Your Imperative Survival to the Nearest Gas Station.
This is always an issue for some, if not most of us. You find yourself almost out of gas with no gas station in sight. The pressure starts rising when you make eye-contact with the vicious letter “E” that seems to say, “every time you look at me, I won’t magically fill up!”
You starting wishing your muscle car was now a Prius . . . I understand we unintentionally find ourselves in situations where we are running on empty while trying to hunt down that gas station.
Here are 5 Tips to Help you Save Fuel When You’re Low!
1.) Avoid Driving Aggressively
You lose a lot of fuel when you’re constantly slowing down and then accelerating again to gain your momentum on the road. Your consumption increases when you allow your vehicle’s speed to drift to low speeds, then compensate by accelerating back up. Keeping your foot steady and in one place keeps the gas flowing minimally.
Try slowing your car when climbing hills, then gain speed by coasting down for further efficiency.
2.) Shift Wisely
Low gear and high speeds make your car sound cool, but for the love of all things free, you’re straining your engine, which means losing more gas! Shift gears carefully according to your desired speed and stop showing off – you’re almost out of gas anyway; where does the cockiness come from?
3.) Don’t Tailgate
This goes back to my earlier statement on trying to regain speed all the time, with the added factor of braking unnecessarily. When the driver in front of you brakes hard, you do the same. When he speeds up, you do that too. You’re marching on, doing samezies on the road, except for one fact: he probably doesn’t have to fill up.
In general, full tank or not, tailgating is just annoying! We have a list of the most annoying drivers and what they look like.
4.) Avoid Idling
If you’re stuck in traffic with no way out, turn your car off. It might not sound right, but if your car is idle for more than a minute, you start losing unnecessary volumes of gas. Turn it off, wait for things to get moving again, and turn it back on. Remember, your mission at this point is to save fuel, no matter what, until you get to a gas station.
5.) Obey the Speed Limit
You read right. Don’t rush to the gas station! Your foot should rest off and away from the pedal, allowing your car to coast. Your car starts consuming more fuel when you race to high speeds and requires more gas to get back to that higher speed after you’ve just braked.
Again, your pedal and brake foot work can either save you or screw when you’re trying to save fuel.
There are a lot of tips and tricks I can include and highlight for you, but the truth is: Avoid driving your car when it’s almost empty. Even when you’re short on cash, gather what you can to get your tank above 1/4.
When you’re driving on almost empty, all the gunk at the bottom of your tank gets sucked through your car, and that may add more maintenance problems to your car.
Did we miss one? What do you do to help you save fuel?
