Don't Let High Fuel Costs Drive You Nuts

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Whether you drive an economy car or an SUV, there are plenty of ways to improve your gas mileage. Avoid aggressive driving and observe the speed limit. Speeding, fast acceleration, and hard braking wastes gas. Lighten your load by clearing your car of extra weight, and remove roof racks or carriers if not used frequently. Keep current with car maintenance - clean air filters can improve gas mileage by as much as 10%.

Properly inflated and aligned tires will improve gas mileage by 3%. Using the wrong grade of oil can reduce mileage by 1% to 2%. For longer-term savings, consider a high-mileage vehicle for your next purchase. See www.fueleconomy.gov for more on buying a fuel-efficient car or truck. (Source: US Department of Energy)

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By Barbara Oakes (Guest Post)

June 22, 20080 found this helpful

My husband had to make a 31/2 hr. trip to a Doctor app't. Since we have a VW diesel that gets 52 mpg he decided to try and expirement. He drove 55mph on our local roads (posted speed limit) and only 62 mph on the expressway which was about 3/4 of the trip. When he got home he checked his milage and because of his driving he posted 56.7 mpg.YEA!.

We are retired so every penny helps. The gas prices in northern Mi. are $4.29 higher than in the city.

So it is wise to slow down, plus we have a credit card that gives us 5% off on our gas. We also talked to a young man several days ago who lives in England, gas is 12.00 a gal. now do you feel better. Barb

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