subject: How You Drive Can Make A Difference On Gas [print this page] The amount of fuel your vehicle uses depends on several things. The manner of which you drive is a big factor in this. If you have a lead foot or love to ride the bumper of the vehicle in front of you, this can indirectly cause excess fuel consumption. You can also burn excess gas by punching the gas when a light turns green. Speed won't just get you a ticket, but it will burn gas. Gas Mileage and Cruise Control:
Erratic driving will burn through gas. A steady speed will maintain proper gas consumption. If you have problems fluctuating speeds, cruise control will help. Cruise control may relax you. Originally this feature was created to conserve gas. Even when you travel at an even pace, your MPH will increase. You can save gas by using the overdrive gear. Using the cruise control and overdrive will slow the engine to reduce the risk of accidents.
In automatic cars, overdrive is a default feature. These are created to save fuel. Usually an automatic drive vehicle will shift out of overdrive when towing a trailer or climbing a steep hill but sometimes it will struggle between overdrive and third gear. When this happens, you might have to manually take the car off overdrive. Overdrive is the highest gear and kicks in about 43 MPH. Traveling down a steep hill may be another good time to take the vehicle out of overdrive if engine braking is desirable.
How much gas does it use up to drive at higher speeds? Your need for speed will increase your gas mileage to be not good. Driving at a constant speed helps. If you follow a car too close, you'll also burn more. Following too close to another vehicle means slamming on your brakes. Hard braking habits will use up fuel. Defensive driving means more fuel conservation. You need to make sure your vehicle has time to slow down. The faster you travel the more fuel you will consume so leaving for your destination just a little sooner means you will not need to drive at high speeds. When you are traveling at 70mph there is a force against the vehicle that is almost twice as much as when you are traveling at 50mph. Because of this it is best to keep your speed at a steady pace around 55 mph. In terms of money, for every additional 5mph that you travel over sixty you will be spending about twenty cents more for every gallon of gas you buy.
Two additional considerations:
Keeping your windows closed will cut down on wind drag that will use up excess gas. Having things attached to the back of your vehicle will save gas.
