One of the biggest things on peoples minds these days are the prices at the pump. In reality that should not be the case, as that is something that is out of our control. The thing that people should be thinking about is how they can increase their fuel economy because that is something that they are able to control. I will address a few techniques that can be used to save money at the pump.

The first thing is driving habits. If you accelerate rapidly you will burn more fuel. You should gradually and smoothly get up to the desired speed. Also the faster that you go, the more that the atmosphere pushes against you. So it is important to keep control of your foot on the freeway. Fuel consumption doubles between 55 and 75 mile per hour, so if you can keep it closer to the 65 speed limits in most areas your fuel economy will increase. Take for example the Bugatti Veyron, the fastest production car in the world. For it to get up to 155 miles per hour it only requires 270 horse power for it to get up to that speed. The faster the car travels, the more that the atmosphere builds up in front of it. For it to reach its top speed of 253 miles per hour, it requires another 730 horse power to go that extra 100 miles per hour. The same can be said of the average car, the faster you go the more mother nature tries to hold you back. So keeping the speedometer at 75 or below is crucial to improving fuel economy.

Another way to increase fuel economy is adding a higher flow air filter or cold air intake to the car. What this does is add more air to the same amount of fuel which helps it to combust and use a higher percentage of the fuel putting more power at the wheels instead of out the tail pipe. There are also computer chips and modules that can be added to almost any engine that alter the fueling to make the engine perform more efficiently.

One of the best ways to increase your gas mileage it to improve the flow of the exhaust. So you want to open up the exhaust and let the exhaust flow more freely. The mufflers that come stock on cars are in most cases very restrictive and full of baffles. Most people aren’t willing to pay for a full exhaust system for each of their cars, as the up front costs for most are a bit much. There are other options though. One of the best out there is the aero turbine muffler which works on gas and diesel vehicles alike. It has a straight through design free from the baffles and restrictions of stock mufflers. It also has the inner workings similar to a jet engine, so as the exhaust flows through the muffler the speed of the exhaust increases. This takes pressure off the engine and sucks it away making it so the engine doesn’t have to push it away like it normally would. This also reduces exhaust temperatures and increases the engines longevity. All of those things add to the fuel economy by making it easier for the engine to do its job. Some people are experiencing up to 25% increases in economy simply by adding the aero turbine muffler.. Also one would expect a straight through muffler to be loud, but with its jet like insides and the swirling or tornado like motion that it adds to the exhaust, the sound is muffled.

In conclusion, the only way to change how much we spend at the pumps is by changing the way we drive, and how hard the vehicle has to work to do its job. This will only become more important as time goes on as the prices of fuel will most likely only continue to climb.