Although buying a car offers you convenience and more time at your disposal to do other things, it comes with a daily expense – fuel. Whether your vehicle is a small SUV or a large truck, fuel management will save you some money. To improve gas mileage on the same liters or gallons of fuel, you will need to do a lot more than just planning your routes. The process involves proper maintenance of your vehicle as well as driving like a pro. To become a hypermiler, you will require the following. Keep Your Tires Fully Inflated Always Pumping up your tire to the maximum pressure possible will make your ride a little bumpy, but you will go much faster while using the same amount of gas. A fully pumped tire has less resistance with the road making the car move much easier. This technique will only be useful if you keep the tire pressure high all the time. Thus, keep checking the pressure every week or depending on the mileage covered. Change the Oil and Engine Air Filters Regularly If your engine is already well-tuned and is in good condition but still consumes a lot of gas, check the air filters. If your engine air filters are all clogged up, the engine will not get enough air to burn the oil efficiently. Instead, more fuel will be burned as the engine strives to deliver the needed power. Change the oil filters according to manufacturers’ recommendations. Doing so increases fuel efficiency. Reduce AC Usage Keeping your air conditioner on for most of the day overworks the engine. More fuel will be consumed, and you will end up spending more money on fuel. If you can, keep your AC off, and your windows rolled up. Opening the windows offers resistance overworking the engine too. Only Carry Necessary Loads The heavier the weight in your car, the more the fuel it consumes. Do not carry unnecessary items in your truck every day. Remove the unnecessary golf clubs which you only use on Sundays from your vehicle. For every 100 pounds, the fuel consumption increases by one or two percent. You should also remove the roof rack unless you are using it to ferry good daily. The roof rack increases aerodynamic drag to your car making it move slowly. Drive at a Higher Gear Especially When Speeding While going at a higher rate, higher gears save more fuel than going at a fast speed in a lower gear. If you must speed, ensure that your car is in gear five and not gear three or two. At a low gear and high speed, you will use 45% more fuel. Brake Less and Accelerate Smoothly When you accelerate instantly, you consume a lot of fuel because the engine will require a lot of energy to start the car. Accelerate at a slower pace giving the engine small portions of fuel until it picks up the speed. Braking, on the other hand, forces the energy from the burned fuel to go to waste. When you accelerate again, you consume more fuel. To reduce the number of time, you break, be very vigilant. Observe the lights and vehicles that are ahead of you. You can also memorize the traffic lights pattern if you use the same route daily. Don’t Leave Your Car Idling With its Engine On If the engine is on, fuel is being consumed. If you need to stay in a place for two minutes, it is more economical to turn the engine off than leaving it on. The fuel that will be used to re-ignite is much less than the one that will be consumed by an idle vehicle. The above techniques can be useful in reducing fuel consumption and the overall maintenance costs of the car. Also, utilize simple observational tactics like avoiding heavy traffic roads to further improve fuel economy.