A Tip For Summer Driving:save $200 In Gas By Checking Your Tires

A Tip For Summer Driving:save $200 In Gas By Checking Your Tires

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One of the fastest ways to rob a vehicle of good gas mileage is to ignore the tires. There are many different ways that tires can affect the fuel economy of your car. Checking that you are riding on correctly inflated tires is one of the easiest ways to save money on fuel.

Energy Information Administration and EPA statistics support the fact that it is possible to save between $100.00 to $200.00 per year by maintaining properly inflated tires. Your individual savings will be unique based upon how many miles you drive and how much your tires may be under inflated.

There is at least one tire under inflated by more than twenty percent (20%) on approximately twenty-three per cent (23%) of cars based on information from the Canadian Office of Energy Efficiency. That means that almost 1 in 4 cars has at least one under inflated tire. Besides lowering your fuel consumption, under inflated wheels can also lead to steering and braking problems. That makes under inflated tires a possible danger. Using a tire gauge is the only sure way to know if your tires are under inflated but a telltale sign of under inflated tires are loud squealing when coming to a stop or turning a corner even at slow speeds.

Operating a vehicle with just one tire under-inflated by 20% (8 psi) can increase the vehicle's fuel consumption by 4%. In addition it can reduce the life of the tire by over 9000 miles. Tires are permeable, meaning that air can and does leach through the tire walls. A tire can lose up to 2 psi (pounds of pressure) per month. This is even more critical in summer as more air is lost in hot weather as the pores in the tire material expand.

To repeat that was just stated heat can accelerate air loss in tires. When a tire is under inflated, the sides of a tire flex and bend more than normal. This builds up heat in the tire. With that additional heat an under inflated tire will to lose air at faster and faster rate.

Under inflated tires and gas consumption are related in another way. Under inflated tires tend to have increasing rolling resistance. Because of the increased resistance the engine has to work harder to push the car and that increases fuel consumption. Extra flexing and bending in the tire can damage the tire walls and that could lead to tire failure.

To maintain proper inflation levels, measure the air pressure in your vehicle's tires at least once a month. Measure your tire pressure when your tires are cold. "Cold" means that a vehicle has been stationary for at least three hours or has not been driven more than 1 mile.

Keeping your tires at the proper inflation can save you between $100.00 and $200.00 per year in gas savings. In addition maintaining the correct tire pressure can prevent conditions that could cause serious accidents Keep a pressure gauge in your car and check the tires often.

About the Author:
Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page manual of automotive industry insider information on saving gas and money at the gas pump. Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
This and other unique content lower gas costs articles are available with free reprint rights.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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