Can anyone get better mileage?

Today I’m going to talk about easy ways to save money on your car. Yes you can save a lot of money with some easy maintenance tasks. I’ll start with the free ones then talk about a few that will cost a bit more money and time.

The first one is free, it’s kind of boring but… fill your tires to 90% of the psi on the side of your tires.  You maybe surprised how different your car rides. Proper inflation helps with not just ride handling as well. Depending on the swing in temperature in your area you should do this monthly but check your pressure at least every 3 months. The changing of the seasons is a good reminder.

This next tip is free but it takes discipline. Drive like your grandma, slow starts, coasting toward lights and just slow down. I told you it would take discipline. People who drive manuals can benefit even more from these tips. I was able to get 40 mpg out of a Suzuki Sidekick. Before I started driving for mileage I usually get about 34 mpg. In my current car a VW New Beetle Diesel I regularly get 43 MPG but on a trip where I drove for mileage and got 50 MPG. Let me say that another way, I got 704 miles out of one tank of fuel. Make it a game; you’ll be delightfully surprised at your gains.

There are other things that can be done to boost mileage but they take more money. A cold air intake, polished manifold, free flow exhaust, a reprogrammed chip. All these things will give a gas engine more power and they are expensive. The down side to that from an MPG standpoint is the more power you have the more you’ll want to use it. So, stick to the basics and slow down.

Keep your air filter clean. Air filters are cheap but are not often considered but a dirty filter can really hurt your gas mileage. This next one is a little more expensive but will help your mileage. Get regular tuneups.