Useful Money-Saving Tools

Now that you're informed on maintenance to keep your car running with its optimal MPG, and we've gone over some gas-saving driving tips - let's see what other useful tools their are for maintaining your best gas mileage possible.

Any smart phone will have some sort of MPG calculator application. If you’re not a smart phone user, use this website, which is just an online MPG calculator. If you're thinking of purchasing a new car, this site will let you enter in your current vehicle's gas mileage information alongside your vehicle of interest and will show you how much money you will save (or not save) by switching to that particular vehicle.

The iTunes app store has a few useful applications as well, the three most popular are Car Minder Plus, which keeps logs of your maintenance schedule and tracks your fuel economy; Gas Buddy (also available for the Android), which uses your current location to find the cheapest gas near you when you're ready to fill up; and Gas Cubby, which like Car Minder Plus reminds you of needed maintenance and gas mileage.

If you're not an iPhone user, you can also check out Vermont gas prices by visiting this website (powered by Gas Buddy), which has a list of every gas station in Vermont and their real-time prices. For any tips, tricks or advice, feel free to visit fueleconomy.gov for more information – they have material on just about anything concerning fuel economy.

Thank you for reading up on our advice, tips and tricks regarding fuel economy. We hope you've learned a few things, and don't forget to head to our Service Center to receive your complimentary inspection and utilize your maintenance coupon!


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Image 3 via Byford Buick

How to: Drive to save the most money possible

There are many things that lead to lesser fuel economy, but I can tell you there is one huge killer – bad habits. Don’t get me wrong; being heavy on the gas pedal doesn’t make you a bad person, but it’s definitely affecting your gas mileage. So what driving habits can you fix to save money? Here are your best bets:

1. Lose the lead foot – the contender already mentioned above is also one of the worst. Going at slower speeds it better for your fuel economy in general, but we understand that’s not always a possibility. So try not to accelerate too quickly, go more slowly up hills and coast to that stop sign instead of accelerating before the stop.

2. Gear up – If you have a manual transmission, try to keep it in a higher gear, this makes your engine rev less and helps you save gas (if you have an automatic with overdrive, it’s the same idea).

3. Brake less – Just like your car needs energy to accelerate, it also needs that same energy to stop. Try to anticipate stops; don’t speed up on a green light when you’ve got another red one ahead. Try to accelerate slowly and coast to the next stop.

4. Shed the extra pounds – Any extra weight in your car adds to the cost of driving, so clean out your interior to make your car lighter and more functional! Also, if you have a roof rack you’re not using, take it off – it can be costing you up to 5 percent in fuel economy by creating an aerodynamic drag.

5. Don’t idle for more than 30 seconds – People always say it uses more gas to start a car than to idle; not true. Your miles per gallon are actually in the negative when you’re idling because you’re using gas, but achieving zero distance. It’s said that re-starting your car uses the same amount of gas as six seconds worth of idling – so if you’re idling for more than six seconds, shut it off.

6. Lay off the AC – of course there comes a time of year when AC is a necessity, but there are also times that people use it when it’s simply not needed. Not using your air conditioner can improve your gas mileage by 10-20 percent! Keeping your windows open on the highway is just as bad, however, so when it’s hot your options are pretty slim. What do we recommend? Use your AC on the highway, and roll those windows down in town.

7. Same goes for the heat – your heater works like a second radiator, meaning it can over-cool your engine in the winter, decreasing your gas mileage.

8. Keep your gas cap tight, park in the shade and fill your tank up when it’s cooler – all of these tactics are used for the same reason; gas evaporates. First, if your gas cap is open even slightly, the air that’s getting in your tank can cause your gas to evaporate. Warm temperatures also evaporate gas more quickly, so make sure to park in the shade in warmer weather (this will also help with the need for AC). The reason you should fill your tank when it’s cooler (early morning or evening) is because cooler temperatures increase the density of gasoline, and gas stations charge you for volume, not density – meaning you’ll actually get more gas per gallon just from filling up in cooler weather.

9. Cruise Control – Some say it’s better to use, some don’t. This really depends on where you’re located. However, strictly Vermont-speaking, our hilly highways make cruise control unfavorable. If you use it out of driving preference, no problem, just don’t use it to save money.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - Useful Tools, which will contain some apps, websites and resources you can use to help maintain better gas mileage!



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How to: Save as Much Money as Possible, and Keep Driving

Even if you’re not struggling to afford gas prices, there’s nothing favorable about paying a ton of money to fill your tank. There are always options to drive less, but some people just can’t drive less and need to travel in their own vehicles. Here are a few regular maintenance tips that will improve the miles you’re getting per gallon, and we’d be more than happy to help you with them at Twin City Subaru Service.

1. Tire Pressure – your tires need to sit nicely at the right pressure; both too little and too much can be dangerous, but the suggested amount of air in your tires will help boost your fuel efficiency and smooth your ride. If you’re not sure how much air your tires need, it should be on the driver’s side door or in the owner’s manual. It’s said that having the right amount of air pressure in your tires alongside having them properly aligned can improve your gas mileage by 10 percent. When your alignment is off, you have to redirect your car, which takes energy for you as well as your vehicle (not to mention, both of these affect the lifetime of those not-so-cheap tires!). “Car tires are like bicycle tires, the less air you have in them, the more energy it takes to go anywhere”

2. Using the Right Grade Oil – Like tire pressure, your vehicle has a specific oil grade that can be found in the owner’s manual. Using a thicker grade than recommended takes up more of your vehicles energy to get through, so you need to make sure you’re using the proper kind. Using oil of the right viscosity can improve your gas mileage by up to 2 percent. There are also oils that say “Energy Conserving” and have friction-reducing additives to improve your mileage even more.

3. A Clean Fuel Injection System – Basically, the fuel injector is an electronically-controlled valve that determines the amount of fuel that goes into the engine based on how long it stays open. The more efficiently this works, the better your fuel economy (5).

4. Oxygen Sensor – this sensor is what tells your engine’s computer how much fuel it needs. When your sensor needs to be replaced, it sends false signals to the computer, which in turn sends more (unnecessary) gas to the engine.

5. Spark Plugs – When anything needs replacing in your ignition system, it means one or more of your vehicle’s cylinders may not be firing properly. This means gas is wasted and goes out of the exhaust while other cylinders are forced to use more and pick up the slack, taking more energy and gasoline, thus reducing your fuel economy.

6. Brake Repair – anything that’s off with your brakes can cause your vehicle to use more energy to assist it in braking. Not only should your brakes be up to par for better fuel economy, but for safety too!

Twin City Subaru Service
at (877) 356-0790

7. Most Important: Regular Maintenance – with regular maintenance, your service technician will be able to see things that are going wrong with your vehicle that you may never even know were there! Service technicians are trained to see anything even slightly out of the ordinary, and they can give your car a boost you didn’t even know it needed.

Head to our Service Center online to book an appointment, and don't forget to book your free inspection, and use your coupons for $25 dollars off of cabin air filter service, as well as 10 percent off of all parts and labor.

Stay tuned for Monday's post, Maintenance is Done, What Next? Which will focus on ways you can drive that will improve your fuel economy and keep more money in your wallet.



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Image 2 via Danny's Family Car Wash
Image 3 via LIC Motorsports
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Image 5 via Auto Repair Shop Secrets

What Exactly Is Fuel Economy?

First off, if you missed our post yesterday, which featured Subaru's National Car Care Month, coupons and your free inspection, click here to view it first!

Now let's get started. There are two ways to measure fuel usage. The first is by consumption, or the amount of fuel per distance that you’re using. The second is fuel economy, which is determined by output per input; the distance traveled per unit of fuel used – also known as miles per gallon (MPG). Another measure that relates to consumption and economy is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by the combustion process in a vehicle. This is why when you see fuel economy ratings on vehicles, the ratings typically mention both miles per gallon and CO2 emissions. The latter determines the real desirability of the said miles per gallon in a specific vehicle. Unless they’re 100 percent electric, all vehicles emit CO2, a greenhouse gas that is one of the largest contributors to climate change. We can’t control that just yet, but we can control is how much we’re emitting.

So why is it so important? There are a few reasons, but the two biggest are the environment and your wallet. The environment is of course the most important thing to protect, but your wallets are as well, so we can’t forget those. Less than four years ago we were paying a mere $1.61 per gallon, which came directly after the price spike in 2008 that asked for $4.12. Today, prices are at roughly $3.87 per gallon, depending on where you go for gas – which means we’re looking at prices that are dangerously close to the all-time record of 2008.

How do you protect your wallet? Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, How-to: save your money and keep driving.


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Enjoy Your Free Inspection in Honor of National Car Care Month

It’s National Car Care Month, a month dedicated to assisting motorists in learning the benefits of regular maintenance on their vehicle. Winter can be a rough season for your car, and summer may lead to many drives, so April is the perfect time to get your vehicle checked for the coming months.

Twin City Subaru wants to lend a hand with this. During the month of April, we’d like to invite you to come in to have one of our Certified Subaru Technicians check over 50 key maintenance areas on your vehicle, and provide you with a complete report on any service or repairs that may be needed. No obligations – just a routine check up for the car you love.

An issue that has been knocking on the door of all vehicle owners in the U.S. is continuously-rising fuel cost. We want to help with that too. We can’t lower gas prices, but we can help you maintain your vehicle to the point where it will achieve the best fuel economy possible, and we can also give you some driving words of wisdom to help you achieve your best fuel economy too. And what better way to lend a hand than to give you coupons for that MPG-boosting maintenance?

Twin City Subaru offers the following coupons for the month of April. So come on down and get your vehicle checked and your fuel economy improved. And stay tuned for tomorrow's post: What is fuel economy (in layman's terms)? and the following posts on maintenance & driving tips, useful tools and the future of fuel economy.

Coupons:

• $25 off cabin air filter service: fresh air for you and your Subaru!
• 10 percent off all parts & labor on any inspection-recommended repair or service

(Simply call Twin City Subaru Service at (877) 597-2612 to make a reservation)

Could This Be the Future BRZ? ...STI?

Edmund's Inside Line put together a piece on where they think the BRZ will go in the near-ish future. They had quite a few angles, including a Scion FR-S Time Attack and TRD FR-S (all of which you can view by clicking here), but my favorite was the BRZ STI (pictured).

According to Edmund's, the BRZ STI would have all of the good WRX gear, with 19-inch alloy wheels and 295-horsepower.

We'll have the BRZ soon, but we do have some WRX STI vehicles on hand, click here to check 'em out!

A Glimpse of the 2013 Subaru Legacy

Subaru is planning the debut of the 2013 Subaru Legacy at this year's New York Auto Show. The all-new Legacy will feature Subaru's new driver-assist EyeSight system, which uses two cameras placed high on the windshield with a purpose of fusing adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking and vehicle lane departure warning.

The choice is yours between a six-speed manual transmission and Lineartronic CVT, both equipped with the Subaru BOXER engine. Exact fuel economy projections aren't available just yet, but Subaru is estimating 24 mpg city and 32 mpg on the highway.

There are many more exciting features that will be available on Limited and Premium models, such as wood trim, multi-information display, Keyless Access & Start system, Bluetooth handsfree phone capability and much, much more.

If you can't wait for the new one, we understand. Feel free to view our current new and used Legacy inventory online, and we'll keep you updated on when they'll be arriving at Twin City.


Click here to view the full article, and to see the full list of features included on all models.


Image and information via Sports Car Illustrated.