The Car Care Council has named October the “Fall Car Care Month”, which harps on the importance of basic and routine maintenance. Subaru of America recently endorsed the outfit and its Car Care Month and will be helping the cause in more ways than one. For the rest of the month, all Subaru dealers will participate in free vehicle diagnostic inspections in hopes of raising fuel economy. “Maintenance Preserves Gas” (MPG) Inspections will be conducted to show the importance certain systems have on fuel mileage.
“October is always a good time to prepare your vehicle for the demands of winter driving,” notes Gary Palanjian, vice president, service, Subaru of America, Inc. “And this year, the increased fuel efficiency that comes with a well-maintained vehicle is more important than ever.” If done, the inspections will cover a thorough once-over of all the vehicle’s operating systems. On top of that, the MPG Inspection will offer a written report and tips on how to improve miles per gallon. Some of those include:
- Check your tire pressure – properly inflated tires can improve mileage by 3 percent
- Change motor oil and oil filter regularly, to protect your engine
- Replace a dirty air filter and improve MPG by as much as 10 percent
- Check spark plugs – a misfiring plug can cut fuel efficiency by up to 30 percent
- Run engine diagnostics – fixing a faulty oxygen sensor alone can improve MPG by up to 40 percent
- Drive sensibly; avoiding jackrabbit starts and stops can increase fuel economy by as much as 5 percent
- Observe speed limits – fuel economy drops 2 percent for every mile per hour that you drive over 55
- Remove excess weight, and improve fuel economy by 2 percent for every extra 100 pounds you remove
- Avoid excess idling, since idling longer than 60 seconds uses more gas than stopping and restarting
- Use cruise control to maintain a steady speed, which can increase fuel economy by up to 10 percent
Source: Subaru
