Summer Driving Tip:Checking Tire Pressure Can Save $200 in Gas!

One of the quickest ways to rob a car of efficient gas consumption is to neglect the tires. There are a number of different ways tires can affect your car's fuel saving performance. Making sure you are riding on properly inflated tires is probably the easiest way to save money on gas.

According to statistics provided by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Information Administration, the Possible savings of avoiding under inflated tires is between $100.00 to $200.00 per year depending upon how much you drive and how under inflated your tires may be.

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.

Driving a car with just one tire under inflated by (8 psi) or 20% can lower the car's fuel efficiency by 4%. In addition under inflation may reduce the life of the tire by more than 9000 miles. Tires are permeable. That means that air can and does pass through the tire walls. A tire could lose up to 2 pounds of pressure per month. This is more important in summer as more air permeates through the tire in hot weather as the pores in the tire material get larger in the heat.

When a tire is under inflated, the sides of a tire bend and flex too much. This builds up heat. As stated earlier heat can accelerate air loss in tires. So an under inflated tire will continue to lose air at an increasing rate.

Under inflation also causes the tire to increase rolling resistance which also increases fuel consumption. In addition under inflated tires can cause serious damage to the tire walls can lead to sudden tire failure.

You should make it a habit to measure the air pressure in your tires at least once every month. When you measure your tire pressure the tires need to be cold. A tire on a car is considered "Cold" if the car has not been driven more than 1 mile or the car has been sitting still for at least three hours.

Keep a pressure gauge in your car and check the tires often. By maintaining your tires at the correct inflation levels you could save between $100.00 and $200.00 per year in fuel. Of course in addition to saving gas, maintaining the correct tire pressure could also prevent tire damage that could lead to serious accidents.

Scott Siegel has written a 143 page manual of automotive industry insider information on saving gas and money at the gas pump. Visit us to learn how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
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