Auto Maintenance-The Key To Better Performance

You never save anything by not servicing your car regularly. Like your body, your machine needs regular check up and that's the truth. You may try to avoid getting your oil changed or tire pressure checked regularly and you may think that you are being wise at saving your dollars, but the fact is old oil and wrong tire pressure can cost your car's performance badly. It will make your engine work more, generate heat and eventually take a dig on your gas.

What are the facts in this game? Let's look at a few.

A faulty spark plug affects your car's mileage adversely. It can save your up to 20% in mileage if you get rid of that faulty spark plug and get it replaced. Guess what it will actually cost you less in changing the spark plug than dragging a faulty one in a car that is not tuned.

The tires of your car should always be in the right pressure. If your tires are flat, it will drag the car on the road creating more friction and thereby increasing the amount of heat generated in your engine. You need to have the right tires for your car. These days the low rolling radial tires are said to be great for fuel economy. You must also keep you tires correctly aligned. This is guaranteed to improve your mileage by 3-4%. All car manufacturers provide the tire pressure necessary for your car in a sticker on your car door.

Don't take oil changing lightly! It can be very sticky if you do not maintain the oil in your car regularly. EC grade oil or energy conserving oil can help increase the performance of your car and so can 5W-30 oil type. This will increase the mileage in return. Research studies suggest that EC-rated oil increases the performance of your car and the mileage up to 1.5%. You will find the EC rating on the body of your oil can. The EC rating generally appears as EC-I, EC-II, etc.

Keep the octane right. Choose the right gas with right octane proportion. Your car may not require high octane as only few cars require premium grade oil. Octane does not improve your car's performance, it improves your performance only for premium grade motors. If yours is not one, then refrain from using premium grade oil.

Changing oxygen sensors at the right time is crucial to your car's performance. As per the Department of Energy, USA, "Replace clogged air filters" this can improve your car's gas mileage by as much as 10%, and it will also protect your engine". Today one-third of the vehicles on the road requires filter change, but most drivers choose to ignore that resulting in clogged air filters which overworks the engine.

So as you can see timely servicing will help your car clock those extra miles and at the same time give you good mileage. Fine tune your car's needs and rest assured that it will save your gas. Do not shy away from the service centers. Make special trips before change of seasons and whenever you predict long hours on road.