Consumer

• May 21, 2007 11:29 pm US/Mountain
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  How Do We Use Less Gas?

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How Do We Use Less Gas?

DENVER (CBS4) ― "Sometimes I walk to work," said one woman. A mother with several kids in a big pickup said, "I make one trip a week and that's it." With gasoline now at an all-time high, even adjusted for inflation, everyone wants to find ways to conserve. Here's how they might get a little more mileage out of their tanks:

Keep those tires properly inflated

Downing Street Garage owner Douglass Kirchdorfer said just about every car that comes into his garage has under inflated tires. The more rubber that hits the road, the more resistance. Less roll out of tires means more pressure on your shrinking bankroll.

When it's hot, roll the windows down below 45 miles per hour and use the air conditioning if you're traveling at highway speeds

The drag created by the wind resistance at highway speeds eats up more gasoline than the 10 percent increase in fuel use by running the air conditioning. Just turn down the air conditioning as soon as possible to a lower level and recirculate the air to maximize efficiency. During city driving, there is less wind resistance with open windows and the advantage then goes to windows-down driving.

Make sure the air filter is clean

There's a lot of stuff that can clog and dirty your air filter in the summer. A clean filter will allow the engine to suck in more air to mix with the gasoline and maximize power and fuel use.

Get that stuff off the roof

Kirchdorfer said that's one of the ways Colorado drivers are effected more than people in many other states. "Well, it's not really the altitude so much as it is the lifestyle." Admit it, winter's over and unless you're headed to A-Basin for a last gasp ski trip, take the ski rack down. Those sleek looking storage units are still creating a lot of wind resistance. Bikes do, kayaks do. Whatever is on the roof lowers the mileage. Racks built into vehicles are not likely to be costing you very much, there's no use unbolting them, Krichdorfer said.

Lay off the gas

This one seems to be the biggest way to save. "It's a high paced society, and as a product of that, a lot of people are exceeding the speed limit. What they don't know is, it's costing their pocketbook," Triple A's Eric Escudero said. If you don't approach intersections quickly, and don't take off like your trying to step on a cockroach, you can really improve your mileage. An expert with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden says by about twenty percent. Edmunds.com tested two vehicles and found that by driving gently, they were able to up the mileage on an SUV by 35 percent.

(© MMVII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)