by Jon Ferguson

Created on: December 12, 2011   Last Updated: December 17, 2011

With today's gas prices, it is in your best interest to make your car as fuel efficient as possible.  Any car or truck fuel efficiency can be improved; you need not trade your car for a more efficient one.  Your family sedan might never be as efficient as a hybrid but you can improve it and, in doing so, put a few dollars back into your pocket.

Believe it or not the biggest determining factor in your gas mileage isn't your car, it's you!  The way you drive your car can have a huge impact on its mileage.  Most modern cars have a very accurate computer that shows their gas mileage.  If the sticker on the car says it gets 24 miles per gallon, by adjusting your driving habits you can routinely get 33 miles per gallon!  Here are some tips to improve your mileage.

*Don’t drive angry.  It's safer for everybody and a calm happy driver will drive smoother and more efficiently.  One drives smarter when listening to sedate music.  The more hyper the music, the faster they drive and the more gas burned.

*Accelerate to your cruising speed gradually not rapidly.  Quick acceleration wastes a lot of gas.  Quick acceleration also creates more wear and tear to your car.

*Planned acceleration.  It burns more gas accelerating uphill than accelerating downhill.  If you want to speed up it is smarter to wait till you are rolling downhill than on the uphill leg.

*Find your car's sweet spot.  Many cars get the best mileage at 55 miles per hour.  Each car is different so take a little time and figure yours out.

*Don’t speed. No point in saving money on gas only to pay a heavy traffic fine.  Also the faster you go the more air pressure your car has to move out of the way to go down the road.  A slippery aerodynamic car is better at this than square bread truck.  But if you drive slower a square truck can get pretty good mileage because at slow speeds aerodynamics don't matter as much.  Also slower speeds place much less strain on your engine and help it to last longer.

*Plan your route.  If you know your car gets the best mileage at 55 miles per hour you should try to stay on roads that have this as the posted speed limit.  The interstate is generally the most efficient way to travel but if the posted speed is 70 you might actually do better on a state road.

*Avoid braking.  Have you ever seen a person accelerate

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