The U.S. national average gas price is now up to $4 a gallon, so unless you live in one of the few metropolitan areas that have a robust public transit system, you've likely already spent quite a whole lot of coin on fuel this year. Luckily, not only do we like saving people time here at Lifehacker, we're also rather partial to saving them money. Incorporate some of the following gas saving tips, tricks, and hacks into your daily routine and not only will you drive further for less money, you'll have a little extra for some summer fun. Read on for more. Photo by FutureAtlas.
Skip the gimmicks and question the myths
Let's start with what
doesn't work. We've covered
gas saving myths here before, but here's a refresher.
The Environmental Protection Agency has tested hundreds of products and none of them have ever proven to improve fuel efficiency. Some even decrease it! If the fancy wing, the magic gas station fuel-boosting potion, or the magnets on your fuel line seem to be making your mileage go up you're likely driving downhill with a nice tailwind. There are strong opinions about how much gas air conditioning uses up, versus how much is wasted via drag with the windows kept open. In multiple studies it has shown to have no or minimal effect on fuel efficiency. Crank up the air conditioning and be comfortable. Tire inflation falls into the same category: having your tires overinflated or under inflated with cause more wear on your tires but won't alter your gas bill much (if at all).
Photo by CarbonNYC. 
Keep an eye on gas prices
Thanks to web sites like
GasBuddy and
GasPriceWatch, it's easy to keep a tabs on which stations have the best prices in your area. With frequent user-supplied updates, price indexing web sites can help you make the decision to fuel up right next door or on the way to work to save the most.
GasBuddy has even been incorporated as a feature in Google Maps. However, do use common sense: you won't save any money, gas, or time by driving 12 miles across town to save $0.01 a gallon.
Steal a page from the Hypermiler's Notebook
If the fate of humanity was hanging on a last ditch effort to reach a distant star system, you'd want a
Hypermiler as the pilot. Hypermilers are obsessed with squeezing the last inch out of every gallon of gasoline and filled with tips on fuel efficiency. While we can't condone the more dangerous hypermiling practices like drafting semi trucks, here are a handful of safe and helpful tips:
- Use your cruise control. You'll never be able to maintain a perfect cruising speed as well as the cruise control.
- Drive the speed limit. Unless you're driving across the entire country speeding won't save you more than a few minutes, will cost you more in gas, and increase the chance of being involved in an accident.
- Stop using your brakes to slow down. If you know your highway exit is a mile away, don't drive 80 mph until the ramp and slam your brakes to slow down to the 30 mph that will get you safely off the expressway.
[via
Epistolary.org]
Keep your car properly serviced and tuned up
No amount of careful driving or gas price watching will make up for a car that burns oil, has loose belts, imbalanced tires, or any other fuel efficiency destroying problem. Proper maintenance will
extend the life of your car and increase your fuel efficiency. Consult your owner's manual for the recommended intervals for oil changes, belt changes, and general tuneups. Keep track of your car's maintenance schedule with
previously recommended ServiceBeacon.
Track Your Mileage
How and what you drive will have the biggest influence on the effectiveness of the above tips and tricks. Measuring your results is the only way to know which tips were worth incorporating into your commute. Many modern vehicles will compute your mileage for you and often both continuously and for short trips. If you don't have those features in your car or would like to control the calculations yourself, there are a host of ways to do so. Webapp
My Mile Marker (
original post) lets you to enter your odometer reading at every pit stop via their web page to track your gas mileage; there's Twitter integration available as well.
FuelFrog (
original post) can do the same.
Photo by hellomike. How are you saving on fuel costs and getting more miles out of your tank? Let us know in the comments.
