Follow These Tips to Avoid a Leak in Your Pocket

Owning and maintaining a car are two different things. One can successfully own a car but maintaining its quality and stock condition for long isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It takes a lot of effort to maintain the same. With time, machine tends to deteriorate and same is the case with cars. It’s usually functionalities approach a state of void, which certainly affects the fuel efficiency of your car and your car tends to consume more fuel than ever before. This ultimately creates a hole in your pocket when it comes to re-fueling your car. The Kms driven on every litre of fuel now decreases costing you a few extra bucks. Saving that extra bit of fuel can be an added advantage when you calculate your monthly expenditure at the end of every month. Your initiative to save fuel, although only a few litres could help the environment as well. Here are several fuel saving tips that could help your as well as nature’s cause. Go on reading the following section and try out these awesome tips to avoid a money leakage from your pocket.

Tip #1- Avoid idle car condition

You could be burning your hard earned cash all these years while keeping your car’s ignition on even when you aren’t moving. The idle state of the car’s ignition consumes fuel and it is a regular practise in urban areas when you wait for someone to join you or while stuck in a traffic jam, which won’t be moving anytime soon. Stopping the ignition at this point of time can certainly help you save a lot of fuel than you can even imagine. So, inculcate the habit of turning off the engine when you aren’t actually utilizing the same.

Tip #2- Drive at a steady pace

If you are that type of guy who prefer speeding up on a certain stretch of road then I am afraid to say that you are burning a lot of fuel and money. Try driving at a steady pace and see the difference. You could save on fuel while driving within speed limits at a constant speed because as your car’s speed increases, its fuel economy decreases. It would hardly affect your travel time but would definitely be pocket friendly.

It is advised to drive smoothly with steady speeds at low rpms on city roads i.e. an ideal speed would be anywhere around 40 to 50 Kmph which would do wonders to your car’s fuel economy.

While hitting the highways that requires a car to run at high rpms, your car’s fuel economy would hit a setback for sure. You need to be proactive in overcoming such situations. Driving above 100 Kmph on expressways won’t help in delivering you desired economy figures. In order to achieve that inevitable figure on your car’s economy it is advisable to drive between 80 to 100 Kmph on a consistent basis on high speed roads.

Tip #3- Wise acceleration will help the cause

Don’t accelerate unnecessarily. Look out for potential road stretch down the line and accelerate accordingly. If you are forced to apply brakes just after acceleration then that’s simply a waste of fuel.

Tip #4- Keep a check on tire pressure

Keep a check on your car’s tires on a consistent basis. Under-inflated tires can aid in the leaking of fuel. This is how, if the tires aren’t optimally inflated then it will increase the rolling resistance making it difficult for the engine to move the car further, which ultimately affects the fuel efficiency of your car. Try visiting a pump once a month to ensure the tires are properly filled with an adequate amount of air. Also, refer to the user manual for recommended air pressure value.

Check the pressure when the tires are cold (i.e. when the car has run not more than 3 hours). Use your own tire gauge to ensure the tires of your car properly inflated. If they aren’t up to the standards as recommended by the brand in car’s user manual, visit your nearest gas station to get it filled and get it checked once more at the station.

In case of radial tires, you won’t be able to determine that if the tires are underinflated, try following a regular practise of checking for the same using your own tire gauge. In general, tires generally run out of 1 psi air per month.

Temperature, age of tire and kind of terrain are the major factors which affect the tire pressure. It is also recommended not to inflate your car’s tires to the maximum allowed pressure as change in temperature of the tire could cause them to expand in hot conditions.

Tip #5- Turn off the Air Conditioner

Avoid air conditioner and enjoy the breeze. It is understandable that opening windows can’t be feasible every time but try avoiding A/C when you can. It will save quite a few litres of fuel at the end of the day. You’ll be surprised to analyse the unnecessary cost your are incurring all these years on those extra litres of fuel.

Tip #6- Make a wise choice

Buying a new car can also help the cause. Compact or small cars are relatively more fuel efficient than other big toys. These days hatchbacks are also no less than sedans, they are equally safer, roomier and spacious. Going for a hatch ahead of sedan would be a wiser move in order to save on the fuel bills.

Tip #7- Clean the air filter

You need to keep a close eye on the air filter as a dirty air filter could severely affect the engine’s performance as well as its fuel economy. Visit the nearest service station for getting it clean or give a shot yourself. User manual can help you locating the air filter under the hood. Remove it, clean it, dry it and place it after you are done with the process.

According to brands like Ford and Hyundai, 30,000 miles is the effective time interval for replacement of your car’s air filter. While on an average it should be cleaned with every 10,000 Kms travel.

Final Word

Save the fuel, save the earth. Your little effort in this direction can make a huge difference. So, follow them and be a part of the change.

Also Read: Summer Time: Basic Tips To Keep Car’s Air-Con Up-to-date