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Auto Correct: Fuel Economy
We've got some tips for getting the most miles per gallon of gas.
Useful Tips to Improve Your Gas Mileage
1. Take it easy on the pedal. ... the faster you go the greater the drag that your car will have to work against. The same is true when coming to a stop. Imagine there is an egg between your foot and the gas pedal to remind yourself to accelerate slowly and gently. When breaking allow time to just slow by not having your foot on the gas peddle.
2. Adhere to your vehicle's recommended fuel type. ... if you’re suppose to put regular fuel in the car do it. If you’re suppose to put premium fuel in – do that.
3. Watch the weight. ... unless you’re driving a cargo van, don’t carry cargo regularly, for no reason.
4. Reduce drag. ... roof racks, bike racks, and storage accessories on your car add weight and increase aerodynamic drag. They aren’t for everyday use.
5. Inflate those tires to the correct pressure. ... flatter tires have more contact with the road and take more fuel to propel. Also watch the tread pattern of the tires.
6. Avoid prolonged idling. Your engine consumes half a gallon to a gallon of fuel every hour. Don’t rev your engine while starting in the morning. Let it run for 20 seconds and you’re good to go.
7. Drive in the highest possible gear but without putting undue stress on your engine. . . for a manual. Automatics – keep it on overdrive
8. Forget aftermarket solutions . . performance enhancing gizmo or technology make promises but don’t deliver or the effect is negligible.
9. Utilize online resources to find the best deals on gas. Something like Gas Buddy or AAA, Kroger fuel discounts, Wal-Mart giftcard discounts
10. Refuel in the morning, not towards the end of the day . . . you can save a dollar of two because the gas is cooler and denser. When it expands, less gas makes up the same volume
11. Do not ever forget to replacing your air filter
12. Be sensible when using the air conditioning – is city traffic better to roll down the windows
13. Keep your car tuned up
14. Every year use something like CRC Intake Cleaner GDI – throttle body cleaner
And here’s what’s in the news this week: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Returns to Netflix July 19 Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, the show in which he picks up a comedian and takes them to coffee in a sometimes perfect/sometimes combustible car, usually framed around his interpretation of their personality, will return with new episodes to its relatively new home at Netflix next month.
Consumer Reports has a list of 108 2007-16 models that have a record of much-worse-than-average overall reliability based on subscriber responses to their Annual Auto Survey. Today, we’re going to caution you about: 2008-2011, 2013-2014, 2017 GMC Acadia: Overall the worst problem category is GMC Acadia transmission problems.
Please consider reading up on the reliability of this car before purchasing it as a used car, suggests Consumer Reports. https://www.consumerreports.org/used-cars/used-cars-to-avoid-buying/ https://www.carcomplaints.com/ is another resource for unreliable car lists.
If you’re interested in reviews of new cars Casey Williams is the automotive correspondent for WFYI, a public radio station in Indianapolis. He has reviewed cars and covered the auto industry for 25 years. His review this week is on the _ 2019 Buick Envision, Jeep Cherokee https://www.wfyi.org/news/authors/casey-williams
Here are the recalls for the week: 2016-2017 Land Rover Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, driver’s seat belt emergency locking retractor may not lock at the correct G-force level as designed; 2019 Subaru Crosstrek - drivers side rear door window; 2018 Karma Revero - upper intrusion bar in the door maybe split.
You can find out if your car has a past recall by going to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s website: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and inputting your VIN number.
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