Start Your Car Only When You're Ready to Drive it.

The next time you get into your car and start it up, pay attention to how many things you do between starting the engine and actually pressing the accelerator to go and how much time those activities take. We're guessing you may be wasting gas without even realizing it and you can probably do better.

The longer your engine runs without moving your car closer to where you want to go, the more gas you waste. You can actually get better gas mileage and drive more efficiently by minimizing the number of seconds that pass between starting your engine and getting your car into motion. Toward that end, the more steps in your routine start-up process that you can do BEFORE starting your engine, the more gas and money you can save. Here are some things to consider doing before you even start your engine:

• Fasten your seat belt.
• Check that your passengers have fastened their seat belts.
• Perform your pre-drive safety checks and adjustments (seat position, steering wheel position, mirror positions, etc.).
• Put on your sun-glasses or driving glasses if needed.
• Check for any obvious obstacles to your motion including moving vehicles and pedestrians in your vicinity.

To put it simply, until you have done these and any other needed steps, and you can safely begin driving, starting your engine is pre-mature and will result in wasted gasoline. Government estimates vary, but we'll assume idling uses about .00015627 gallons per second.

Bottom Line:

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