Fuel Saving Tips

Drive in your Tallest Gear

Since fuel consumption is a function of RPM and engine load, driving in higher gear when possible is more efficient. In a manual transmission, you can up-shift at a lower RPM when not pulling a heavy load, resulting in better average fuel economy over the same vehicle with an automatic transmission. But if you have an automatic transmission, you can still control what gear you run in to some extent. By knowing where your shift points are, you can coax an up-shift by letting off on your accelerator slightly when reaching them. For example, on my commute, there's an area with a 35 mph speed limit and light traffic. If I accelerate up to 40, my transmission will up-shift to fourth gear instead of third, and I can slow back down to 35 and continue to run in fourth, with lower RPM (and fuel consumption) than third gear.