Your Family Car Is Sucking Up More Gas Than It Needs To
The cost of gas continues to rise, and if you’re like most families, you’re seeing your fuel expenses consume more and more of your budget each month. It turns out, the way you drive and maintain your car really does matter.
The majority of drivers use between 15 to 30% more fuel than required. That’s cash from your pocket lost with every drive to school, work or the grocery store.
This post exposes eight carbon-busting fuel-sippers that most folks aren’t aware of. These are not the standard pieces of advice you’ve heard a hundred times over. We’re telling you secrets to how professional drivers and mechanics pull every last mile out of their gas tanks.
Your family car can drive many more miles on the same tank of gas. We’re going to show you exactly how to do that.
Before we dive into the tips, you should know what’s really burning through your gas. Three big things kill your gas mileage:
- Aggressive acceleration and braking
- Carrying unnecessary weight
- Poor vehicle maintenance
That’s because every time you put your foot to the floor, or hit the brakes hard — that money is like going out the window. Your engine is working hardest when this happens as it guzzles fuel at a turbocharged pace.
Families waste an average of $400 to $700 a year on fuel that they didn’t need to burn. That could be a family vacation or new household appliances.
Tip #1: Learn How to “Pulse and Glide”
It sounds bizarre, but this maneuver can increase your fuel economy by a fifth or more on highway drives.
Here’s the trick: accelerate your car with some light pressure on the pedal to 5 mph over what you’re aiming for, then take your foot off the gas and let the vehicle coast back down to 5 mph below your target. Repeat this cycle.
Why Does This Work?
Your engine will always run at its most efficient range or RPM. Pulsing up, gliding down, you’re in the engine’s sweet zone more often than simply pressing the gas pedal and holding it there.
Yet most drivers maintain constant pressure on the accelerator, which in fact forces the engine to work that much harder to overcome wind resistance and rolling friction at constant speeds.
How to Do It Right
Practice on empty streets until it is automatic. The key is gentle, gradual pulses; it’s all about a softening up and then pressing down. You’re not racing anyone.
Watch your tachometer. For most cars, during the pulse phase, aim to hold your revolutions per minute between 2,000 and 2,500. You should release it to fall naturally as you glide.
And your passengers really should barely realize you’re doing this. They sense jerky movement? You’re getting too aggressive.
Secret #2: Use Your Car’s “Hidden” Fuel Economy Display
New cars have onboard computers that monitor your instantaneous fuel consumption. This is too powerful a weapon for most drivers to not completely overlook.
Once you are saving — your instant MPG display will show exactly how your driving impacts fuel use as you drive. Behavior can quickly change when feedback comes back right away.
Setting Up Your Display
Search for a button on your steering wheel or dashboard that says “Info,” “Display” or “Trip.” Continuously press through until you get:
- Instant MPG
- Average MPG
- Miles to empty
- Gallons used
Display the current MPG reading while driving. Watch the way it responds to hard acceleration and gentle driving. You’ll be amazed at the change.
Real-world results: According to research by the Environmental Protection Agency, drivers who monitor their MPG instantaneously can improve gas mileage by 10-15%.
Secret #3: The Ideal Tire Pressure Nobody Wants You to Know About
It’s a mistake: Everyone knows that they should be checking tire pressure. But you know what they never tell you? Inflating your tires to the maximum pressure on the side wall (not recommended psi in door jamb sticker) can lead to a significant improvement in fuel economy.
The door jamb of your car suggests the pressure needed for the best comfort and handling. The sidewall of the tire displays the recommended pressure for best fuel economy.
The Math Behind Better Pressure
Tires that are underinflated by just 5 PSI can cause a loss in fuel economy of 3% to 5%. That’s 30 to 50 more gallons of gasoline each year for the average family.
Here’s a simple comparison:
| Tire Pressure | Rolling Resistance | Fuel Economy Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 10 PSI Below | Very High | -10% MPG |
| 5 PSI Below | High | -5% MPG |
| Door Jamb Recommendation | Moderate | Baseline |
| Maximum Sidewall Rating | Low | +3% to +5% MPG |
Critical alert: Do not exceed the maximum pressure printed on your tire sidewall. Because that number is there to protect the public.
What you should be doing is checking your pressure monthly, and always when the tires are cold (before a drive). Pressure is regulated by a shift of about 1 PSI for every 10-degrees rise or drop in temperature.
Secret #4: The Gas Saving Engine Warmup Tactic
Old advice: Your car will warm up faster if it idles for 5-10 minutes in cold weather. That guidance is costing you cash and burning fuel.
Today’s fuel-injected engines require only a few seconds to warm up before starting to drive. Afterward, you’re just burning gas and going nowhere.
The Right Way to Warm Up
AFTER you start your car, count to 30 before putting the vehicle into drive or reverse then ease off softly for the first mile or two of driving. This method warms your engine quicker than idling and uses less fuel to boot.
There, in those first minutes behind the wheel:
- Keep RPMs below 3,000
- Avoid hard acceleration
- Avoid using max defrost if you can help it
When you drive, your engine warms up and operates more efficiently three times faster than when it is idling. The faster your engine reaches its operating temperature the sooner you stop wasting fuel.
Five minutes a day of daily warmup ritual squanders about 40 gallons of gasoline annually. That’s more than $100 wasted while doing nothing.
Secret #5: Planning Your Trip with More Strategy Than GPS Can Offer
Your GPS will send you the shortest way, not the most gas-saving. These are two very different things.
The optimal path seeks to reduce stop distance, idling time and elevation change. The fact is, sometimes a five-minute longer route saves you 20% on your fuel.
What to Look For
Plan routes that avoid:
- Heavy traffic and frequent stopping
- Steep hills when possible
- Multiple busy intersections
- School zones at drop-off and pickup times
Favor routes with:
- Synchronized traffic lights
- Consistent speed limits
- Right turns, not left
- Downhill sections at the beginning
Real example: A commute with 15 stoplights drinks up 30 percent more gas than a highway route of equivalent distance, even if the highway’s length is only slightly longer.
Use apps such as Waze, but be sure and check the “avoid tolls” or “avoid highways” options so that you can look at alternate routes. The slower-seeming proposal is sometimes actually the cheaper one in fuel. For more fuel saving driving tips, explore additional strategies to maximize your vehicle’s efficiency.
Secret #6: The Drafting Safety Zone
A large vehicle in front of a smaller one can act as a shield that cuts down on wind resistance and enhances highway fuel economy by 5 to 10 percent. But doing it wrong is illegal and dangerous.
Everyone thinks drafting is about following too close. That is not what we are discussing.
Safe Drafting Distance
Follow semi-trucks and large vehicles at a distance of no shorter than 4-5 seconds on the highway. That distance is close enough to take advantage of lower air resistance but far enough away to safely respond.
Start counting seconds the moment the car ahead of you passes an object; stop when your car reaches the identical point. Four seconds minimum.
You are still far enough from the truck to be in the “clean air” zone at this distance, and you do not feel as much wind resistance. You’ll be able to feel your RPMs drop down a little at that same cruising speed, which indicates the engine is exerting less effort.
Never attempt this:
- In bad weather
- At night with poor visibility
- With distracted driving
- Near aggressive drivers
The cost of fuel is not worth crashing. Only use this when it’s perfect conditions and you’re not tired.
Secret #7: The Cargo Management System
Every 100 pounds added to the car decreases the miles per gallon by about 1-2%. Family cars are in the business of accumulating stuff like a magnet draws metal.
Go outside and get in your car right now, and see what’s inside. You’ll probably find:
- Sports equipment from last season
- Tools you meant to take out
- Strollers the kids outgrew
- Emergency supplies you will not need everyday
The Family Car Cleanout Strategy
Establish a once-a-month schedule for purging everything but the real necessities. Keep only:
- Emergency Kit (first aid kit, flashlight, jumper cables etc.)
- One spare tire and jack
- Current season’s necessary items
Store all else in the garage. That bike rack on your roof? It’s reducing fuel economy at highway speeds by 5 percent or more.
Roof cargo boxes are even more detrimental to efficiency, reducing it by as much as 25 percent when attached. Remove them between trips.
Here’s the effect of typical items:
| Item | Weight | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Full golf bag | 30 lbs | $15-25 |
| Roof cargo box (empty) | 20 lbs + drag | $75-125 |
| Kids’ sporting gear | 40 lbs | $20-35 |
| Extra tools | 50 lbs | $25-45 |
| Roof bike rack (empty) | 15 lbs + drag | $60-100 |
That’s up to $200-300 per year down the drain on things you’re not using.
Secret #8: The Cruise Control Sweet Spot
Cruise control conserves gas, but only if used properly. Most drivers use it improperly and actually end up using extra gas.
Conventional wisdom also dictates always using cruise control on the highway. That’s not quite right.
When Cruise Control Helps
Use cruise control on:
- Flat highways with light traffic
- Long stretches without elevation changes
- Streets where you’re at constant speeds
The cruise control in your car holds speed by constantly modulating throttle. This is better than human error on flat terrain.
When to Turn It Off
Disable cruise control during:
- Hilly terrain
- Heavy traffic with speed variations
- Windy conditions
- Whenever you need to change speeds repeatedly
Here’s why: when you’re heading toward a hill with your cruise control on, your car is going to downshift and burn extra gas just to keep that speed while you’re driving up the hill. A smart driver would allow a bit of speed to bleed on the uphill and recapture it on the downhill, utilizing gravity instead of gas.
The extra gasoline that the cruise control is burning by climbing the hill could have been saved if you accepted a 5 mph drop in speed, and coasted back up on the downgrade.
Learn your regular routes. Know where hills are located. On rolling terrain, operating manually averages 3-8% better than cruise control in fuel economy.
Combining Techniques for Maximum Savings
These eight secrets are even more effective when you stack them on top of one another. Consider the following scenario.
The Daily School Run Transformation
Before: Sarah drives her SUV 8 miles to school with kids. She warms up by idling for 5 minutes, transports 80 pounds of forgotten sports gear, drives with the tires at 30 PSI (5 too low) and stops at heavy traffic. Her trip costs $3.20 in fuel.
After: Sarah fires up the car and pulls away after 30 seconds, removed the excess gear, air pressure at 38 PSI, scouted a new path with 6 fewer stops. On the longer stretches, she pulse and glides, watching her MPG display. Her trip now is $2.15 in fuel.
Savings: $1.05 per trip, two times daily = $2.10 a day = $420 a year on one route alone.
Do the math over all of your driving and you are probably looking at annual fuel savings of $800 to $1,200 for the average family.
Tracking Your Progress
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Begin a basic fuel log to help track your progress.
The Weekly Check Method
Every Sunday, record:
- Total miles driven
- Gallons purchased
- Average MPG from your car display
- Weather conditions
After four weeks, trends will appear. Perhaps your Wednesday drive to work uses more gas due to traffic. Probably weekend trips are more efficient.
A simple spreadsheet or even just a notebook is fine. Simply measuring fuel use while tracking can make you more aware of it, which is good for a 5-10% improvement alone.
Mistakes That Make Your Savings Disappear
Even with these secrets, some practices are going to destroy your progress:
Racing to the red: When you see a red light, immediately take your foot off the gas and coast. It wastes fuel to accelerate all the way to it.
Premium gas in normal cars: You’re throwing money away unless your owner’s manual tells you to use it. Premium doesn’t yield better fuel economy in cars built for regular.
Neglecting maintenance: Dirty air filters, old spark plugs and worn oxygen sensors cut fuel economy by 10 to 20 percent. Follow your maintenance schedule religiously.
Idling too long: Shut off the engine if you will be sitting for more than 60 seconds. It takes less fuel to restart a modern vehicle than to idle for a minute.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of money are we talking about here?
The average family saves between $600 and $1,200 a year by using these eight strategies consistently. How much you actually save depends on how much you drive, the current cost of gas and the vehicle’s efficiency baseline.
Will these methods damage my car’s engine?
No. In fact, these techniques actually decrease engine wear by encouraging smoother operating and more efficient range. Easy throttling and regular maintenance prolongs life of the engine.
Does this advice apply to SUVs and minivans?
Yes! Bigger family cars can gain even more since they have more scope for improvement. Much of what is gained in weight reduction and aerodynamics techniques has greater effects on vehicles that are less efficient.
How soon will I see the savings?
You will realize better MPG in the first tank. You see savings in the first month by needing to buy fewer gallons for commuting; same trips at the same speeds will require less gasoline.
Are electric or hybrid vehicles immune from the above tips?
Even though EVs don’t consume gasoline, strategies like cutting weight, tuning tire pressure and plotting out a route can help them make the most of their available energy and range. Hybrids benefit from all eight tips.
What’s the number-one tip for the best results?
Watching that instant MPG read-out will change behaviors now. This single behavior will commonly result in a 10 to 15 percent improvement within days.
Making It Stick: Your 30-Day Challenge
Knowledge without action changes nothing. Here’s your strategy to lock in these fuel-saving habits.
Week 1: Tire pressure and removing excess weight. Those are the kind of things that require some work up front, but can last forever.
Week 2: Learn and practice “pulse and glide” technique, find alternative routes for your routine journeys.
Week 3: Take control of your fuel economy display and stop idling for no reason.
Week 4: Apply the cruise control protocol and safe drafting strategy along highway commutes.
By day 30, these methods will be second nature. You’re going to be a more efficient driver without having to try.
The Bottom Line
Your family car shouldn’t be a money pit. These eight secret fuel-conserving techniques are successful because they address the problems which cause us to spend too much on gasoline.
You’re not going to conserve money by driving 10 miles per hour below the speed limit or never using your air conditioning. The real savings are to be had by knowing how your car works and making savvy decisions about its operation with an eye on efficiency.
Practice one or two of them starting today. Add others as they become habits. Monitor your progress and see your fuel bill shrink with each passing month.
The cash you save can cover items your family truly desires rather than vanishing into your fuel tank. The true benefit of smarter driving is that.
You are about to need gas again. Do these things now, and you’ll be filling up less often in the future — while leaving more money in your pocket for the things that actually matter.
