Here are 10 ways to lessen the impact of increased gas prices:
1. Condense your small trips. Try to plan your day so that you can accomplish everything in one trip rather than several smaller ones.
2. Minimize your idle time. Any time you’re stopped at a light for more than 10 seconds, you’re better off stopping your engine and then restarting it. You’ll save more gas!
3. Accelerate from stops at a slow and steady pace. Quick, rapid acceleration drastically hurts your gas mileage!
4. Don’t go over the speed limit. The faster you go the worse your gas mileage will be.
5. Coast whenever it’s possible. Constant break-tapping followed by acceleration eats up gas unnecessarily. Set your car to coast if you’re on road trips.
6. Keep your car aerodynamic. Remove any flags or antenna-toppers from your car. You may also wish to eliminate any bike racks, especially if you don’t use it often.
7. When it’s warm outside, keep your windows rolled down when driving 35 mph or less. Roll your windows up and use your A/C when driving faster than 35 mph.
8. Keep your tires properly inflated. It’s much more difficult for a car to spin flat tires. The harder your engine works, the more gas you waste.
9. Get any needless items out of your car. Added, unnecessary weight drops your gas mileage several percentage points. So, take out the golf clubs when you aren’t using them!
10. Replace your car’s air filter regularly. This is the most important thing you can do! A bad air filter could waste as much as 30 cents per gallon!
