Keeping Your Car In Shape For Road Trips, Tips And Tricks

There is no better time than now to think about vehicle maintenance since gas prices are on the rise.

It is critical that proper car care is a priority during the travel season. Exceeding an average $2 per gallon for the first time in history are gas prices and this performs a basic, inexpensive maintenance checks which will make road trips safe as well as fuel efficient.

Paying attention to these items is a must because of the higher gasoline prices.

What about vehicle gas caps? About 17 percent of the vehicles on the roads have gas caps that are either damaged, loose or are missing altogether, causing 147 million gallons of gas to vaporize every year.

Underinflated tires. It's as though you are driving with the parking brake on when tires are not inflated properly and this can cost you a mile or two per gallon.

Worn spark plugs. Either four, six or eight spark plugs which fire as many as 3 million times every 1,000 miles is what a vehicle can have and this can result in a lot of heat and electrical and chemical erosion. A dirty spark plug can waste fuel as it causes misfiring. Spark plugs should be regularly replaced.

Consider dirty air filters. If an air filter is clogged with dust, dirt, and bugs, it will choke off the air and create a rich mixture or too much gas being burned for the amount of air, which wastes gas and causes the engine to lose power. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent, saving about 15 cents per gallon.

Below are some fuel-saving driving tips.

Avoid being an aggressive driver. Gas mileage can be lowered by as much as 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent on city streets, which wastes 7 cents to 49 cents per gallon because of aggressive driving.

Avoid excessive idling. Sitting idle gets zero miles per gallon. Letting the vehicle warm up for one to two minutes is sufficient.

Observing the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. Resulting in an additional cost of 10 cents per gallon is each mile that's driven over 60 mph. Use cruise control in order to maintain a constant speed on the highway.

by: Katharine Benjamin

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