehicle running costs and improve your miles per gallon.

7 Tips to maximize fuel efficiency and get the most from every penny 

1. Drive at moderate speed. Driving at 65kph (40mph) rather than 80kph (50mph) can reduce your average fuel consumption by up to a full 10%. So every ten weeks of gas you pay for, you get an extra week free, simply by improving how many miles per gallon of fuel you get!

2. Don’t accelerate or brake abruptly. When it is safe to do so, use engine braking - using your cars rolling resistance rather than its brakes saves lots of fuel – increasing your miles per gallon.

3. Use air-conditioning only when you need it, especially on short trips and at low speeds. Again. this uses less fuel so improves your miles per gallon

4. If you are not using your roof rack, remove it. Even an unloaded roof rack increases fuel consumption by about 1% – and by as much as 5% when loaded. Think how much that means to you wallet, and how many more miles per gallon of fuel you will achieve.

5. Don’t ride the clutch pedal - release it fully. This not only saves fuel, but it will also prevent your clutch from burning out early. As money saving tips go, not riding the clutch is a great example as it can vastly reduce your cars maintenance costs. The longer your clutch lasts, the more time you have between having to pay to have it replaced with an expensive new one.

6. Don’t leave the engine idling while you’re waiting for someone or just popping in somewhere for a minute. This not only saves fuel, but in today’s world it also considerably reduces the chance of your car being stolen

7. Don't rev the engine before turning it off - it wastes fuel and can lead to engine damage and carburetor fouling – especially with the new ethanol-mix fuels now in use.

Want More Money Saving Tips…

Maintain your car

You do not need to be a car mechanic to perform basic weekly checks. So if you want more money saving tips, set aside ten minutes a week to check your tyre pressures, oil, coolant, brake fluid and battery water levels.

When major maintenance is due, have your vehicle properly serviced to correct simple things like incorrect timing, poor engine set up, badly adjusted carburetor or fuel injection jets, and dirty oil. If these are incorrect, they not only make your car use more fuel, but can drastically reduce the life of lots of expensive to replace engine parts. In the long run these problems are much more expensive to repair than paying basic maintenance charges would have been.

A basic fact you should know about a car’s engine is that it contains many metal parts that move around. When metal rubs against metal it causes friction. Friction heats, abrades, and distorts metal. This means that the engine uses some of its power – and more fuel – simply to overcome its own internal friction. That is why oil is so important in an engine. Oil provides a “slippy” layer between the engines moving parts, helping them to work better, last longer, and give your car more miles per gallon. 

Fresh oil is a great lubricant; but unfortunately, while the engine runs the oil picks up dirt and debris such as carbon deposits from the burning gasoline, and tiny pieces of metal from the engine workings. To remove these contaminants, the engine feeds the oil through an oil filter. When new, you oil filter can successfully remove most pieces of larger dirt; however, over time the filter becomes clogged up, making it less and less efficient and allowing more and more contaminants to remain in the oil. So in the long term, the minor cost of replacing the oil filter is a money saving tip as it can prevent major costs fro repairs later.

As well as picking up dirt and debris, because oil is used in a hot engine, over time and use the chemical properties of the oil change. Oil viscosity (its thickness and stickiness) changes with use. These changes to its viscosity make the oil less and less able to provide the correct lubrication your engine needs.

Put simply, you need to change your oil regularly as fresh oil reduces friction much better than old oil; so, if the oil is clean, it reduces damage – your overall maintenance costs, and ensures you get the best miles per gallon.

Care of tyres is also important. If your tyres are just 10% under or over inflated, they are 20-times more likely to blow out. Incorrect pressures will also wear very quickly, meaning you have to replace costly tyres often. As if that wasn’t enough, incorrectly inflated tyres cause your gas mileage to drop by as much as 5%.

Please remember, the best money saving tips are to have a little bit of forethought on your driving methods and car servicing. Both of these go a long way in saving money and increasing your miles per gallon. Driving properly costs nothing and regular maintenance costs little, but in the long run can literally save you thousands.

We hope our money saving tips and ideas on how to improve your vehicles miles per gallon work for you, saving your money so you can keep in your pocket where it belongs.

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