Gas Saving Myths Revealed

There are a lot of suggestions in the marketplace which claim to save consumers money by increasing gas mileage. While some of these ideas are good, there are others that do very little to help consumers save money on gas. We will look at some of these ideas that are floating around and shed some light on it.

There are a lot of articles written about tire pressure being one of the main ways to save consumers money. The article suggests that if the tires to your car are properly inflated then it will save you on your gas mileage. Inflating tires do moderately contribute to the overall gas mileage of your vehicle but mainly it is a safety issue for when you are driving at high speeds.

Many people say that you save a gas by turning off your air condition and putting down the windows. This is partially true as the air condition compressor gets the power from the engine however the effect of this is minimal to gas mileage in cars now days. Even if you roll down your windows and turn off your air condition, the advantage of this is cancelled out by the drag caused at higher speeds. Therefore you can always roll down the window when you are driving around town at low speeds but once you hit the highway use the air conditioning.

Another belief is that turning on and off your engine will save you gas therefore many people leave it idling for a long time. Turning off a light bulb saves electricity, the same goes for your car. Turning off your engine will save you gas and also your car would take very little amount of gas to start again. If you are only stopping for a minute to drop off or pick up passengers then it is better to leave your car idling, but if you are going to stop for more than a minute its best to turn off your engine.

Some suggest using high octane gas to increase your gas mileage. However unless it is specified by the manufactures, you shouldn't use high octane gas in your car. The money that gets saved on gas mileage is made up over time by the difference of the price per gallon.

The effectiveness of these ideas on saving gas mileage can be disputable; however you will see that there are some benefits such as more safety, and less repair costs. The most basic thing to do to save on your gas mileage is to modify your driving behavior. By doing this you will see an increase in the gas mileage of your vehicle.