JaimeRichardson Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 I have always enjoyed caring for my vehicle. I take the time to wash and wax on a regular basis. I sweep and clean the inside at least once every week or two. I change the oil on a regular basis, and have everything checked and maintained when it should be done. I recently started looking at ways to improve the overall performance of my vehicle by trying to find ways to improve my overall gas expense. This took me on a journey around the internet in order to find solutions that would help. My journey eventually took me to a number of different influences on gas mileage. I soon learned that even the smallest of things influenced how much I was going to have to pay at pumps. I was amazed to learn how much my tyres impacted how much I paid at the pump. I started to look into things a bit more and found a number of things to be true. Tires can be expensive. Buying the right kinds of tyres for the best overall performance can add up really fast. I also learned that it does ultimately pay to purchase several types of tyres for every condition found on the road. If I rotate my tyres according to the season, and maintain a number of different factors, I could actually save a ton of money at the pumps in petrol. I started my research on the world wide web like most of us often do when we have a question. I started with Wikipedia as I often do, and I found that there are a trillion different posts related to tyres. There is even a post at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_rotation which talks about tire rotation. Someone really put some thought into that. I am interested in learning more about what people do, or don't do, to improve the overall cost of gas. What are changes and details that we should all know that will help improve the cost of fuel? With the price of everything constantly on the rise, we can start to pull our ideas together to help each other save money on the cost of fuel. I already know the following which I will start the list with. - Changing the oil and filters on a regular basis is essential for improving fuel costs. - Rotating tyres and keeping them properly inflated significantly impacts costs. Taking a little bit of time to check your tyres regularly can make a huge difference in your vehicles fuel performance. - Running the air conditioner and heat uses fuel. The real question is how much comfort we are willing to trade for money? What else do you all have to offer that is helpful and useful. Let me hear some of your tips, techniques, and ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMARTLY Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 If you are worried about the cost of fuel then buy a more economical car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MondeoGhiaX Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I have recently suffered a sudden loss of 5mpg in one of my cars. This happened just after I had a new set of front tyres fitted. I had dismissed the possibility of the tyres being to blame for this, but could they be so bad as to cause this? Unfortunately, the car was also in the garage for other unrelated servicing at the time, so it could be that something got disturbed, but there is nothing obvious. I always run my tyres a few psi above the "recommended" pressure to try and squeeze every drop of extra mpg I can, but this is ridiculous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Geometry can have a massive influence on fuel economy in particular making sure the Toe angle is correct in order to eliminate lateral drag on the tyre/ s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MondeoGhiaX Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 To be more specific, my mpg has dropped from 47 to 42, which is roughly 10%. I should also have pointed out that I have owned said car for three years and the fuel consumption has never varied by more than 1mpg no matter how hard or carefully I drive and whatever the outside temperature. Also, I have always used budget tyres (it's a budget car). Regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I'm surprised its never varied much , I see about 5-10% difference out of my cars summer to winter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Air density i assume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liner33 Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Air temps , engines use more fuel when cold and take longer to warm up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MondeoGhiaX Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I'm surprised its never varied much , I see about 5-10% difference out of my cars summer to winter In my case I have to balance this against sitting in traffic jams on the way home from work during the summer months, doubling or trebling the journey time, whereas in winter this doesn't happen. Or perhaps it's just because it's a very small engined car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 I'm surprised its never varied much , I see about 5-10% difference out of my cars summer to winter Same here, when I used to use my car more regularly it was always quite noticeable how much more fuel was being used in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHAHZ Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 i guess one of the biggest factors is how you drive, the less lead footed you are the better.... i always start of well when ive filled the tank up, by the time i get through a 1/4 of the tank i fail I guess one of the other little things is only carry in the car/boot what you need, no point hauling around excess stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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