Earth Day Car Care Tips: How to Make Your Car More Eco Friendly
April 22nd is Earth Day and if you're looking for ways to make an impact on the environment we have a few tips for you that you can practice all year long, by changing a few habits from keeping up with regular car maintenance and better driving habits, you'll be able to shrink your car's carbon footprint for a "greener" ride. Here are some simple steps you can take to make your vehicle more eco friendly.
Change your air filters: In order to run at maximum efficiency you need to change your air filter. A dirty air filter can cause the engine to run bad, stall or misfire, reduce fuel economy and create higher exhaust gas emissions, by changing your filter you can save as much as 10% on your car's gas mileage.
Clean out your trunk: Don't overload your vehicle with excess weight, empty your trunk, driving with your trunk full adds weight and reduces your fuel mileage. Each 50 lbs of added weight results in a 1% reduction in fuel economy.
Drive Safely and Slow Down: Racing to the finish line going from 0-60 mph in just a few seconds will burn more fuel, the faster you have to go, speeding, rough braking lowers your gas mileage. By lowering your speed, rapid acceleration, and braking you can save on your gas usage by 15% to 30% (highway speeds).
Check Your Tire Pressure: One of the best ways to improve your mileage is to inflate your tires to the correct pressure. You can improve your gas mileage by 0.6% on average by keeping your tires to the proper pressure, increase safety, and extend the life of your tires. Under-inflated tires have a negative effect on fuel economy.
Avoid Prolonged Idling: There is a common myth that cars require a period of running time to “warm-up” before you can drive them and most modern cars don't need this. Idling can ruin your car. It builds up fuel residue that can damage engine parts and, in turn, increase fuel consumption.
Keep Up With Routine Maintenance: Making sure your vehicle is tuned properly will help improve its efficiency, lower its emissions, use less gas and save more money in the long run. A typical tune-up improves gas mileage by 4% and as much as 40% when fixing a major maintenance problem. Having the oil changed regularly also contributes to a greener, smoother-running engine.
Not only are we certified to service hybrid vehicles if you need assistance to help keep your car green or run more efficiently contact us for a courtesy inspection!
