Remember when gas was less than $2 a gallon? While it would be nice to see those prices again, there are several easy and inexpensive things you can do to your vehicle to get the maximum miles per gallon, adding up to considerable savings over a full year of driving.
There are three areas to consider when trying to attain or beat the EPA mileage claims for your vehicle—reducing parasitic losses, maximizing engine efficiency and changing your driving style. Don't look to any single item for a massive mileage increase. It's a game that requires discipline to find many small improvements that will add up to possibly a 10-15 percent overall increase in fuel economy.
What are the parasitic losses that affect fuel mileage? Anything that impedes the movement of the vehicle down the road such as (tire) rolling resistance, wind resistance, brake drag, wheel alignment and driveline friction. Some items like wind resistance are difficult to avoid. However, tire rolling resistance, brake drag, wheel alignment and driveline friction can all be optimized for a sizeable gain in mileage.
Author: Leonard Emanuelson
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