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10 Fuel Hacks Every Car Owner Should Know

ByMatsumoto Naoki-December 22, 2020

We can not deny that the price of gasoline increases everyday so some fuel hacks which help to reduce the consumption of fuel will save your wallet a lot. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the nationwide average price for a gallon of regular gas in 2019 was slightly lower than in 2018 but still higher compared to the past at $2.60. The consumption is unstoppable so we are here to introduce to you the fuel hacks that will help you save the fuel. So less dig into how to use less gas!

10 Fuel Hacks Help You To Save Fuel

1. Making the Route Logistically Efficient

The first fuel hack that we want to refer to is to try to minimize the distance which you travel by making the route logistically efficient. It will help you to save on gas expenses, especially during the winter months. The cold weather makes the cold engine and it will take a lot of time to turn the engine on. A cold engine can consume more fuel for the first 5 miles or so. Another helpful tip is try to combine all your daily errands into one big trip so you do not need to warm your engine up several times.

Try to minimize the distance which you travel by making the route logistically efficient. Source: Stevenom | Pixabay

2. Using The Correct Gear

This trick will be helpful for the car which uses the manual control system. It is because if you are driving using gear number 3 but you are driving at a speed of 80 km/h. Then the car requires more energy in order to propel the vehicle to move, hence the car consumes more fuel. Whenever you are driving using a gear that is lower than you actually need, you are increasing the risks of wasting fuel and making the engine work while in top gear. Driving on hills and turns also tends to waste fuel. This hack is considered as one of the best fuel hacks to help you save the fuel.

Whenever you are driving using a gear that is lower than you actually need, you are increasing the risks of wasting fuel. Source: Carlist.my

3. Turn Off The Air Conditioning When Not Need

Automatically, the air conditioner in the car will consume about 15% of fuel on average when you drive the car. So on the good weather days, when the weather is not so hot or not cold, you can save the fuel by turning off the air conditioner, you will save approximately 1 gallon of gas per 100 miles. 

Turn off the car air conditioning will help to save the fuel. Source: Youtube

4. Maintaining Your Car Frequently

Another hack that belongs to the fuel hacks is keeping maintaining your car frequently. In the event that an engine is not properly tuned or there is a delay in maintenance servicing, the efficiency of the engine’s fuel automatically declines. Sometimes, if you do not pay attention to the spark plugs that are worn out, dirt and elements in air cleaners or even filters for fuel as well as upkeep of the sensors of the throttle valve and oxygen valve, can lead to an increase in fuel use.

Another hack that belongs to the fuel hacks is keeping maintaining your car frequently. Cre: Ozgur Cankaya 

For diesel engines, if your car has dirty injectors, it will increase the chance that your car  consumes more fuel than usual. Many people these days ignore the need for cars to be maintained and that’s why they have to pay more for the fuel than normal. By keeping check your car regularly, you will find your car problem and fix it right after so that you can save a lot for the fuel.

5. Monitoring Your Tire Pressure

The fifth tip on fuel hacks is monitoring your car tire pressure. You may not know but the inflated tires provide an optimal braking path. Moreover, if the tires are underinflated by at least 0.1 atm, it can cause fuel consumption to increase by 2-3%. For the drivers who have experienced the pinch of just how much they spend daily on fuel just because of tires which are not properly inflated, know that monitoring the pressure of the tires is a top priority. 

If the tires are underinflated by at least 0.1 atm, it can cause fuel consumption to increase by 2-3%. Source: Shutterstock

Therefore, taking good control of your tires will not only lessen the consumption of your fuel but also it prolongs the lifespan of your tire and also it improves the handling and control of your car and helps to save the money for car fuel.

6. Turn Off The Car Whenever it Is Not Being Used

That is an important trick of fuel hacks. As technology advances, many cars are updated so most cars do not need to be warmed up by leaving the engine on idle before starting with your journey. So if you keep doing that, you just simply waste fuel in the long run. Our advice is starting your car at the moment you are ready to leave for the destination. 

Another thing to remember is, if you are going to wait for the traffic light, do not turn off the engine if you just need to wait less than 30 seconds. If you have to wait more than 30 seconds, you should turn off the engine. 30 seconds of idling your car will not cost a lot of fuel like turning it off and turning it on again. 

If you are going to wait for the traffic light, do not turn off the engine if you just need to wait less than 30 seconds. Source: iStock

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7. Removing the Unnecessary Stuff

It is usual to see many drivers prefer to carry everything in the car, regardless of whether they need it or not. And your car is like a human body, it needs energy to carry goods, and a vehicle needs more energy to carry more weight. So if you carry a lot of things like luggages, shoes, gymnastic stuff or other things, the chance your car has to deal with heavy weight is higher. Of course your car will consume more fuel. We recommend you to remove unnecessary luggage from the trunk of your vehicles, if you are not going to use them for the day why carry them in the first place?

Try to remove unnecessary luggage from the trunk of your vehicles. Source: Carmudi

8. Choosing A High Quality Oil for Your Engine

Is bad engine oil related to the consumption of fuel? The answer is yes. Research has proven that another cause of high usage of gas money is using unnecessary or even bad oil for the engines of their vehicles. Usually, people tend to buy just any oil provided that it works with the engine without knowing if it is good or not. What you need to do is check with your owner’s manual so that you will know what octane gas your engine needs. It’s all about the fuel hacks of using engine oil to reduce the fuel consumption.

Research has proven that another cause of high usage of gas money is using unnecessary or even bad oil for the engines of their vehicles. Source: Carmudi

9. Do Not Drive On The Rainy Day

On rainy days, except the fact that if you drive a car, there is high risk of car accidents, the fuel consumption also gets higher. The reason behind it is, when you drive through a slick on the road that is wet, additional loss of the energy. The tires of the car keep on trying to slide on the top of the water but are repeatedly sinking for it to meet with the pavement, which is the same as driving slightly uphill, so again, it costs more energy than usual. 

On rainy days, except the fact that if you drive a car, there is high risk of car accidents, the fuel consumption also gets higher. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

So do not drive your car on the rainy day if you don’t want to consume a lot of fuel. 

10. Taking Your Car To Service On Time

The last but not least fuel hacks and it is just as important as taking your car to a mechanic for maintenance regularly. Some people delay taking their vehicle to the mechanic when the car has a problem. If you do not find out what is happening to your car, you just increase the chance you pay more money than usual to repair a car. Especially when your car faces oil leak, fuel leaks… So do not ignore repairing your car when it needs to, like humans, you have to go to hospital when you are sick.

Taking your car to the service on time is important as maintaining car regularly. Source: Stocksy

Wrap Up

These 10 fuel hacks above for sure will help you to avoid paying too much for gasoline. Not only the money problem, they also help your car to perform better and more durable. Do not forget to read other driving tips to have better driving experience and comment below your opinion, we will be back to answer you!

Matsumoto Naoki is senior car blogger at Car From Japan. Having background in mechanical engineering, he has a unique perspective on a lot of new car innovations. Prior to Car From Japan, Matsumoto was Mechanical Design Engineer at Yajima Plant, Subaru Corporation. His articles provide detailed DIY instructions and how-tos to help you get your new car on the road. If you want to save money and feel more confident when working on your cars, you should not ignore Matsumoto’s sharing posts. He presents driving tips and tricks for everyone through easy-following steps and mechanically but friendly writing.

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