Over the past number of years we have seen the price of gas inflate in Alberta - affecting daily life, our commute and travel plans. The days of cheap gas are over! To ease pain at the pump follow these easy tips to improve your gas mileage. 

Go the speed limit.

 

By following the speed limit and swearing off rapid-acceleration and deceleration, drivers can improve gas mileage by anywhere from 12 to 55 percent. Edmunds.com tested the idea and got similar results. They also found that using cruise control improved mileage by an additional 7 percent.

Stop idling.

 

This leads to mileage improvements of up to 19 percent. If you’re going to be at a standstill for 10 seconds or more, say at the drive-through lane at a fast-food joint or an outdoor deposit at a bank, it’s better to cut the engine and do your business inside.

 

Avoid hard stops and starts.

Rapid acceleration and hard braking = throwing gas away. Instead of braking hard at a red light, coast from a distance. Come to stops slowly and gradually (if there is no one behind you, coast to the red light if you can). And there is no need to put the metal to the medal on a green light, accelerate slowly. 

 

Keep your car in shape. 

 

A well-tuned car burns less gasoline. So make sure that you get your oil and air filters changed regularly, and that your tires are always properly inflated.

No junk in your trunk!

For every 30 pounds of extra weight your car carries, gas mileage decreases anywhere from one-tenth to one-hundredth of a percent. That may not seem like much, but mile per mile it adds up. So de-clutter your car!

 

Change your commute. 

Sitting in rush hour traffic burns gas and gets you nowhere. If possible, adjust your work schedule so that you avoid the heaviest traffic. 

 

Are you the type to seek out the cheapest gas you can find?

Try using one of the many GAS-WISE smart phone apps available today which uses your location via GPS and provides you with a list of the nearest gas stations and lists their up to date per litre price. POYNT, Cheap Gas or GasBuddy are a few Canada-friendly iPhone apps. .