Don’t drive aggressively. Rapid acceleration and braking can lower your gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds and 5% around the city.
Watch your speed. Each 5 MPH you drive over 60 MPH is the equivalent to paying an extra $0.24 per gallon of gas.
Lighten the load. Carrying an extra 100 pounds in your car could reduce you MPG by up to 2%.
Don’t stand idly by. If you have to wait awhile, don’t let the car idle… shut it off. It’s more fuel efficient to restart the car.
Check your tires. Keeping your tires inflated to the proper pres-sure can increase your gas mileage by up to 3.3%.
Oil Matters. Make sure you use the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil—it can increase gas mileage by 1-2%.
Do it once. Plan to run all of your day’s errands in a single trip. You can use twice as much fuel driving several short trips when the engine is cold compared to one longer trip with a hotter more efficient engine.
Take the high road. For increased fuel economy, drive in the highest gear whenever possible. For automatic transmissions you should avoid using the “sport” mode – it wastes gas.
Cool off. When driving around the city, keep the windows down. However, when driving on the highway, you should turn on you’re A/C. Driving at high speeds with the windows down creates a lot of wind resistance which affects the aerodynamics of the car, thereby reducing your MPG.
Fit it up. Properly maintaining your car is a key component to fuel efficiency. Performing a badly needed tune-up or fixing a car that has failed an emissions test can improve your gas mileage by as much as 4% (in fact, repairing a faulty oxygen sensor can increase your MPG by as much as 40%).