Are you one of those drivers who happens to be hard on the gas when the light turns green? Do you find yourself constantly accelerating and decelerating with traffic on the highway? Does you car carry unnecessary items, ornaments or has low tire pressure? Do you neglect the “check engine” light? If you answered yes to any of these things, General Motors and OnStar say you’re using more gas than you need to.
In a simple test involving two identical Chevy Cruze sedans driven by people with very different habits — one that was negligent and hard on the car ,while the other was conservative and had the car serviced regularly — the end result in fuel economy differences between the two cars is somewhat staggering, with the well maintained Cruze averaging 37 miles per gallon and the latter averaging 21. That’s a 40 percent drop in average MPG, and equates to a loss of 250 miles per tank, and $1,236 in extra fuel costs per year — and that’s just with a gas miser like the Cruze. Think if the test was done between two Chevy Silverado pickups or GMC Yukon SUVs and how much of a change such a large fuel tank would see.
If you want to get as much mileage from your ride as possible, GM and OnStar have five helpful tips — some you may not have thought of. One is to keep your vehicle from idling if you can help it, like going inside to grab your morning coffee rather than sitting in the drive-through. Then there’s the whole bit about keeping a constant speed and being easy on the throttle, avoid speeding on freeways, keep the windows rolled up for optimal aerodynamics and of course, maintaining your car regularly.
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