Ways To Make Your Gas Tank Last

 

1. Clean Out Your Trunk

Trunk storage is handy but heavy items can weigh you down.We all know smaller cars get better gas mileage — but if you're weighing down your car with a set of golf clubs or an emergency water supply in the trunk, it'll take a toll on your fuel efficiency. A loaded roof rack, similarly, will increase weight but also cause aerodynamic drag, cutting mileage by up to 5%.

Every extra 100 pounds is estimated to cut a vehicle's mileage by 2%.

2. Keep Windows Closed

The more aerodynamic your vehicle is, the more open windows will cause a drag and impact your gas mileage's bottom line — up to 10%, a study found.

But, if you're moving at less than 45 mph, wind resistance shouldn't make a significant difference.
Can you compensate for closed windows with the air conditioning? Consumer Reports found a Honda Accord at 65 mph lost 3 mpg in gas mileage when running the A/C. Since you'll lose out either way, it may be a matter of opinion which luxury to go without.

3. Fill Up Your Tires

A reminder to keep up with routine maintenance carries more weight when it will save you money — and a stop by the air pump will do just that. Keeping your tires filled can improve gas mileage by 3% or more.

4. Drive a Steady (and Modest) Speed

Once you break 60 mph, you're losing fuel efficiency — 10% for every additional 5 mph.
Accelerating and hitting the breaks will eat up fuel as well, so if possible, avoid the road during rush hour or other times when stop-and-go traffic is likely.

5. Don't Buy Pricey Gas

It's been thought that premium gas gives cars better gas mileage, but it's untrue. Save money on gas by purchasing the grade that is recommended for your car — you won't benefit by spending more.
Additionally, avoid the gas station on days when prices are higher. If you’re running on empty, you may not be able to wait, but what if you could predict if gas prices will rise or fall tomorrow?

Fuelcaster™, the latest tech from Esurance, is the industry’s first gas price predictor. Enter your zip code on fuelcaster.com to see if gas prices will rise or fall tomorrow, as well as locate the cheapest fuel in your neighborhood.

Fill up when prices are low and you'll save money in the long run.

Credit to Mashable.com

Five Signs You Need Your Brakes Checked

Here are 5 ways to know that it is time to get your brakes checked or replaced!

1) Worn Pads: You'll have to estimate, but generally, your pads should be at least one-quarter of an inch thick. If they're any thinner than that, it's a good idea to get them changed.

2) Strange Sounds: One of the warning signs that your brakes need servicing can come from a small indicator in your braking system that emits a high-pitched squeal when your pads need replacing. And, while this sound is loud enough to be heard even when the windows are up, it might be tough to hear with Lady Gaga blaring from the stereo.

3) Pulling: Has your car ever felt like it has a mind of its own? As if it wants to make right- or left-hand turns while driving or braking? If so, this could indicate a problem with the braking system. Pulling, however, doesn't always indicate a problem with the brakes. The cause could also come from unevenly inflated or worn tires, poor alignment or a problem with your vehicle's suspension.

4) Vibrations: Generally, a vibrating brake pedal indicates warped rotors. Their uneven surfaces will thrum against the brake pads, and you'll feel the feedback through the brake pedal.

5) Temperamental Pedal: A mushy pedal, one that goes practically to the floor before engaging the brakes, could indicate worn pads or a problem with the hydraulic system, such as air in the line, an air leak or a brake fluid leak.

Courtesy of HowStuffWorks.com: http://bit.ly/1fEBTxd

Creative Ways To Keep Your Car Clean

Here are three simple tips to help maintain a clean car:

1. Use a cereal container for a trash can!

2. Use a shower organizer to keep a multitude of items in a safe spot, great for kids!

3. Use a water bottle to make your pizza box safe from potential disaster! Also, you can use your seat warmers to keep any hot meal good-and-ready. 

These Are Great Apps To Help Make Your Commute Shorter

We all know that Traffic Technology is evolving at the speed of light. Also, the moment you drive off the lot you might find out that some insane new technology just came out! For this reason, we’ve compiled the best apps you can download to help you save time on your work commute. It will help you avoid, accidents, traffic, police stops and radars or basically anything that will prevent you from getting home fast.




Garmin Street Pilot 

This expensive software with photo- realistic mapping and right-now prompts, which worked well even when you are cruising through rural areas without a cell signal. That detail and immediacy are the result of maps that live locally on your smartphone, not in the cloud. Another distinguishing feature is Garmin's awesome mass-transit database. The app can route you to the nearest parking garage and it will drop a virtual pin on the map to help you remember your car's location. It even knows the bus schedule and will help you find the nearest Bus/Metro/Ferry stop. Live traffic information is provided by Here and augmented by crowd sourced data.





Waze

Recently purchased by Google we still need to say, it's not Google Maps with added directions. The maps and routings are built by 50 million worldwide users. Traffic data in the U.S. is based entirely on the progress of "wazers" currently driving. These generous volunteers provide information on speed traps, accidents, and other road events, which fellow wazers confirm and update. But Waze needs an internet connection; lose service and most of the info is unavailable. The police and traffic warnings are highly reliable, and points-of-interest searches are augmented by larger databases such as Google, Yelp, and Foursquare. This is basically a game-changer in the Traffic Apps of the world.




Scout

This product comes from mapping- and traffic-service provider Telenav, so they know what they are talking about.In case you don’t know who they are, they are the inventors of In-Car Mapping systems. We like the layers of information that come with directions, such as weather forecasts. Two other features stand out: OnMyWay texts contacts that you're en route, and the Meet Up function lets multiple users see the others' progress in real time. Scout also acts as an event guide, with listings of movie times, concerts, and so on. In-app upgrades include speed traps and speed cameras. Like Waze, Scout's prompts may be a beat slower than those of Garmin's StreetPilot, but, hey—it's free! We also love that you can choose a monster truck as the icon for your car. Basically, this is a very contender! Don’t miss out on it.




Trapster 

Directions and traffic alerts aren't the only ways to improve your commute—apps can also help you steer clear of cops, drive green, or find a charge. For those averse to tickets and fines, Trapster uses voice prompts to flag red-light and speed cameras along with known speed traps. Data is crowd sourced from 20 million users, and accuracy is solid.

How To Keep Your Old Car Feeling New

The best thing about your old car is that you've already paid for it. Most of us grow tired of our used cars long before they're used-up cars. But money is tight for just about everyone, so why throw away a car that's running well just because it's feeling worn down, looking beat up and has lost some of its athleticism? Cars built in the last 10 or 15 years can go 200,000 or 300,000 miles if given the right care. And there are some simple ways to spice up your long-term automotive relationship without using up whatever is left on your home equity line of credit. What it takes first is the determination to re-commit.

 

1. Electronics - Even if your car is only a couple of years old, it's almost certainly got an outdated sound system. Trading an old radio head unit for one that integrates with an iPod, iPhone or satellite radio, and includes a Bluetooth connection for a cellphone, will shoot your car or truck into the present. You might also consider an Electronic GPS navigation system.

2. Let it breathe - Aftermarket intake systems and air filters don't work miracles, but they can open up an older engine's inhalation system and kick up output by a few horsepower.

3. Paint - Generally speaking, it's best to use touchup paint sparingly and carefully. However, you can easily remove plastic trim pieces on your car's exterior and repaint them with a spray can. It particularly makes a big difference on black parts that have weathered to a dull gray.

4. Revitalize the A/C - Your car's AC can suffer buildups of mold, mildew and bacteria. To clean out the system, first make sure the air coming into the system isn't first passing through leaves, dust or other accumulated grime in the air passageways. Then change or clean any filters in the system. Finally, use an air-conditioning deodorizer to finish things off.

5. Clear the lenses - Vehicles built during the last couple of decades usually have plastic composite headlamps that weather and dull over time. You can pick up a headlight restoration often for under $30, and they're easy to use. It only takes a few minutes to turn a dull, yellowed headlight clear—which makes your old car look nicer and instantly improves illumination.

The Year of The Horse

While the New Year (January 1st) is the one we are traditionally used to, another new year is a very important one amongst many around the world. That is the Chinese New Year. It is the Lunar New Year and the Chinese Year of the Horse.  The horse is part of a 12-year-cycle of animals that make up the Chinese zodiac.  These interact with the five elements: wood, fire, metal, water and earth.  2014 is the year of the wood horse.

The spirit of the horse is recognized to be the Chinese people's ethos – making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. It is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able. Ancient people liked to designate an able person as 'Qianli Ma', a horse that covers a thousand li a day (one li equals 500 meters).

Five Audiobooks Perfect For Any Drive

The Invention of Wings: A Novel 

Written by: Sue Monk Kidd

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
Summary: From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees comes a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women. Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world. Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Imperial Life in the Emerald City 

Written by: Rajiv Chandrasekaran 
Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
Summary: The Washington Post's former Baghdad bureau chief, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, takes us into the Green Zone, headquarters for the American occupation in Iraq. In this bubble separated from wartime realities, the task of reconstructing Iraq is in the hands of 20-somethings chosen for their Republican Party loyalty. They pursue irrelevant neoconservative solutions and pie-in-the-sky policies instead of rebuilding looted buildings and restoring electricity, angering the locals and fueling the insurgency.

Divergent, Book 1 

Written by: Veronica Roth

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue - Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is - she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

   

Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War 

Written by: Robert M. Gates

Length: 25 hrs and 42 mins
Summary: From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vivid account of serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House, he thought he'd long left Washington politics behind: After working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happily serving as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty.

Sycamore Row

Written by: John Grisham  

Length: 20 hrs and 50 mins  
Summary: Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly?