#SWEET #SPEED OF #CAR

Sweet speed of car

Your car's "sweet speed" is the minimum speed at which the car is running in its highest gear (watch for rpm drops as you accelerate to determine when your transmission is shifting into higher gears). For example, Some cars get better mileage at specific speeds, usually 80 km/h, and some Jeep Cherokees are best at 90 km/h, and Toyota 4 Runners are best at about 80 km/h. Find your vehicle's "sweet speed" and pick your roads accordingly.

Increase Your Car’s Fuel Mileage Using These Simple Steps

With fuel prices increasing everyday and the world’s oil reserves gradually depleting, we have to take certain measures to ease the strain on our wallet as well as our planet. Here are a few tips to increase your car’s mileage so you use less fuel and protect your money and planet. Here are a few ways to spend less money on gas by increasing your car's efficiency in using it.

 Set the car tires to the proper inflation.

1. Properly inflated tires can reduce fuel consumption by up to 3%. Your tires also lose about 1 PSI per month, and when the tires are cold (e.g., in the winter), their pressure will decrease due to the thermal contraction of the air. It is recommended to check tires at least monthly, preferably weekly. Having properly inflated tires will also help you avoid uneven wear on the tread.

Some gas stations have automatic air compressors that stop at a pre-determined level. (For safety, double-check pressure with your own gauge, especially if another is suggesting you add a surprisingly large amount of air.) Small permanently-installed valve-stem extensions can allow filling without removing the caps, but check that they are not themselves prone to jamming with foreign matter and leaking.

Recommended inflation pressures are for cold tires; put about 3 PSI more in if the tires have been driven on awhile. Inflate to the pressure recommended by the car manufacturer, not the maximum stamped on the tire. (In one author's experience with cars and trucks, never inflate to the pressure indicated in the manufacturer manual unless you have stock tires. Too much psi and explode the tire [expensive] and putting too little nets horrible fuel economy. Always inflate to pressure stated on sidewall. 

Select the narrowest possible tires for your vehicle that will satisfy your driving style and demands. Narrow tires have less frontal area, thus reducing aerodynamic drag. Remember, however, that narrow tires have less traction as well (which is why race cars have such wide tires). Do not get a tire that is incompatible with your wheels, and do not get smaller wheels unless your manufacturer approves 

2 Try to avoid using the air AC in stop-and-go city driving as it causes the engine to work hard and consume more fuel. However, studies show that at highway speeds cars get somewhat better mileage with the AC on and the o windows rolled up. The drag caused by rolled down windows at high speed reduces fuel efficiency more than the AC. 

If you're trying to find a direct way to control the amount of fuel you are using, monitor how hard your engine is working is key. A/C, acceleration, and speed all, of course, affect work but these are not direct indicators. 

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Try monitoring the R.P.M.s (or revolutions per minute) your engine is running at. It's like monitoring your pulse to find out how hard your heart is working You will find that there are RPM ranges which are ideal for your car and others that are not.

If you find the engine is running at above 3000 R.P.M.s, it's possible you're accelerating at an unnecessarily a low gear. So, ease off the pedal and let the engine build up a higher speed at a lower RPM. He lower average RPM you travel the lower your work and this directly determines your gas mileage.

How do you monitor your RPM? Most cars have a left gauge next to the speedometer called the tachometer. It measures your RPM at x 1000 which means if your gauge indicates halfway between 2 & 3, you're running at 2,500 RPM. A comfort/efficient RPM zone is between 2000 and 3000 RPM, however, try to stay below 2000 as much as possible and not much over 2700__only when necessary, such as moving uphill through a traffic light from a stopped position. This means you won't get above 65 km/h but not necessarily and you'll achieve 80–89 km/h in the city and up to 105 km/h on the highway and still be running at 2500 RPM. Try to find your comfort/efficient zone and perhaps you can get a few more M.P.G.s b watching how hard your engine is working!

IMPROVE Your driving habits
1Avoid excessive idling. Idling a vehicle wastes a significant amount of fuel. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it slowly until it reaches proper operating temperature. For example, in cold weather warm the car engine no more than 30 seconds. This period of time is sufficient to ensure that the engine is properly lubricated for driving. Generally, if you can avoid 10 seconds of idling you will save gas by turning the engine off and restarting. However, starting an engine too often can lead to excessive wear and tear on the starter motor and wiring

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When getting your oil changed, use a synthetic oil additive to either natural or synthetic oil. This can increase your fuel mileage by up to 15% if you follow the manufacturer's instructions and recommended usage. (It seems unlikely to one author at least that synthetic-oil "additive" would cause a car to work much less hard; it would not make the oil overall much less viscous, and circulating the oil is only a relatively small task for a car engine.)

3 Buy quality fuel.No two fuels are the same, and while 'discount' brand fuel may save you a few Rs/ L, it can contain a higher percentage of ethanol, which burns at a faster rate. Compare the mileage between fuel companies and see what is best for your car

4 Use synthetic oil in your car to save on average 5% fuel. Remember to change it according to your vehicle manufacturers recommendations for any oil. Extending oil change intervals can be harmful to the life of your engine and the fuel saving benefits are lost as oil gets dirty. If you can't use synthetic, choose the lightest oil possible, 5W-30 rather than 15W-50

Note: One author considers it unlikely at least that synthetic oil would cause a car to work much less hard; it is not much less viscous. You may wish to decide on your own research.

5Slow down. The faster you move, the harder your engine has to work to push through the wind. Speeding can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 33%. (Factors other than air resistance decrease fuel economy below about 95 km/h, so fuel economy is not a reason to go slower, but fuel economy decreases rapidly above that speed.

6Accelerate smoothly with moderate throttle. Engines are most efficient with moderately high air flow (throttle) and at revolutions per minute (RPM)s up to their power peak (for small to mid sized engines this is generally somewhere between 4k to 5k RPM). In a manual transmission car, practice 'short shifting', or shifting to higher gears as soon as you reach your desired speed by skipping intermediate gears. For example, accelerate to 60 km/h using 1st gear and 2nd gear, then shift directly to 4th (skipping 3rd), or if your engine can maintain your speed, to 5th. (Be aware that if you have to floor the accelerator pedal in 5th to maintain your speed, you should be in 4th!).

7Avoid braking wherever possible. Braking wastes energy from fuel that you have already burned, and accelerating after braking consumes more fuel than driving at a constant speed. On city streets watch ahead and coast when you see a red light or traffic jam ahead.

8 If your car has an automatic transmission with overdrive, make sure you enable overdrive except when towing very heavy trailers. Overdrive is by default enabled on the "D" on most shifters. Several cars have buttons on the shifter which allow you to turn off the overdrive gear. Don't turn it off except in specific circumstances it may be needed such as for engine braking downhill or failure to proceed uphill smoothly in overdrive. Overdrive saves you gas mileage at higher speeds by using a lower ratio from engine speed to wheel speed - this places the engine at a more efficient operating point (by reducing throttling losses, etc

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Learn to watch and predict traffic signals. Stop-and-go driving is wasteful.



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Don't circle in a parking lot, and keep well away from the store fronts. Look for a spot in the empty half of the parking lot. Many people spend significant time idling and creeping, waiting for a "close spot" to open up.

11Maintain a safe following distance! Don't stick to the bumper of the car directly in front of you. You will brake more and accelerate more to keep that unnecessary and dangerous narrow gap. Relax. Hang back a bit. You're still traveling at the same speed as the car ahead of you even if you're 90 m behind. This also gives you a lot more room to play with when you are timing lights. When he slams on his brakes, you can coast down and see if the light quick-changes green again (some do). You might even coast by his car as the light turns green and he has to accelerate from a dead stop.

12 Select a gear ratio that is appropriate to your engine, transmission, and driving conditions. If you travel on the highway often and do not carry heavy loads, try a numerically lower final drive ratio (known as a "higher" gear.) Careful not to go too "high" with the ratio, this can cause smaller engines to work too hard to keep up, damaging the engine. Some manufacturers offer optional gearing.

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Select the narrowest possible tires for your vehicle that will satisfy your driving style and demands. Narrow tires have less frontal area, thus reducing aerodynamic drag. Remember, however, that narrow tires have less traction as well (which is why race cars have such wide tires). Do not get a tire that is incompatible with your wheels, and do not get smaller wheels unless your manufacturer approves.

14 On fuel-injected cars, make sure the oxygen sensors, engine emissions system, and evaporator emissions control systems are in good shape. Often the "check engine light" coming on is an indication that there is a problem with one of these components. A damaged oxygen sensor may cause your car to have too rich of a fuel mixture, decreasing your fuel mileage by 20% or more.

15 Lose some weight Having unnecessary weight in your vehicle wastes fuel, particularly during acceleration. If there is heavy stuff in your boot you don’t need, ditch it. Losing 100 pounds (45 kg) will improve economy by around 2%. In fact the push to make cars lighter is playing a leading role in improving fuel economy in new cars

Some more Methods-  Planning ahead
1 Plan your trips. Keep lists of needs that will require a trip and try to accomplish multiple objectives with each. This will not increase your fuel mileage (the number of miles your car moves for each gallon of gas), but it will help you drive less (which, in turn, means you use less gas).

2 Plan your route carefully. Take the route with the fewest stops and turns and least traffic. Take highways in preference to city streets when possible.

3 Maintain a log over time of how many miles you go (the main odometer) and how much gas you put in (from the gas pump, including fractions). Put it in a spreadsheet. It will keep you focused, and other methods are inaccurate; you will never know for sure if you're saving fuel, wasting fuel or just seeing errors from gas pumps that stop pumping at different points, or fractions of miles being dropped off your 'trip' odometer when you reset it.

4 LOSE SOME WEIGHT.-The heavier the car, the greater will be its thirst. You don't have to be a quantum physicist to know this. So ditch that child safety seat you don't use anymore, the spare Tyre that's not fit for use or even the tonnes of garbage that you lug around. Keep the boot empty and clean and watch the fuel gauge become more stable. The extra bucks will make up for the trouble.

5 KEEP FILTERS CLEAN Don't drive your car with dirty or clogged filters, such as the air filter or the oil filter if you don't want to shell out at the pump. Get them cleaned or replace them. It will be money well spent since you won't be bleeding slowly. A serviced engine will also consume less fuel, so don't ignore the schedule.

6 TAKE A WALK A no-brainier this one really. If you don't need to drive somewhere, don't. Also, if you have to visit a crowded area, such as a market or a fair, park your car some distance away where you don't have to drive around to find a parking spot.It will save you time, the hassle of navigating through congestion and of course a lot of fuel. Moreover, a bit of exercise can do you and the family no harm either.

7 USE CRUISE CONTROL - Once your reach an efficient speed, maintaining a constant pace avoids wasting energy on decelerating and then accelerating again. Cruise control can help with this, but some people also find pulse and glide techniques effective.

8 SMOOTH DRIVING -The EPA estimate aggressive driving can reduce gas mileage by up to 33% while Edmunds’ testing found similar results. If done well smooth driving can also be safer, more relaxed and better for your car.

9 ROLL WITH IT · Working with gravity, rather than against it, is something hyper-milers advocate on hills. Letting your car go slightly slower up a hill, then coasting down the other side in gear will maximize economy by trading some kinetic energy for the stored energy of being higher. This tactic should only be employed when it is safe to do so.

SOME MORE TIPS·         Tip 1: Do not accelerate too fast

·         Too quick acceleration consumes too much fuel, accelerate slowly and gradually. That will save quite a significant amount of fuel in city driving.

·         Tip 2: Do not use clutch too much (Stick Shift Only)   If you use a manual transmission car, as is mostly used by people in India, do-not drive with clutch pressed, or use clutch only when needed, too much use of clutch will waste a lot of fuel.

·      Tip 3: Change gears appropriately (Stick Shify Only) This is also applicable for manual transmission cars. Use correct gears at correct speeds, this will help save the fuel. For correct speeds, see your car’s user manual.

       Tip 4: No Excuses to delay car servic Get the car serviced as per manufacturer’s recommended schedule. This will ensure good health of engine, less maintenance due to break-down.

        Tip 5: Do you drive in dusty environment? Clean the Air-filter   If you drive in dusty environment the air-filter gets filled with dust and makes the engine suffocated. Clean the air-filter more often than the service schedule( say  every 5000 KM or so) , this will help the engine run more easy and consume less fuel. Trust me, its going to really help.

   Tip 6: Red-Signal Ahead? Put the feet off the accelerator   If you are sure that you got to stop after next 100 or 200 meters due to a red signal, keep your feet off the accelerator and car will slow down on engine’s resistance, saving on fuel as well as the brake shoes, apply brakes only when about to stop. This is a great help to save that extra drop of fuel.

     Tip 7: Air Pressure in tyres  Get the air-pressure in tyres up to the recommended pressure, and check it once at least in 15 days, it helps the car run smooth and drink less fuel.

        Tip 8: Try to keep a constant max speed When driving in a city or highway, try to maintain a constant speed, that will help the engine put less effort to accelerate or decelerate unnecessarily. This will help reduce fuel consumption.

         Tip 9: Keep the window’s glass rolled up on highways

      Driving with AC on and glasses rolled up will actually help the car move easy because when  windows are open, the car faces more air-drag due to cross ventilation through car, thus consuming more fuel. So always try to keep windows rolled up specially when driving at high speeds.

         Tip 10: Buy fuel during morning hours  Buying fuel during morning hours makes sense, because the fuel is a liquid and cools during night hours as temperature is low, and it becomes more dense, so in night hours, you get more weight of fuel for same litres, so its like a bargain in fuel amount

                            Tip 11: Re-fuel your car when tank is close to half  This will help reduce the vapors formation in tank, which moves out as you open the lid to re-fuel, thus saving some amount of fuel in the tank

            Tip 12: Clean up the crap from the boot-space  Remove any un-necessary luggage or stuff that you don’t need from back space, that will let the car feel light and run easy on less fuel. 

    Save fuel, burn it less, save economy and environment both, for a greener and cleaner tomorrow.

     Also try to follow a car pool if you are traveling to office or college, that is fun to be with some friends and it reduces traveling boredom too 

     We hope you found these tips to increase your car mileage easy to follow. Do share it with your friends too on Facebook an twitter. Happy saving.

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