Fear not...Help is at hand...GET A BICYCLE!



Seriously, there are a few things that can be

done without throwing your car keys away and

walking everywhere. (PHEW)!

A lot of the things you can do to save fuel are

easy and free.

When was the last time you checked your tires to

see if they were inflated to the correct pressure?

Under inflated tires are one of the main causes

of excess fuel consumption. It's easy to check

your tire pressures daily with a cheap tire

pressure gauge; if you don't know how asks your

local garage mechanic to show you (A free beer

works wonders).

When you buy your fuel can have an effect on what

you get. Gas is sold by volume and as we all know

from school, liquids expand when warm, so if you

buy your gas at the hottest part of the day you

will get less than if you buy when it is cold. So

the logical time to buy your gas is just before

dawn (Who's Dawn?) when it's coldest.

With 24 hour shopping it would make sense to do

your weekly shop while others are asleep and fill

up your tank at the same time. The roads will be

quieter so less traffic to get stuck behind and

waste fuel.

There are various (free) websites that will tell

you the cheapest gas prices in your area.

How about just washing your car. It causes less

drag, ... Honestly. Why do you think that

swimmers shave their heads (i.e. Duncan Goodhew)?

Or what about those skin tight smooth figure

hugging suits worn by downhill skiers? (Just

going for a cold shower).

Make car washing fun, get all the family involved.

Hose down the dog, hose down the kids. Hose down

the whole neighbourhood. (If winter you may

ignore this one)

Sitting at the lights revving the engine may

impress the boy racers but it uses gas. Rev the

engine 15 times and you use enough fuel to travel

one mile. Remember this next time you have to

push your car to the gas station.

Is your car due for a service? (I know a good

priest who can give the last rites at a

reasonable price). I know it costs money for

servicing your car if you are unable to do it

yourself. But the cost in extra fuel if your car

is not running right is even more. (Blocked air

filter, worn spark plugs, sticking brakes, etc.)

Best of all drive safely. Do not tailgate! if you

do you will have to brake harder when the car in

front does. Give some distance to the car in

front. You will use your brakes less and still

get there at the same time. Watch the traffic far

ahead and try to read how they are going to act,

if you see brake lights up ahead you can react a

bit sooner.

If you are driving in the wet you can sometimes

see the reflections of brake lights on the wet

road surface. This allows you to slow down sooner

and avoid harsh braking.

John Beck