Driving Tips to Help Improve Fuel Efficiency

Driving can be costly at times, not only to your wallet and bottom line, but to the environment as well. Improving your fuel efficiency is a simple yet effective way to save yourself a little money and lower the volume of harmful emissions coming from your vehicle.

Map Your Route Ahead of Time

Figuring out where you want to go and the route(s) you intend to take to get there is an important part of planning any trip, regardless of whether you are commuting to work, running errands around town or going on vacation. Using your GPS or mapping your route ahead of time can help you minimize idle time, avoid traffic, save gas and thus lower harmful vehicle emissions. It’s a simple driving tip, but it really can help improve fuel efficiency. You might also find it saves you a little time and money.

Figure Out How to Minimize Idle Time

Idling in a vehicle is a sure fire way to waste gasoline and increase the amount of harmful greenhouse gas emissions being put into the surrounding environment. If you can figure out simple, yet effective, ways to minimize your idle time you will easily improve your fuel efficiency. You can also improve the life expectancy of your engine and its components as excessive idling has been known to cause damage or, at the very least, unnecessary wear on engine components. Simple rule of thumb is to turn off your vehicle if you’re going to be stopped for longer than about 30 seconds to a minute (unless you’re driving in traffic, of course).

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Slow and steady wins the race.” Well, when it comes to driving it’s true. I don’t mean you have to drive super slow everywhere you go. I simply mean adhere to posted speed limits and resist the urge to rapidly accelerate or decelerate. Rapid acceleration or braking, also known as aggressive driving, can not only cause serious wear and tear on your vehicle over time, it can also reduce the fuel efficiency of your vehicle. Adopting safe driving habits like staying alert, driving more efficiently, observing the speed limit, coasting to decelerate and using your vehicle’s cruise control feature, has been shown to improve fuel economy and save you money on gasoline.

Give Your Vehicle an Extra Boost

Sometimes vehicles need an extra boost to help improve fuel economy and make travels a tad bit more environmentally-friendly. Unless you have an electric or hybrid vehicle, you’ll want to pay attention to your vehicle’s emissions and fuel economy. Even if you do routine maintenance and take relatively good care of your vehicle, a little extra help isn’t going to hurt. Using a product such as Biofriendly Corporation’s Green Plus® Smog Reducer is an effective way to reduce smog emissions, cut greenhouse gas emissions and help in eliminating carbon monoxide emissions. As a result, you should also see an improvement in your fuel economy and a reduction in the amount of money you are paying at the gas pump over time.

Each of these tips, in its own right, can help improve fuel efficiency while driving. Put them all together and you’re on the right track. Sometimes it’s the little things we do or the small changes that make all the difference.