Source: The Care Guide

It seems that the price of gas is climbing everyday, and seniors that drive are feeling the pinch at the pumps. Here are a few tips to help keep your gas bills down!

1. Keep your maintenance up. Regular trips to the garage, properly inflated tires, clean air filters, clean spark plugs will all help your car stay fuel efficient.
2. Use regular unleaded grade gas if your vehicle does not absolutely require premium or mid-grade fuel.
3. Shop around for good gas bargains, but don’t drive endlessly to save a few cents per litre.
4. Curtail aggressive driving. Speeding, rapid acceleration, and rapid braking all waste gas – and curb mileage by as much as 33 percent at highway speeds. Nix jack-rabbit starts, opting instead for slow acceleration from a dead stop. In addition, speeding cuts fuel economy 7 to 23 percent, as gas mileage decreases rapidly above 60 mph. Each five km/h you drive over 60 is like paying an extra 15 cents per litre.
5. Avoid idling. Cars with larger engines typically waste even more gas at idling than cars with smaller engines.
6. Combine your errands into one trip and plan your routes carefully to drive fewer miles and use less fuel.
7. Use overdrive if available. Use your vehicle’s overdrive gear when appropriate to reduce engine speed, save gas, and decrease engine wear.
8. Use cruise control to help cut fuel consumption by maintaining a steady speed during highway driving.
9. Don’t use air conditioning if it’s not necessary. Maybe just the blower will keep you cool. Air conditioning dramatically reduces fuel economy. Most air conditioners have an “economy” setting that allows the circulation of unchilled air - just a fan, which does not affect fuel economy. Many also have a “maximum” or “recirculation” setting that reduces the amount of hot outside air that must be chilled. Both settings can reduce the air conditioning load — and save gas.