Keep your filters clean- with every piece of dirt that your intake filter grabs it loses efficiency and in turn robs horsepower. In additional to keeping your filters clean make sure to stay on top of your cars maintenance schedule.

Air Filter

Remove excess weight- The first thing you need to do is put your vehicle on a diet by removing any extra or unnecessary weight. Every 100 pounds is worth approximately 1/10 (.10) of a second on your E/T. Quick candidates for weight removal include your spare tire, the jack, your sub box, tools, coolers, the junk in your console and glove box and other assorted items laying in the front and back seat. Any extra weight you can remove will make your car go faster and reduce fuel consumed. Headed to a track event? Take out your seats, interior, trim panels, and carpeting to scrub every last second from your lap times.

Keep an eye on tire pressure- make sure that your tires are filled to the manufactures suggested pressure. Your tire pressure is constantly changing. Variables like ambient air temperature and tire temperature will affect your tires’ pressure.

“Running a tire 20 percent underinflated – only 5 to 7 pounds per square inch (psi) – can increase fuel consumption by 10 percent. That can easily cost motorists two or three miles per gallon. Not only that, but running underinflated also reduces the tire’s tread life” says Bob Toth, Goodyear’s general manager.

Driving habits-

Try to avoid Jack rabbit starts or rapid acceleration. Starting out slowly and smoothly will save you time and money. Chances are you will catch up to the traffic at the next light anyway. The alternative to acceleration and braking is coasting. Coasting is an efficient means of slowing down, because kinetic energy is dissipated as aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance, which always must be overcome by the vehicle during travel. When coasting with the engine running and manual transmission in neutral, or clutch depressed, there will still be some fuel consumption due to the engine needing to maintain idle speed. While coasting with the engine running and the transmission in gear, most cars’ ECU with fuel injection will cut off fuel supply, and the engine will continue running, being driven by the wheels.

What can I expect to see?

Realistically, if you follow the above points , you should expect to see an mpg improvement of about 15%. Let ‘s say that the average driver spends roughly 2,500 dollars on fuel. A 15% improvement in gas mileage correlates to a 15% decrease in cost to fill your car. In that case you will save about $375 a year.