When it comes to saving gas, every last person seem to have an opinion. The truth is, some of the common ‘gas-saving’ tips we’ve learned to cherish, just don’t make a difference. Here is our list of things you can stop worrying about, today.
- Buy a smaller car. To be fair, this used to be true, but today’s efficient, and even electric and hybrid SUVs, makes it is possible for a big vehicle to be more efficient than a smaller one. Bigger really can be better.
- Manual transmissions are more efficient. Again, this may have been true at one time, but improvements to automatic transmission design and construction mean the fuel use is now often about the same.
- Higher grade fuel goes further. This is not necessarily true – unless your car specifically designed to use high-grade gas, you’re wasting money on the premium fuel.
- Topping off your tank. In reality, the gas nozzle automatically shuts off when your tank is full, so any additional gas you try to add may be drawn into a vapor recovery system and back into the station’s storage tanks.
- Keep the tank half full. Some people think that never letting the gas level drop below half a tank will prevent evaporation inside the tank. The truth is that cars today are designed to keep fuel vapors in the tank, so that they can be burned by the engine.
Many of us continue to do some of things out of habit, or just don’t know any different. The truth is, you don’t have to panic if your fuel tank drops to a quarter of a tank. Check out boston.com for even more gas-saving myths de-bunked.
Stop by Mama’s Used Cars to see our selection of fuel efficient cars, and stop sweating it at the pump!
