As the price of gasoline hovers around the $4 mark, car owners of all shapes and sizes should do their part in order to minimize fuel consumption in their daily drive.

We mentioned in the last post that maintaining the proper tire pressure is critical in getting favorable returns at the pumps.

Here is part 3 of the series on how to make your car more fuel efficient and save money.

Plan Your Route and Avoid Rush Hours

So you woke up late and have only 10 minutes to get to work? In order to achieve the impossible, you will have to skip breakfast, skip taking a shower, and press HARD on the gas pedal! Nothing wrong with that, but your car will consume MORE gas in the process–and you will still be late for work! Good luck reaching 50mph in rush hour traffic.

The trick is to wake up at least 30 minutes to 1 hour in advance in order to avoid the rush hour traffic.

After your work is done, you can choose to leave the office earlier than expected or wait at least an hour before heading to the streets.

Depending on the type of car that you drive, you can save anywhere from 10% to 30% in fuel expenses if you avoid rush hour traffic.

You see, the engine in your car suffers a lot of stress in stop-and-go traffic. Keeping your car idling for extended periods of time will also consume more gas than cruising at 40mph on the highway.

If your engine oil is dirty, or if the engine is not properly tuned, then the stress on the internal parts of your engine will be doubled.

With that in mind, you should plan your daily route. Avoid congested roads. City driving will yield lower fuel economy as your car will always stay in the lowest gear.

Avoid roads that have a lot of stoplights. Take the highway route as much as you can. Remember that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Measure the distance from your home to your office by using the trip odometer on your car. You will quickly see which road will yield the lowest distance between your home and your office.

Saving fuel is not a necessity. It is mandatory.

Think about it. Saving a small amount of gas each day will give you hundreds—if not—thousands of dollars of fuel savings each year.

If you currently own an older car, or a gas guzzling SUV, don’t you think it’s time to choose a more fuel efficient car?

Check out the latest new car prices and easily figure out the type of car that is right for your budget.

The bottom line is this: if you own a car that was engineered and designed to reach 40mpg, then you can do your part in saving the environment as well.