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power is needed. If you're serious about saving fuel, stick to near the speed limit.

GO LIGHT ON THE GAS PEDAL
You might be thinking, "Didn't he just say to go the speed limit? Isn't that the same thing?" Well, no, it isn't. Having a light touch on the gas pedal means accelerating smoothly, and then when up to speed, trying to keep consistently light pressure on the gas pedal. You'd be surprised how slight variations in pressure on the gas pedal wreck fuel economy while offering no benefit in speed.

Hard to believe? You can prove this for around $150 by getting a useful device called the ScanGauge II. Among other things, it features an instantaneous MPG reading. You'd be amazed how slight pressure changes on the gas pedal knock fuel economy down by 2-3 MPG with absolutely no speed advantage.

So this is as simple as I can make it: accelerate smoothly up to your cruising speed and then try to hold your foot steady. Your fuel economy will climb.

LOOK UP AHEAD
And speaking of driving smoothly, the biggest ally you'll have in pursuit of this goal is to keep an eye out for what's coming up ahead. There's no sense in hurrying to a light that is about to turn red. Simply taking your foot off the gas and coasting to it will save fuel. The ultimate is to time the lights and traffic on a commonly traveled route so you don't need to stop.

COMBINE TRIPS
Some conventional knowledge states that combining trips doesn't actually improve your fuel economy, rather it just results in less overall fuel usage. I see the point, but there is more to the story. Unless your vehicle quickly gets up to temperature on every little trip you take, you will likely average significantly lower fuel economy than if you had combined a few trips where the majority of the driving was at peak operating temperature. Anyone who lives in cold regions knows how a couple of short trips in the dead of winter can put the MPG whammy on an otherwise efficient tank-full of driving.

MY STORY
I followed these tips just before a 1,000-mile round trip recently on a 2003 Chrysler minivan. The factory highway rating of 24 MPG was surpassed considerably with mileage as high as 31 MPG. Really all I did was pump up the tires, remove the roof rack crossbars and set the cruise to the speed limit.

My other vehicle, a 2006 Jeep Liberty, is only supposed to return about 16 MPG in the city/20 on the highway according to the government's latest test criteria. I routinely get 19-20 MPG in the city and around 24 MPG on the highway by doing nothing more than pumping up the tires a little, combining trips and keeping an even foot on the gas while cruising. That's it. I'd love to get a similar 17-25% return on my investments.

Learn more about this author, James Michael.
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