Fuel efficiency tips

Tire pressure

Checking and adjusting the pressure of your tires once a month may increase a car's fuel efficiency by up to 3%.

Acceleration

Rapid acceleration and braking often may decrease instantaneous fuel economy by up to 33%.

Weight

Removing 100 pounds of stuff from your trunk may increase fuel efficiency by 2%.

Idling

Turn off your car engine while you are waiting.

Gears

Get into the habit of shifting to a higher gear as soon as you can. Higher gears are more economical in terms of fuel consumption.

Cruise control

Using cruise control on the freeway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, save fuel.

Proper maintenance

Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test may improve its fuel mileage by an average of 4%, though results vary. Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, may improve your mileage by as much as 40%.

Air filters

Replacing a clogged air filter on vehicles with fuel-injected, computer-controlled gasoline engines — such as those manufactured from the early 1980s to the present — or diesel engines does not improve fuel economy, but it can improve acceleration.

Replacing a clogged air filter on an older vehicle with a carburetted engine may improve both fuel economy and acceleration by a few percentage points under normal replacement conditions.

Route planning

Are you going out to run weekly errands, or are you just dropping one letter off at the post office and coming right home? You will essentially cut distance traveled and fuel usage in half by making all your stops at once, instead of taking multiple short round trips.

Applies to Synergy branded fuels, not other fuels which only meet minimum government standards. Actual benefits vary depending on various factors including, but not limited to, vehicle type, driving style, and fuel previously used.

The data has been sourced from the U.S. Department of Energy.