How to Save Gas on Your Next Road Trip

Going on a road trip with friends or family can be very exciting, but can become quite expensive as well. This past summer, I went on two different road trips, one to The Southwest (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, & Utah) and one to the Southeast (Georgia & Tennessee). I left from Chicago, Illinois both times and had to drive well over 16 hours to reach both destinations. Filling up for gas seemed like second nature, which was very scary. I have comprised a list of 10 do's and don'ts for your next road trip. Using these "rules" will help you cut back on spending too much on gas.

Rule #1:

Go Smaller. Drive a smaller vehicle. This seems like a no-brainer at first, but people still fail to follow these rules. I used a small SUV on the first trip to the Southeast (Honda CR-V) and used a family size car (Honda Accord Sedan) for the trip to the Southwest. Both vehicles had enough space to fit all of our needs for a 6-7 day road trip for 4 people. The moral of the story? You can save money by driving the more fuel efficient Honda Accord Sedan in comparison to the SUV's. There is absolutely no sense in renting or driving a larger SUV unless you have more than 5 people (in which case a family van would work best since it generally is more fuel efficient).

Rule #2:

Drive at Night. Driving in the daytime calls for sitting in traffic for quite some time. Avoid the traffic by driving at night, when there is much less traffic and your car won't be idle for long on the lengthier road trips. You can go hours without even having to press the brake pedal, which will save you money.

Rule #3:

Avoid the City Roads. On the way to Arizona, we had to go through the Denver metropolitan area. The city streets were congested and the traffic was backed up for miles. Avoid this by taking the routes that allow you to bypass the city.

Rule #4:

Use Cruise Control. The cruise control feature available on most vehicles is a smart way to save gas on longer roads. Using cruise control (along with driving at night, since you'll encounter less traffic) helps the car stay at a stable RPM, saving you a few MPG! I was on cruise control for about 2/3 of the trip to the Southwest. It not only saves you some gas, but also is very convenient as your feet will become tired by pressing the gas pedal for extended periods of time.

Rule #5:

Purchase the Gas in Towns/Cities. Try and fill up your tank of gas when you are a town or city. An increase in number of gas stations means more competition. More competition means cheaper gas. Especially when you begin to enter the deserted farm lands, you will encounter large discrepancies in the pricing of gas (as much as $1.25!).

Rule #6:

Pick the Option of Cheaper Gas With Purchase of a Car Wash. Some gas stations will offer you as much as $0.10 off a gallon of gas with a purchase of a car wash. I usually pick this option half way through the road trip since the car will be covered with splattered bugs. This is a smart option since it'll allow you to hit two birds with the same stone.

Rule #7:

Drive Manual. If you can drive a manual transmission vehicle, then get a manual car. On average, a manual car saves you 3-4 MPG. This can truly add up on a road trip that spans half the length of the country!

Rule #8:

Change Your Oil. Changing your car's oil and air filter before the road trip will help save you some gas. Gunky build-up in your engine can lead to lower MPG's.

Rule #9:

Use a GPS system. Especially when you go to unfamiliar places (which you will most likely on road trips!) use a GPS system. Getting lost and not realizing it can be a complete waste of time and gas. Know where you want to go, and how to get there as well. Some GPS systems have a feature that allows you to scan local gas prices, which can help you plan your next fill-up.

Rule #10.

Bring Friends. This is probably the most important one. Having more friends means you can split the cost of gas over the larger number of people. The more people you bring along, the less you have to pay! We used a system of 30/25/25/20 when we went on our road trips. The friend that didn't drive paid for 30% of the gas expenses. Two of the three people that drove paid for 25% of the gas expenses each. The driver that supplied the vehicle paid for only 20% of the gas expenses. A system like this can help everyone enjoy their road trip, and not have to worry about the price of gas hindering their experiences in any way!

I hope this list can help you plan your next road trip. Applying these rules to your next road trip can help you save a lot of money on gas, and hopefully it can encourage you to explore the world a little bit more.