J&S Auto Repair likes to bill itself as “Modern repair with old fashioned customer service”. In the old days of the early to mid-20th century, gas stations worked a bit different. They did not have dozens upon dozens of cars passing through them every day. Instead, the population was lower, and the cars were far fewer.
Cars in general were less efficient, as not only were the engines themselves less fuel efficient, but knowledge on how to optimize one’s car was less delineated. You would be a genius if you knew what an oil change was without a mechanic telling you, much less how to change a car battery or what your gas mileage was.
That is why J&S Auto Repair feels a responsibility towards its customers to let them know how to get the most out of their cars. So, here are a few ways you can get better gas mileage.
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Change Your Air Filter
Air filters are one of the sneakiest ways your car loses gas mileage. Most people do not even know that air filters and gas mileage can be related. The relation is quite simple really, it just requires you to know one thing about cars: Cars run on combustion engines. You probably knew that already, so that is the easy part.
The thing is that air filters are usually mistaken as filtering the air that you breathe in your car. But what they really do is filter the air that goes into your engine. Because engines relying on combustion, the quality of the air is important. A dirty air filter means less powerful combustion, which means less efficient engines.
And a less efficient engine can mean a loss in fuel efficiency. So, change your air filter.
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Overinflate Tires by 10%
This sounds like a risky thing to a layman, since one of the most common warnings you will hear when it comes to tire maintenance is to avoid over inflating them. And this is true, you should be careful when inflating your tires. But 10% is around the cut off point of risk. This means a few things for you.
This means that if you overinflate your tires by 5% you are in absolutely no danger. It makes sense, does it not? It isn’t like your tires are going to get unexpectedly more inflated.
Your ideal tire pressure will be printed on the tires themselves and can be checked at basically any gas station air pump. Go one or two PSI of pressure over the printed number and your wheels will carry your car better, meaning that just by inflating your tires a little you will save on gas mileage.
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Drive Slow
This is the easiest way to preserve gas mileage, but also the least attractive. It has been proven that the slower you go, the more efficient your gas mileage. This means staying under 45 MPH when you can. It is nobody’s favorite tip, but it is easy and will add up fast.
These are just a few easy ways to get better gas mileage. If you want to know more, or have any other car repair needs, do not be afraid to contact J&S in Warwick RI.
