How can I improve my gas mileage? I have been asking myself that question for a long time now. We have all had a good old moan every time that the price of gas has risen when we have gone to fill up, and like me most of us have just accepted it and done nothing about it. Now with the ever increasing price of oil, and with little sign of a drop in the price of gas at the pumps, it seems even more important to find ways to increase gas mileage.

So just how can I improve my gas mileage? and what are the main things about the way I drive that would cause low gas mileage? Well I have done a bit of research and have come up with a few simple ways to increase gas mileage just by improving my driving technique. They are only small things and most are just common sense, things like finding the optimum speed for gas mileage, and keeping my car and its engine regularly serviced, but all these little things together can add up and give you some real gas mileage improvements.

First of all fast driving and good gas mileage just do not go together, the faster you drive the more gas you use, and everyone knows that. But did you know that a car travelling at 80mph can use up to twice the amount of gas as a car travelling at 30mph. For most cars a cruising speed of around 50mph will give you significant gas mileage improvements. So you could say that “fifty is thrifty.”

Another of the ways to increase gas mileage is the way we drive when it come to climbing a hill, try not to stay in a high gear for too long, this not only puts a strain on your engine it also uses more gas. Whenever possible try to build up enough speed before you reach the hill, this way you will have the momentum to climb the hill at a constant speed without having to keep changing down and revving the engine. Don’t try coasting down a hill in neutral or with the ignition switched off to try to save on gas, not only is it dangerous as you do not have full control of the car it is also illegal and any fuel saving is negligible.

If you have a vehicle with a manual gearbox then changing gear at the right time can also give you good gas mileage improvements. Always accelerate gently and smoothly and try to change gear at between 2000 and 3000 rpm, the engine speed at which most cars run efficiently. If you have an automatic gearbox then always drive with the lever in the “drive” position as an automatic will sense for itself when to change gear economically. If you do need to override the gearbox manually then select the low or intermediate position rather than use the “kick-down” as this too increases gas consumption.

These are just a few simple ways to increase gas mileage, and added together you should be able to notice a drop in your gas consumption and so save a few dollars at the pumps. But while I was looking for ways to increase gas mileage I read about something that could give even better gas mileage improvements. With the new HHO gas mileage devices available you could cut your gas bill by 35% or more so I think that I will be doing a lot more research on this for a while.