There are so many simple and easy things you can do to improve your gas mileage. One of those simple things is to change your parking habits. Normally this is what you do when pulling into a parking lot.
You enter the lot and immediately head for the parking spaces nearest to the entrance to the mall or the store where you are going to shop. Usually there are not any parking spaces available near the entrance since everyone looks for the nearest spots like you. Now you do either one of two things or both. You drive up and down the closest rows to see if you can find a spot that is still close to the entrance or you sit and wait for a while to see if any cars will be pulling out of spaces near the entrance. Both of these behaviors will cost you gas mileage and will cost you money. When you sit and wait to see if anyone will vacate a space you are running your engine but not moving.
You are getting zero miles per gallon when you are sitting and idling like that. Alternatively if you are slowly cruising along the parking rows still hoping to find a close spot, you are burning fuel at a tremendous rate relative to the speed you are going. Inevitably you have to stop behind another car that is waiting or you stop at spaces that you think are opening up. Once again this causes you to idle and again you end up getting zero miles per gallon fuel economy. If you think that a few seconds of extra idling is not going to use much fuel, think again.
If you only spend 1 minute a day waiting for a parking space then you would roughly be burning fuel for 30 minutes or a half hour each month. At 30 minutes per month, you would be unnecessarily burning gas the equivalent of 6 hours per year. Now, would you ever consider leaving your car sit and idle in your driveway for six hours burning gas? Of course not. But that is exactly what you are doing with your current parking habits. In what way can you change your habits to prevent this wasteful burning of gas? You can improve gas mileage and stop burning extra fuel with this very simple and very easy solution.
Your goal should be to park far away from the store or mall instead of trying to park as close as you can. The farther away from the entrance you go, the more empty parking spaces you will find. If you head to the parking rows far from the entrance, as soon as you enter the parking lot, you should find a parking place right away.
By parking far away you save all the fuel you would have wasted waiting for and looking for a parking place close in. There is an another benefit to finding a parking place far from the entrance. Not only will you improve gas mileage and save money but you will get more exercise as you walk the additional distance from your car. It's great for your wallet and great for your body.
Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page manual of automotive industry insider secrets on saving gas and dollars at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to learn how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to improve gas mileage.
