Summer Driving Tips
Summer Weather is hard on your car, higher temperatures speeds up the
vehicles wear and tear. The oil viscosity, fluids and lubricants break
down more quickly, which drastically reduces the vehicles fuel efficiency.
So your car needs close attention in the summer.
You know the summer basics like checking fluids, hoses, belts and brakes.
But did you know:
- Loose, missing or damaged gas caps can wastes 147 million gallons
of gasoline each year through evaporation.
- If your car overheats, turn on your car’s heater. The hot air will
be pulled from the engine. Thus keeping engine cool until you
can get to a gas station or home.
- If you prefer open windows, do so while city driving. If you
prefer air conditioning, then roll those windows up and enjoy
guilt free cooling — but only on the highways. With the windows
up, it creates better aerodynamics equaling out the difference in
gas consumption and gas mileage.
- Use cruise control when you can. Tests found that using cruise
control can yield as much as 14 percent better gas mileage.
- Keeping tires properly inflated can earn you another 10 cents per
gallon. If everyone’s tires were properly inflated, we would be
saving about 4 million gallons of gasoline every DAY.
-Plus-
Summers higher temperatures cause a tires air pressure to rise.
An improperly inflated tire can overheat and lead to a blowout.
- Vehicles’ optimal cruising speeds vary, so it’s worth experimenting
with a few tanks of gas to find your car’s most efficient speed.
- That said -
- Slow down! Higher speeds generally increase aerodynamic drag and
decrease gas mileage. The EPA estimates that for every five miles
per hour you drive over 60 mph, you pay another 20 cents per gallon
of gas.
Tags: aerodynamic drag, air pressure, blowout, car, creating, cruise control, engineers, epa, estimates, evaporation, evaporator, fuel, fuel efficiency, gallon of gas, gas, gas caps, gas consumption, gas station, gasoline, generators, guilt, hoses, hot air, lead, lubricants, mileage, miles per hour, oil viscosity, open windows, savings, summer weather, tank, tires, waste, wear and tear, weather
August 7th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Beautiful site.
My wife and I made a commitment to walk everywhere we could this Summer and see how little gas we could use. Since the first of June, we’ve gassed one car up one time. We’re hoping to make it all the way until September on what we have.
Writer Dads last blog post..Sink or Swim
August 7th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Hi Linda,
You’re doing a great job with really good information.. stop on over some time!
August 7th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Hi WriterDad … WOW! That is great. Good Luck on your goal!
Thank you.
Hi Barbara … Thanks and I will!
August 7th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Great tips, but, I am driving nowhere over 100 miles this summer. Which is a bummer. I like to just pic a spot on the map and go to a nice scenic area I have never been before.
threios last blog post..Mortality Sucks
August 7th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
The overheating tip reminded me of my first car… It was the middle of winter in the middle of the night, and we had to turn the heat up so high that I felt like stripping out of my clothes… all because the car was overheating! We ended up driving it back to the house and giving up. I don’t remember what happened with the overheating, but it doesn’t much matter because my mom got into an accident with it and it got totaled a few months later…
As for driving slower for optimal gas mileage… it’s usually true, but my husband found out that with his car, optimal is at about 70mph (he has a mpg reader thingy in it), which we found very weird.
Stefanies last blog post..Vegan Recipe: Panzanella
August 8th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Hi Threio … You got that right. It would be a wonderful adventure just to do that!
Hi Stefanie … The overheating usually can be a thermostat which is very cheap to replace. An accident certainly takes care of the problem.
His car must be special!
Lindas last blog post..Your Daily Greens
August 11th, 2008 at 7:32 am
I really enjoy reading the tips that you share with us here. I can never imagine there are actually so many factors involved. Maybe another thing, which you can mention here, is that try to control the fuel acceleration especially during movement from stationary position. And if you notice red lights ahead, stop pressing the accelerator and let the car glide.
green blogs last blog post..10 More Ways To Stop Bleeding At The Pump
August 11th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Hi Green Blog … No problem but you just did here!
Thanks for sharing your tips.