Winter Driving: Fuel Economy Tricks

Fuel economy tricks are helpful to anyone who cares to save money and use their vehicle as efficiently as possible. Your fuel economy is affected by a number of different things, including your vehicle condition, driving speed, acceleration, traffic, road conditions, and even weather. As you most likely already know, vehicles tend to use more fuel in the winter.

Because vehicles run on many different fluids, the drop in temperature means your vehicle has to work harder to keep the changes to these fluids as minimal as possible. As a result, your vehicle ends up burning more fuel. Not to mention that driving during the winter time often means driving in harsh temperatures and conditions that also affect your fuel economy. So how can you help your vehicle use fuel most efficiently this winter? Let’s talk about a few helpful fuel economy tricks.

Letting Your Car Run While Idle

In the first of our fuel economy tricks, it’s necessary for us to debunk a myth. Many people are under the impression that it is necessary to warm up your car for some time before you drive off in the winter. While it’s certainly more comfortable to step into a warm car, this is not necessary. Your vehicle actually does better warming up while driving. According to most manufacturers, your car only needs about 30 seconds to warm up before you drive off slowly. Allowing it to run while sitting idly will only waste fuel.

Park Your Car in a Warm Garage

Hopefully, you can avoid having to drive off in a miserably cold car. Parking your car in a warm garage will help keep the various fluids in your vehicle closer to operating temperature. Your vehicle will use less fuel because it will take less time to warm up. When your car is parked in the garage, you won’t be as likely to use your remote start and leave it running idly for too long. If your garage is currently too full for your car, you’ll find it a worthwhile task to clear it out and make space. Not only will your car warm up faster, but you won’t have to scrape away ice early before work!

Drive Wisely in the Stop and Go Traffic

Depending on where you live, you may experience stop and go traffic all the time. However, winter can bring even more of it with adverse weather conditions. Always give yourself plenty of time to slow down and speed up. This will help you save fuel and keep you and the drivers around your safer. Fast accelerating and hard braking are a sure way to harm your fuel efficiency, no matter the weather conditions.

Keep Your Tires Properly Inflated

Properly inflated tires mean better traction and because of that, better fuel economy. Remember that in cooler temperatures, the pressure in your tires will go down. Make sure you consistently check your tire pressure and have them inflated to the right amount of air.

Combine Your Trips

It takes more fuel to start a cold engine. That’s why, if possible, you should combine errands in your day so that you are not continually starting up a cold car.

Get Rid of Extra Weight

If you have traveling containers on top of your car but are not currently using them, remove them. Remove any unnecessary items that have collected in your car. The less weight your vehicle has to pull, the less fuel it will have to burn.

Maintain Your Vehicle

Of course, proper maintenance of your vehicle will help you any time of the year. Make sure you have consistent engine checks to ensure everything is running smoothly. Change your oil consistently. Use the oil recommended by your vehicle’s manufacturer. A poorly maintained vehicle is sure to suffer in the area of fuel economy.

If you have not had your vehicle tuned up for this winter, be sure to contact your trusted mechanic to schedule your appointment.

We hope these fuel economy tricks help you run your car more efficiently this winter!