Some of the most important things you can do to increase your vehicles mileage fall under the heading of basic mileage. Keeping your tires inflated above manufacturers specifications, but within the maximum safety level, (shown on the inside of your driver’s door panel usually) can improve your mileage by more than 10% for example. When you do this, however, making sure that you rotate your tires periodically becomes more important to regulate wear.

Here are a few routine maintenance steps you should do at set intervals to make sure you’re getting the best performance from your vehicle that you can. Of course, your owner’s manual will give the information when all maintenance tasks should be done, but the following are pretty standard items and times.

Every 3,000 miles –
Change the engine oil and filter every 3 to 4 thousand miles. Other things you can do at this time include checking the fluids, the air filter, tire pressures, hoses and belts. At this time check the battery cables and terminals for corrosion.

Every 5-10,000 miles –
Have your tires rotated and balanced every five to ten thousand miles. This helps the tires wear evenly and extends the life and is especially important if you are inflating to the maximum safety and gas performance levels. The best tires should be put in the front of the car.

Every 15,000 miles –
Change the air filter every 15,000 miles. A clean air filter improves the fuel economy of your car. At this time you could also check the brake pads and shoes and all fluid levels. This is also a good time to change the wiper blades.

Every 30,000 miles –
This is a big check-up as many of your more routine checks mentioned above will come due at this same time. It is also time for most vehicles to have a complete tune-up and close inspection of the brakes, struts, suspension, etc. It’s also time to check and potentially change the transmission fluid and engine coolant.

Even though these are all “round numbers” and there are only a few to remember, if you miss any of these routine maintenance points, you miss your chance of catching a potentially serious problem before it cripples or kills your car. So these check points become crucial to the dependability of your vehicle.

It can be hard to remember where you are in this maintenance schedule. Luckily there is a program out there that will do the remembering and reminding for you.

We’ve talked about GasDandy before, in a post where we were discussed the ways it helps you monitor and measure your gas mileage improvements over time. However, as you enter each gas purchase, GasDandy also does all the calculations behind the scenes to keep track of these basic maintenance schedules as well. It will then remind you that you need to rotate your tires, or change your oil.

You can purchase and download the personal version that will take care of up to 3 vehicles for you for just $19.95

You can purchase and download the fleet version for your business for just $99.95

The couple is attempting to set the world record for the lowest US fuel consumption.  The Australian couple has already claimed similar world records in other countries. They will be driving a clean diesel Volkswagen Jetta TDI on the 8,000 mile journey, which is why Jack Gill and the rest of the folks from Volkswagon gave them a press conference send off.

A brand new post by Felix Salmon at Market Movers caught my eye (or rather my news alert) this afternoon that proposes just that. Felix talks about a reader who wished his car got 45 miles per gallon instead of 33 miles per gallon. We’re becoming obssessed with gas mileage figures he said, commenting that the whole emphasis is “overrated.”

If we inverted those numbers, you would discover that you burn 3.0 gallons going 100 at 33 mpg. You burn 2.2 gallons going 100 miles at 45 mpg. To Felix that’s a yawn and a “no big deal.” After all, he figures that .8 gallon savings per 100 miles amounts to about $3.00. While he agrees it’s not bad to save $3, he wonders why anyone would want to take any sort of a performance hit to do so. In a related post in June he voted for American automakers to try to build many more attractive cars in the 30-40mpg range than to strive to build one that can go 100mpg.

Unfortunately, Felix is not alone in manipulating mileage gain numbers to suit an agenda. Not only is the gain “only $3.00″ but what is .8 gallons in the grand scheme of the national total of gasoline used?

The answer is “a lot” both to the nation, and to the individuals who may not have the luxury of just driving 100 miles per month (or even week). The average American has a commute of 29.5 miles one way according to fueleconomy.gov. That means they’re burning through that 100 miles every two days. Three dollars two and a half times per week adds up to approximately $30 per month, or $360 per year.

By inverting the calculation from mpg to gallons per mile, you make a very big problem look smaller than it is.

I don’t mean to imply that Felix is not sincere or entitled to his opinion. But more than 28 years of marketing experience kicks in when I see arguments like his put forth. Gently chiding people for their efforts to control even that little cost by suggesting that they should be worried about performance or an attractive appearance more, is a line straight out of the big oil and automakers ad strategy book.

On the other hand, by concentrating on miles per gallon we make very small gains or losses look big. I for one prefer to keep the focus on every little step that can be made towards that far off goal of a car that gets 100 mpg coming out of a mass market automaker. There are already individuals who routinely top 50, 60 or 70 miles per gallon simply by using a set of driving techniques.

For the record, that would be 10.8, 20.8, or 30.8 savings over the 33 miles per gallon many automakers would have us think is “good enough.” Put those numbers in your gas mileage calculator each week and tell me if you think that savings is overrated.

Of course the reason to use a gas mileage calculator in the first place is to figure out exactly what your mileage is so that you can improve it. Once you have that information in hand you can make a better decision about buying an alternative fuel vehicle to help improve gas mileage. Or, you could choose to convert your existing car to run partially on hydrogen on-demand, electric or biodiesel fuels.

This week brought news of a new device designed to help save gas in a different way. While the device itself doesn’t alter the way your car performs, it is suppose to alter the way you drive. It made me think of another device that’s been on the market a while that has the same goal, but comes at it from a totally different direction. One is a must have tool and the other is, at least to me, just plain weird.

Let’s start with the weird. This is one of those things that I may change my mind about if I ever get a chance to use it a few times, but I really doubt it.

One of the biggest things you can do to improve your gas mileage and save money at the pump is to slow down. The EPA will tell you that you’ll lose 5% fuel efficiency just going from 55 to 60 mph.

Well Nissan Motors wants to help you keep that 5% in your pocket. They announced on August 4th that beginning in 2009, they’ll be offering cars equipped with a new gas pedal that will help you do it. It looks like every other gas pedal you’ve ever ignored in your car, but it doesn’t act like any other. With this gas pedal, when you apply pressure beyond a certain point, it pushes back! In addition, a small device attached to your dashboard will also begin blinking colored lights to further remind you that you’re going too fast.

Sorry, but to me that’s just a little too much. While I admit I’ve gotten used to — and actually appreciate — the Little “ding, ding” chimes that remind me that a door hasn’t been properly shut, this goes beyond that level of reminder. This is more like the plans (that I think were scrapped) to have a soothing female voice intone that your door was opened, or your seat belt was unbuckled, or your teeth were un-brushed, or … you get the idea.

There are also times when you need to speed; when you need every inch of that gas pedal to accelerate fast enough to cut off that other jerk of a driver (just kidding) or safely merge into traffic. I admit I have not had a chance to experience the Nissan pedal, but I would be curious to know how it will react in those situations.

On the wonderful side of the coin, there is a device that I love and can’t recommend highly enough. I consider it a must have in my war against high gas prices. Since I’ve already admitted I don’t like giving up control of my driving, it’s no surprise that I would love a device that gives me even more control when I’m behind the wheel.

Since I started practicing some of the hypermiler techniques I’ve talked about (and I’m getting much closer to completing a step by step guide to the best practices I’ve adapted for you), I’ve used this device to help me develop good fuel efficiency driving habits.

The Scan Gauge II is a mini computer that plugs in under the dashboard of your car (1996 or newer) and can be velcroed anywhere that works for you. It will give you a readout of 37 different engine systems, but the one to keep your eye on is your current miles per gallon. I have a little lip in front of my gas and rpm dials so my Scan Gauge sits right there where my eyes are trained to look for important info.

The gauge tells you how much gas you’re burning at a glance. When I’m doing that death defying dive onto the expressway, out of the corner of my eye I see how much my mileage is dropping. Once I even out my speed and get back to the best practice of maintaining steady low rpms, another glance tells me I’m going to go a lot further before I need to fill up again. Checking the gauge now and again has helped me establish, and keep, better gas mileage driving habits. …without an obnoxious backseat driver , er …underfoot.

You can get your Scan Gauge here and the shipping is free

Of course you’ll need to go to your nearest Nissan Motors dealer if you’d rather have your gas pedal fight back. I have no idea how effective that will be for you, but I can guarantee that it will cost you many thousands more.

No more. Now we know that all an idling car is doing it burning your gas and getting you no where.

As obvious as that may seem to some people, there are many more “obvious” gas saving measures that are ignored everyday. This video includes many of them. I hope to share the project I’ve been working on that will help you put together what you learn here about monitoring and measuring your miles per gallon with driving tips and techniques that can significantly improve your mileage within two months. That makes now a great time to make sure the basics are covered. Thanks to Saab for putting them all together in a way that isn’t too salesy too.
Duration : 0:3:21

[youtube uasz15DCvq4]

If you’d like more tips like these, please sign up below to receive our blog newsletter. As a bonus, you’ll receive “62 Ways To Save Money At The Gas Pump” an eBook being sold elsewhere on the web for up to $19.95.

WE HATE SPAM and will never share your address.

What’s not quite so heartening is the fact that so many more of us seem content to wait the 5, 10 or 15 years it may take to get a major automaker’s attention, interest, and committment to turn this sort of a home-designed car into a production vehicle.

http://www.afstrinity.com Title: “Hybrid car of the future” Aired: January 11, 2008 on CNN Description: CNN’s Greg Hunter takes a sneak peek at our ‘extreme hybrid’ car that gets about 150 miles per gallon. 150 miles per gallon SUV. DIGG IT @ digg.com/autos/150_MPG_Extreme_Hybrid_SUV_Unveiled Find out more at http://www.afstrinity.com Visit or newly launched FAQs if you have questions!
Duration : 0:3:47

[youtube v09_uTp08zg]