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Improving Gas Mileage – How to Save Money on Fuel

I have been seeing the Shell ad promoting fuel saving tips lately but I have never really given it much attention. I doubted this effort to improve gas mileage from an oil company. You would think that fuel economy is not in their best interest. The less fuel I need the less revenue for Shell, right? 

But I have since changed my mind when I read the tips they’ve been giving out. They actually make a lot of sense. I guess this is part of their strategy to lure customers. They probably want to build trust. They want to show they actually care about people so much to teach them how to save on fuel consumption. 

I think it’s a great strategy. But more importantly, I believe everyone who drives a car needs to know what these fuel saving tips are. Not many people listen to them however, which is understandable given the distrust with oil companies hungry for profits. So I deemed it appropriate to highlight the message by sharing what I think are good fuel saving tips.

Driving Habits

If you want the complete list you can find it here.

However, I believe the most important of these tips has to do with driving habits. Besides making sure to tick off your checklist of reminders, driving habits is critical but not easy to change. Ironically, it’s the one thing that has the most impact to fuel efficiency. That’s because the way you use up fuel depends on how you work your engine to move your vehicle. So it should help us very much to remember that we can save much of our fuel by just following these tips. 

Drive Smoothly

  1. Don’t drive aggressively – you’ll burn up to a third more fuel than driving smoothly. Try not to brake or accelerate too hard and keep your steering as even as possible.
  2. Use higher gears - driving slowly in a higher gear burns less fuel. It’s best to change up a gear whenever you can.
  3. Avoid high speeds - the faster you go, the more wind resistance you encounter. This forces your car to consume more fuel just to maintain speed. As little as 5mph (12kmph) can affect fuel economy by up to 23%.
  4. Maintain speed - when you hit a downward slope, maintain steady engine revs. You’ll still have good momentum if you’ve then got a hill to climb.
  5. Avoid excess idling - idling gets you nowhere, but still burns fuel. If you’re in a queue for around 10 seconds, turn your engine off until you need it.
  6. Avoid over-revving - sending your rev counter into the red isn’t good. So change gear in good time when you pull away or when accelerating.
  7. Keep windows closed - driving with your window open slows you down. This usually makes you put your foot down harder, using more fuel.
It’s been only a few weeks ago when gas prices soared. Luckily, it has since moved downwards to the relief of everyone. Nevertheless, we cannot predict when fuel prices will rise again. One thing we’re sure of is that it definitely will. Learning to adjust our driving habits now for better gas mileage will certainly help prepare us when that time comes. Money saved on gas is money available for our other needs. It’s win-win!