We mentioned in the last post that maintaining the proper tire pressure is critical in getting favorable returns at the pumps.

Here is part 3 of the series on how to make your car more fuel efficient and save money.

Plan Your Route and Avoid Rush Hours

So you woke up late and have only 10 minutes to get to work? In order to achieve the impossible, you will have to skip breakfast, skip taking a shower, and press HARD on the gas pedal! Nothing wrong with that, but your car will consume MORE gas in the process–and you will still be late for work! Good luck reaching 50mph in rush hour traffic.

The trick is to wake up at least 30 minutes to 1 hour in advance in order to avoid the rush hour traffic.

After your work is done, you can choose to leave the office earlier than expected or wait at least an hour before heading to the streets.

Depending on the type of car that you drive, you can save anywhere from 10% to 30% in fuel expenses if you avoid rush hour traffic.

You see, the engine in your car suffers a lot of stress in stop-and-go traffic. Keeping your car idling for extended periods of time will also consume more gas than cruising at 40mph on the highway.

If your engine oil is dirty, or if the engine is not properly tuned, then the stress on the internal parts of your engine will be doubled.

With that in mind, you should plan your daily route. Avoid congested roads. City driving will yield lower fuel economy as your car will always stay in the lowest gear.

Avoid roads that have a lot of stoplights. Take the highway route as much as you can. Remember that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Measure the distance from your home to your office by using the trip odometer on your car. You will quickly see which road will yield the lowest distance between your home and your office.

Saving fuel is not a necessity. It is mandatory.

Think about it. Saving a small amount of gas each day will give you hundreds—if not—thousands of dollars of fuel savings each year.

If you currently own an older car, or a gas guzzling SUV, don’t you think it’s time to choose a more fuel efficient car?

Check out the latest new car prices and easily figure out the type of car that is right for your budget.

The bottom line is this: if you own a car that was engineered and designed to reach 40mpg, then you can do your part in saving the environment as well.

But making sure that the engine is in proper working condition is only the start. Here is the next tip on how you can cut down on fuel expenses.

Tip 2: Always Check the Tire Pressure

Admit it: when was the last time that you checked the tire pressure on your car?

If you have no idea on how much air pressure is recommended by the manufacturer, open the driver side door and take a look at the sticker found on the door jamb. You can also check the owner’s manual for the exact figure.

The U.S. Department of Energy can never be wrong. They said that maintaining the right tire pressure will help give you 3% better mileage. Furthermore, losing as little as 1 psi on all four tires will lower your gas mileage by 0.3%.

Also, using worn or bald tires will not only affect fuel economy of your car, but this is also dangerous. The car has a tendency to lose traction, especially on icy or wet roads. Driving with worn tires is dangerous.

Improper tire pressure will also reduce the useful life of your tires. This can also dent or crack your precious wheels if you run over a pothole.

How to Check the Tire Pressure

You can go a tire shop and let the professionals do their thing, or you can invest in a cheap tire pressure gauge to instantly determine the air pressure on your tires.

The air pressure can be measured in Kilopascals (kPa) or pounds per square inch (psi.) Different cars will require different air pressures. The air pressure will also depend on the size and width of the wheels and tires installed. It is good practice to maintain an average tire pressure of 30 psi or 206 kPa. Check your owner’s manual to be sure.

Remove the tire cap from the tire valve and insert the air pressure gauge. You will instantly get a tire pressure reading.

Do this on all 4 tires. If a tire is under the specified pressure, then simply add air.

Remember that too much pressure is also bad for your car. This can lead to early deterioration of suspension parts, and will also produce a hard and stiff ride.

More fuel saving tips in the next post.

Looking for a new or used car? Allow us to help. Request a free price quote and find the latest prices for both new and used cars, enabling you to save time and money in your car shopping.

Of course, your driving style and your driving habits will matter, too. But for those with older cars, or for someone who is just looking for ways on how to save gas regardless of the age of your car, read on and learn the easy tips on how to make your car more fuel efficient.

Tip 1: Tune Your Car!

Think of your car as a musical instrument–a guitar, for example. A guitar that is not tuned properly will produce weird sounds, regardless if the guitar was played by a professional musician or not. The same can be said for your car.

If your engine is not tuned according to factory specifications, if your suspension is not aligned, if there is something wrong with your intake and exhaust system, if you are not using the right type of gasoline for your car, heck–even if you make the mistake of using the wrong engine oil on your next oil change, then your car will be less fuel efficient than originally intended.

We know that fixing a car is not exactly an easy thing to do. Expert mechanics spent years honing their craft before getting it right. Yes, we are also aware that fixing or tuning a car costs money as well.

Think about this for a second: the small amount of money that you spend in tuning your car will give you fantastic savings in the long run. This will also make your car more reliable and less prone to breakdowns.

Facts about the Oil Change

It is important to make sure that you follow the maintenance procedures indicated on the owner’s manual of your car. If you drive an old car, then simply changing the oil every 3 to 4 months will make your engine run smoother, eliminating heat and friction inside the engine, thus making it more fuel efficient to drive.

When you change the oil, you should remember to change the oil filter, too. You can do it yourself and save tons of money on labor and parts, or you can consult your favorite car dealer for specific maintenance tasks on your car.

Change the Spark Plugs

You should also consider changing the spark plugs at least once a year. The spark plugs can be found on the top or on the side of the engine. Open the hood and check for the high-tension cables that relay electricity to the spark plugs inside your engine. Your car can either have anywhere from 4 to 12 spark plugs, depending on the engine. A car with a four cylinder engine will have 4 spark plugs, a V6 engine will have 6 spark plugs, a V8 will have 8 spark plugs and so forth.

The spark plugs produce the ‘spark’ that is needed to ignite the fuel and air mixture inside the combustion chamber. When the fuel and air mixture is compressed by the piston and is ignited by the spark plug, the ‘explosion’ that happens is responsible for the rush that you feel when you press on the gas pedal.

Changing or cleaning the spark plugs will remove accumulated dirt and debris on the plugs itself. New spark plugs will also produce a better ‘spark’, hence producing better power, more fuel economy, and cleaner emissions.

We will tackle more tips on how to make your car more fuel efficient in the next post. Driving an older car need not be a pain, but if you are currently searching for a replacement for your old car, you should look into the money saving new and used car deals offered by our free online quote. This service is safe, free, and a lot better than calling or visiting every car dealer in town.

Horsepower per Liter Comparison of a V6 and 4-Cylinder Engine

Horsepower per liter is only a small factor in determining performance. However, car manufacturers are putting more emphasis towards efficiency rather than pure pulling power. Remember that your car may have the biggest horsepower per liter figure among other comparable vehicles but this does not mean that your car is the fastest nor the most efficient.

Engine builders make sure to tune the engine towards achieving maximum power and torque with acceptable levels of fuel efficiency. Add to that the emissions factor of the engine and what you get is a tight balancing act between the three factors:

1. Power

2. Economy

3. Emissions

Let us again take the 2012 Hyundai Sonata SE 2.0T as an example. With a turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, the Sonata can achieve 274hp at 6,000RPM and reach 22mpg in the city and 33mpg on the highway.

This magnificent power plant produces a horsepower per liter rating of 137. This can be calculated as follows:

264 horsepower / 2.0-liters = 137.

The figure is higher than other comparable cars with larger V6 engines such as the Toyota Camry V6 and the Honda Accord V6. Truth be told, the Honda Accord’s V6, with 3.0-liters of displacement and an output of 271hp is only rated at around 90 horsepower per liter. Toe to toe, the Sonata’s engine is more powerful and more efficient. It burns cleaner, too. Even the Chevy Malibu, Nissan Altima and the Ford Fusion–all with V6 engines–pale in comparison to the horsepower per liter rating of the Hyundai Sonata.

Is this enough reason why you need to choose a 4-cylinder engine over a V6? Is the cost alone enough to justify the logic?

This will all depend on your driving habits and driving needs. City dwellers and urban yuppies will do better with a 4-cylinder engine. Why will you need the added oomph of a V6 if you are constantly crawling in city traffic day-in and day-out?

The point remains clear: as long as the car is not burdened by excess weight, a 4-cylinder engine will always be more economical to run than a V6. It is also cheaper to maintain. If you want an economical family car then a car with a 4-cylinder engine is more than enough for your needs.

Keep all this in mind before purchasing a new car and you are sure to get your money’s worth if you choose wisely. Remember that buying a new car is an investment. It need not be gamble.

But this does not necessarily mean that a car with a larger V6 engine is ultimately more powerful. Modern technology paved the way for modern metallurgy and higher engine tolerance rates. This means that through the utilization of improved engine metals and engineering techniques, a smaller 4-cylinder engine can even match or surpass the power output of a larger V6.

What You Need to Know When Choosing an Engine on a New Car

Have you ever heard of power-to-weight ratio and horsepower-per-liter? True, complex calculations such as the ones mentioned are best reserved for drag racers or highly-tuned automobiles. Why should a regular driver even bother about power-to-weight ratio and horsepower per liter?

The answer is engine efficiency and fuel economy. An engine that is under powered will not only work harder in order to properly propel the car but it will consume more fuel as well. An engine with a better power-to-weight ratio will not only be more exciting to drive but is touted to last longer too (since it need not rev higher and create additional engine stress for proper motivation).

How to Calculate Power-to-Weight Ratio

Take for instance the 2012 Hyundai Sonata SE 2.0T. This car is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that develops 274 horsepower. The Sonata has a curb weight of 3,443 lb.

The power to weight ratio can be computed as follows: curb weight/engine horsepower

Using the data stated above, the power-to-weight ratio of the Sonata SE 2.0T is: 3,443/274 = 12.6

The ratio 1:12.6 means that the car utilizes 1 horsepower for every 12.6 lbs of weight.

Performing the same calculation on the 2012 Honda Accord EX-V6 with a 271hp 3.0-liter V6 engine, with a curb weight of 3558 lb, we come up with the following figure:

3,558/271 = 13.1

This means that the Accord has a power to weight ratio of 1:13.1, meaning that for every 1 horsepower, the engine will need to lug around 13.1 lbs. of weight.

The Hyundai Sonata wins in this regard since the smaller 4-cylinder engine only needs to propel 12.1 lbs. of vehicle weight for every 1 horsepower that it produces.

We will talk about horsepower per liter in the next post. Keep in mind that while this alone is not a guarantee of superior performance, it helps to know that new cars, even with a smaller 4-cylinder engine, are also capable of delivering inspired performance along with better fuel economy compared to those with a larger V6.

However, cost will be a critical factor in the car shopping experience. It is a common fact that new car prices are slated to increase each year (not entirely the fault of the car maker as they, too, will need to compensate for the rising costs of parts and raw materials.)

And we don’t mean the cost of the car alone, but running costs as well. What’s the use of buying or leasing a brand spanking new Cadillac Escalade if you will have to sacrifice grocery money for fuel expenses? It is pointless!

Choose a V6 or 4-Cylinder Engine?

Popular midsize sedans such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord all come with 4-cylinder engines on the base model. Both have the option of a more powerful yet thirsty V6 engine. Some will argue that the V6-powered Honda Accord is a better option as the fuel economy is almost the same as the smaller 4-cylinder.

True. The 4-cylinder Honda Accord can produce 33mpg/city and 34mpg/highway readings while the V6 model is able to produce 20mpg/city and 30mpg/highway. But consider the cost between the two models: the base model Accord, which is already sufficient for the average car buyer, is only $21,380. The V6 model is $27,280. You pay more money for the V6 and evidently get less fuel mileage as well.

The Chevrolet Malibu comes with the same option as well although the upcoming 2013 Malibu only comes with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine as standard. Chevrolet realizes that bigger is not necessarily better, and focuses instead on how to come up with small, powerful and fuel efficient 4-cylinder engines that produce ALMOST the same amount of power and torque as a lumbering V6.

We will talk more about this topic in the next post. In the meantime, try to find out exactly what you want in a new car so that you can determine whether the added option of a V6 is right for your needs. Of course, there are those who would rather have a lot of power on tap rather than have an under powered and underwhelming 4-cylinder.

Technology seems to provide the answer to all our automotive needs. Modern 4-cylinder engines will surprise you not only in the actual drive but in terms of fuel economy as well.

We need an equalizer. There is a reason why a diesel motor is NOT the preferred choice of sports car makers all over the globe. Sure, the Audi R10 diesel car managed to win the Le Mans 24 hours on the first try but there is yet a high performance diesel car from Audi as we speak (particularly the Audi R8 that is touted to be equipped with the same diesel engine as the Le Mans-spec R10.)

Without further ado, here are the top 3 reasons why a gasoline powered car is still better than a diesel car. Keep in mind that it will all boil down to preference as diesel cars have specific advantages over gasoline cars as well.

1. Diesel cars are more expensive.

To sum it all up, diesel cars are more expensive due to the nature of the engine. Technology has a price. All of those direct injection technology and variable geometry turbochargers come at a price. Diesel engines also need to be constructed from expensive and heavy metal parts. Diesel engines need to be durable and strong, as the high pressures and extreme temperatures inside the cylinder head can literally crack a weak metal apart.

2. Diesel cars produce less high-end power.

Gasoline cars have an edge when it comes to delivering a sporty and exciting driving feel. Listening to a well-tuned gasoline engine at full throttle is similar to listening to your favorite rock band. High end exotics such as Ferrari’s, Porsche’s and Lamborghini’s have been specifically engineered to deliver a crisp and snarling engine note.

Diesel cars, on the other hand, are somewhat uninspiring to drive. Don’t get us wrong, though! Wherein a gasoline powered car requires a higher rev range to deliver exhilarating power, diesel cars deliver instantaneous torque from the get-go. The marvelous wave of torque is evidently felt with only a slight dab of the throttle.

It all boils down to preference. If you are the type of driver who needs to hear a screaming engine to get your kicks then choose a gasoline powered car. If you are more of the relaxed type of driver then a diesel car may be the right thing for you.

3. Diesel cars are more expensive to maintain.

In other parts of the world, diesel fuel is slightly cheaper than gasoline. Here in the US, diesel fuel is more expensive than gasoline.

Diesel cars will also require more oil changes, including specific tuning procedures.

Spare parts for diesel engines are more expensive as well.

More to come on diesel cars soon. If you are thinking about buying a new car then try a free quote and find all the latest deals on diesel and gasoline cars.

There is a reason why diesel cars are extremely popular in Europe. Here are the top 3 reasons why you should consider a diesel for your next car:

1. Diesel cars produce fantastic low end torque.

Driving a diesel is different than driving a gasoline powered car. You will notice that you will get an immediate rush of torque from a very low RPM, whereas a gasoline powered car will start producing ruckus at a higher RPM.

What does this mean? This will benefit the driver in a number of ways, including:

a. smooth and immediate acceleration due to incredible amounts of low end torque.

b. increased fuel efficiency since the engine need not spin to a higher RPM just to produce power.

c. less efficiency loss, but this will depend on the engine and transmission tuning.

2. Diesel cars utilize the latest technological advancements in terms of maximizing engine performance.

Car makers now utilize a variety of ways in making diesel cars the big daddy in terms of performance. This will include:

a. Common rail direct-injection technology (CRDI) or a variation of other technologies.

b. Variable-geometry turbocharging.

c. Twin-turbocharging, or utilizing more than one turbos to deliver thrilling performance.

d. Transmission technology such as six or seven-speed gearboxes including dual-clutch automatic transmissions.

3. Diesel cars are perhaps the most efficient cars in the market, sometimes even better than a hybrid.

The U.S. Department of Energy properly classifies the Audi A3 TDI and the Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI as small station wagons but they are class-leaders in terms of fuel economy.

The Audi A3 TDI is a subcompact car that averages a combined 34 miles per gallon. The Volkswagen Jetta Sportswagen achieves a phenomenal 30 miles per gallon on the city and as much as 42 miles per gallon on the highway. It does not matter what other people say but those are phenomenal mileage figures to say the least.

More on diesel cars and diesel technology soon. If you are in the market for a new diesel car, you should take into consideration the price difference from a conventional gasoline-powered car in order to determine if a diesel car is indeed right or your needs and budget.

Tip 1: Avoid Getting Comprehensive Insurance on Used Cars

Sure, you love your car, right? But this does not mean that you should pamper your used car with a comprehensive insurance coverage. Kindly take note that we are not stating that you CANNOT get comprehensive coverage but we are more inclined to say that this is unnecessary for used cars that are over three to four years old.

If you can afford it, there is no reason why you should not pay a huge amount for comprehensive insurance. Just bought a used car in mint condition? Why not. As long as you are capable of keeping up with the payments then go ahead and spoil yourself silly.

Remember that you will need to consider the annual insurance cost and the value of the used car in order to determine if comprehensive or collision coverage is right for your used car. From a financial point of view, wait until you are driving a brand new car before deciding to splurge on insurance costs.

Tip #2: Increase the Deductible

Are you familiar with the deductible amount on your car insurance? This figure is the amount that you need to pay the insurance company in the event of an accident or collision. You can save anywhere from 15% to 30% on your car insurance if you simply request a higher deductible. For example, if your current deductible is around $150 to $200 then adjusting this to $500 to $1000 will help yield significant savings by as much as 45%.

Tip #3: Remain Loyal to Your Insurance Provider

If you presently have home insurance or health insurance then it is best to ask your insurance provider for their best vehicle insurance rates. Repeat customers or clients will usually be entitled to huge discounts or may be given a loyalty bonus for seeking numerous insurance services.

If you are not happy with the facts and figures that are presented to you then do not be afraid to say NO. It is best to ask for a free online quote in order to be presented with the average insurance rates in the market.

Want to find the best new or used car? Take the time to perform thorough research in order to find the best new car deals in your area.

For those who are looking for ways on how to further lower maintenance costs and insurance, here is part 2 of the series on how to make car ownership more memorable and friendly to the pocket.

Vehicle Maintenance

New Cars

If you just bought a new car then congratulations! Not only will you have to keep up with monthly payments for the next two or three years but you will also be paying for vehicle maintenance as well. True, brand new cars come with comprehensive warranties (and is the reason why cars with the longest warranties are highly coveted and should therefore be supported) but there are things that you will still need to pay during servicing.

Remember that as your car spends time at the service center, you lose the value of your time as well. Not to mention the stress of finding out that your car will have to spend an additional day or two at the dealer just because a certain spare part is momentarily out of stock.

Avoid such scenarios. Avoid putting yourself in a situation that is out of your control. Always adhere to the maintenance requirements of your car, whether if the car comes with a standard 10-year warranty or not. Read the owner’s manual or give the dealer a call if you are not sure. Ask them about specific maintenance updates and schedule your visit in advance.

Used Cars

Used cars are a different story. If you are unsure about the condition of the car that you wish to buy (or one that you have already bought because a friend insisted that it was a good deal) then it is best to bring the car to a mechanic you can trust. How do you find a trustworthy and honest mechanic that REALLY knows what he/she is doing? Ask around. Talk to friends who know about cars and ask them the best places to get affordable car repair.

When in doubt, you can always visit local car forums online. It is there that you can find a wealth of information pertaining to all the best repair shops and mechanics in your area. Remember that mechanics or technicians are capable of repairing any make and model of car but the really good ones focus on a particular brand/make alone.

More to come soon on the money-saving techniques that will help you pay less on car insurance and vehicle repairs. Interested in finding your next new or used car? Start your search here and find the lowest new and used car prices in the market.