1. Think about driving as an art while doing so. Stop rubber-necking, turn off the music, turn off the cell and drive.

2. Install a dash-mounted vacuum gauge and use it. As the fuel mileage drops the vacuum needle drops. Try to prevent the needle from dropping below five inches. Readings will change with altitude changes.

3. Drive as if you had a fresh egg taped on the accelerator AND brake pedals.

4. Apply accelerator and brake petals smoothly.

5. Reduce speed as much and as soon as possible. Speeds above 50 MPH eat into the pocketbook!

6. Scan far ahead of your vehicle for traffic control signals and things that will allow you to ‘get off the gas’ sooner so you don’t have to ‘hit’ the brakes as hard – later. The over use of brakes means fuel has been wasted.

7. Drive as if your afraid your brakes are in poor condition and you are trying to save them.

8. Purchase your fuel in the morning when it’s cool and keep the tank full.

9. Air you tires up when they are cold and on the plus side of the recommended pressure and check them often especially on cold days. switching to nitrogen in the tires might help fuel mileage. Soft tires eat fuel!

10. Small amounts of high quality low ash synthetic Out Board 2cycle oil in the fuel (less than ¼ Oz per gallon) will clean, lubricate and reduce friction. The low ash oil will help the following items for better fuel mileage and life; electric gyrator fuel pumps, carburetor/injector parts, spark plugs, valve stems, compression rings and EGR systems. One fouled spark plug can drop fuel consumption by 10 percent. One sticky fuel injector can drop fuel mileage by up to one third.

11. Air dams can enhance cooling and reduce aerodynamic drag. Reduce the amount of air getting under the truck because the underside of vehicles create much air turbulence and drag at highway speeds. Bug shields, sun visors, wind deflectors, large roof top racks and large outside mirrors will reduce fuel mileage. Small camper shells or bed covers on pick-ups seem to aid fuel mileage.

12. The effect of heavy loads is detrimental to fuel mileage and brake life.

13. Modifying a vehicle with lifts and large wide tires is detrimental to fuel mileage and brake life.

14. Cruise control may save fuel in ‘flatlands’ but may not be economical in hilly country.

15. In hilly country do not allow the down hill run to cause engine ‘braking’ i.e. slowing down the vehicle unnecessarily. Run your fastest speed at the bottom of a hill and the slowest at the top. ... Only use engine braking when the vehicle is going to gain excessive and unsafe speed that would have required a fair amount of regular brakes. Excessive downhill braking can cause many heat related problems. Among these are warped rotors, brake fade, boiling brake fluid, wearing out pads, over heating seals, bearings and lubricants.

... Down hill engine braking and downshifting for increased engine braking is not going to consume very much fuel because the throttle will be closed. Long downhill runs of five or more percent grades are a good time for downshift engine braking. Two miles of seven-percent grades with curves should be mandatory.

So in hilly country it's a case of the having to use more throttle to regain the speed you lost by allowing short periods of unnecessary engine braking.

16. Allow the engine to warm up and/or drive gently till it does. Cold engines can get poor fuel mileage.

17. Put the transmission in neutral or stop the engine when long waits in traffic are encountered I.e. train crossings and long red traffic lights.

18. Reduce the Air Conditioning and the electrical demands on the alternator. Alternators draw much horsepower and extra fuel so fancy lights and sound systems burn extra gasoline and bother other peoples eyes and ears.

19. Short shifting. If the automatic transmission is equipped with overdrive and/or lock-up torque converter learn at what speeds it changes gears/locks. Often one can get the transmission into overdrive and lock the converter sooner by backing off the accelerator pedal a little at the right time.

20. The use of WOT (Wide Open Throttle) to gain speed is wasting fuel.

21. Buying a fuel efficient DD is a good way to save fuel and cut mileage on your 4x4. Our '04 Sentra averages 35.5 on the highway!

22. Consolidate your trips. Do more errands per trip and reduce the number of trips. This doesn't increase mileage but can cut the use of fuel.

23. Without ‘tail-gating’ drive fairly close to the vehicle in front of you. If you are too far behind another vehicle may pull out of a side street going in your direction. This will cause you to have to slow down until this vehicle can gain cruising speed. Slowing down by lifting the foot off the ‘gas peddle’ (engine braking) or using the brakes then having to regain cruising speed is going to waste fuel. This does not apply to some Hybrid vehicles.

24. Hey!.. wake-up!! We are sorry we put you to sleep… do you have any other ideas?

Calculating fuel mileage is not an exact science but stating it by the tank full is being somewhat vague E.i. "I get 198 miles per tank full".

... Many vehicles have a problem getting the final (up to) two gallons of fuel in the tank including our Sentra, Frontier, FSJ and Grand Cherokee. Sometimes air bubbles are displacing fuel and sometimes not. A lot depends on how level the surface is near the pump.

... Your fuel mileage also depends on the accuracy of the odometer reading and all of it depends on tire pressure and size, speed and driver skill. All the above assumes that the truck is properly tuned and in good mechanical condition

The speedometer and odometer are controlled at the out put of the transmission or transfer case. Changing the tire size, air pressure or differential gearing with cause a change in the speedometer and odometer readings.

The wife and I keep accurate mileage and fuel records and we check the accuracy of the odometers.

Have a good one while you can still laugh about it.. Don S..

Why is it that the politicians in D.C. are the only ones that don’t know there are better things to make Ethanol out of than corn?…  Answer… They know! They know! Guess why they don’t correct the problem.