Driving Habits that Waste Fuel

As any visitor to the Avondale Nissan blog can attest, we certainly do our part to try to save money for area drivers. Whether it’s by identifying service issues before they become expensive or just by alerting them to sales events at our dealership, we are on it, generally speaking. One way we try to save our friends in the area money is by alerting them to ways to conserve fuel, but this information obviously has a dark underbelly as well: driving habits that waste fuel. Are you driving in a manner that just burns your hard-earned money more than you realize? If you drive using any of the following habits, well, you might be doing just that.

Slamming on the gas on green lights. We all love to do it: stare down the driver next to us, show them what this baby can do. However, it forces gas to be consumed more quickly when you shoot through all of the gears in a hurry. So, if you’re looking to save gas, go through the gears gradually.
Waiting until the last second to brake at red lights. The opposite of the theory above is true as well. If you cruise up to red lights while driving at or above the speed limit, then slam on the brakes and force your car to quickly downshift, you’ll be burning gas unnecessarily as well. Additionally, braking causes great amounts of friction and heat, which is a further waste of energy.
Speeding. We’ve mentioned this many times before, but speeding is the easiest way to waste gas that there is. Here’s a stat that might make your head spin: reducing your highway speed from 75 mph to 65 mph will reduce your gas consumption by as much as 15%. You’ll feel that additional gas mileage in your pocketbook, we guarantee it.
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Tailgating in close traffic. When you sit on a person’s bumper, slyly nudging them to go just a little bit faster, you’re bound to do much more stop-and-go driving. This will drive your fuel efficiency downward, even if you don’t immediately notice it.
Tailgating during traffic stops. The inverse of the above tidbit is true as well. If you’re sitting in a traffic stoppage and are going gas-brake-gas-brake, you’re putting your engine through more work than you should be. Rather than driving like this, sit back and watch your fuel economy soar.
We trust that avoiding these driving habits will make your driving life a little bit more manageable. For all of your driving needs in Phoenix, come see us at Avondale Nissan!