Whether you’re a green advocate or not, we’re going to assume that you’re someone who wants to get the best value possible out of their car. In other words, with gas prices tending only go one way, it’s becoming more crucial than ever to become more energy efficient whilst driving.
While hybrids have made life much easier for some, and Tesla is attempting to shake up the industry even more, even the “traditional” driver can become more efficient if they start to drive more shrewdly.
We’ll now take a look at some of the best ways to achieve this. Suffice to say, they’re not going to make you feel as though you’re driving an electric vehicle, but they can still save you significant sums of gas and money over the course of a year.
A well-maintained engine is an efficient one
Firstly, particularly if your car is now several years old, making sure that your engine is operating as efficiently as possible should be one of your key considerations. It probably won’t come as a surprise to read that an engine that is operating without any hint of a defect is one that will also be operating at peak efficiency.
The most drastic (and that’s an exaggeration) piece of advice is to simply make sure that you are on top of your service. Take it to somewhere like Omega Auto Care or your nearest auto care centre – just make sure that everything is ticking over nicely. From this point on all you need to do is the very basic maintenance tasks such as replacing fluid and filters.
Your tires can hinder your bottom line more than most people realize
Tires are something of a problem-area for most people. Generally, they’re just a way in which a car is guaranteed to hemorrhage money over the course of its life.
Something that few people realize is that tires can have a direct impact on your fuel usage. If they are under-inflated, your engine will have to work harder to rotate them and naturally, this is going to use more fuel.
Similarly, and this is again something that’s often not known, is that tires which are out-of-line can have the same effect.
Therefore, always keep track of your tires. It’s not just for keeping in line with the law in relation to tread width; it will also help you financially.
Stay within the law
The last point leads perfectly onto the final issue we’re going to discuss; staying in the law again. As well as keeping your vehicle mechanically in-check with the regulations, you should also make sure that you observe any speed limits.
Driving at speed uses more fuel, so the math is simple. On a similar note, if you can drive at a smooth, constant pace you will also boost your efficiency. Regularly slowing down and speeding up will increase the pressure on your engine and as you’ve probably gathered by now, also your wallet.