Not getting good mileage? Try these tips to increase your car mileage.

What are some of the things you keep in your mind when buying a new car? Looks, engine, space, features, price and most important you ask the mileage of a car. The car manufacturers claim a mileage which is tested under laboratory conditions, without any person sitting inside a car and running it on constant speed. But when you buy that car and when you look at the mileage, it is nowhere near to the mileage claimed by the manufacturer. Why so? Today I will be sharing with you some of the tips to improve the mileage of your car.

1.Don’t accelerate hard

When you are driving your car, you press the accelerator to bring your car into motion. But to bring your car into motion you don’t need to bang the accelerator pedal. Even a gentle push is enough to bring your car into motion. Hard acceleration not only reduces your fuel efficiency but also it takes a toll on the engine. Until and unless you are driving a sports car, don’t accelerate hard. 

2.Avoid hard braking

When the driver does a hard braking, the car loses its momentum which is already gained. The car comes to low speed and the engine has to work more to generate the same amount of power to run the car at the speed before braking. Hard braking also damages the brakes more easily. But this doesn’t mean that during an emergency, you should not do hard braking. You should do it to save any accident! 

3.Select the proper gear for a particular speed

You may think that if you drive your car at a lower speed with a higher gear, you will probably get good mileage. But that’s not true. If you drive your car in this manner, there will be some instances when you will get some rattling sound from the engine. It’s because at lower speeds with higher gear, there is a lot of load on the engine because of which the engine will not perform in a good way. In converse, you will end up ruining the efficiency of the car. So, driving in a proper gear at a particular speed is important. 

4.Switch off the engine when the car is idling for long

When you keep the engine ON for a longer period, it will burn the fuel unnecessarily. Like if you have stopped on a traffic signal for more than 1 minute, it is advisable to switch off the engine which will improve your car mileage. New cars are coming with a feature known as Idle start/stop. What this does is, if the car is at idle position for long time, it will automatically switch off the engine and when you want to start your engine, you just have to press the clutch, the engine will start and you are good to go. If you have this feature in your car, then you must switch ON this system to improve your mileage. 

5.Ensure proper tire pressure

If your car is running with improper tire pressure, the engine will have to generate more power as not having proper air pressure inside the tire produces more resistance. This will not only bring down the mileage but also affect the performance of the car. This will also wear out the tires very early and in the end, you will have to change them. So, whenever you go to a fuel station to fill the tank, also ensure that your car tires have proper air pressure in them. 

6.Use A/C wisely

The car air conditioning works with the power generated by the engine. This power goes to drive the compressor which is the main component of the A/C system. So, if you want to use A/C, you have to compromise on the mileage especially at lower speed when the engine is producing more torque. You need air conditioning to get a pleasant feeling inside your car. But if you are driving in an environment which has a pleasant weather, avoid using A/C. Areas like hill stations, places where average temperature is low, etc you can just roll down the window and get the natural fresh air. At the end fresh and natural air is always better than A/C.

7.Close all the windows when cruising on a highway

car delivers the best mileage when cruising on a highway. It is because the car runs on a constant speed at a higher gear. But when you are driving on a highway, make sure that you close all the windows and switch on the A/C, it’s because when you are cruising at high speed with all the windows open, the air comes inside the car cabin at a very high speed which increase the drag. This will put more load on the engine and it has to produce more power. Keeping A/C switched on when cruising will not affect much on the fuel efficiency, but keeping windows open will bring down your mileage during cruising.

8.Keep your car maintained

If you are doing all the things mentioned earlier but your car is not maintained well, its of no use. Do the maintenance of your car at least 1 time a year. Sometimes the air filters get clogged due to which the fuel doesn’t burn properly which decreases the mileage. See whether all the fuel injectors are working fine. Do a proper maintenance of the engine. One thing to note here is that you will not get a proper mileage if you are driving a brand-new car. You need to drive it at least for about 5000- 6000 kilometres to get the proper mileage. Also don’t forget to do the free maintenance which is done after you buy a new car. These maintenance are very important for the mileage of the car.

 These were some of the tips which will increase your overall mileage of your car. If you keeps these tips in your mind and implement them regularly, you don’t have to drive to the fuel stations very early. That’s all for now, till then happy driving!