Using synthetic motor oil in your vehicle is one way to affect savings, which even if small, eventually add up substantially. Truck drivers, and owners of commercial vehicles and fleet owners can affect substantially significant savings on fuel use and maintenance of their vehicles. Questions relevant to the subject are:

• How does one actually save on fuel by the use of synthetic lubricants and synthetic motor oil?

• What are the kinds of savings that can be affected with their use as against lubricants from petroleum based products?

• What other advantages can one expect with the use of such products?

When the engine of a vehicle is not working to optimum capacity, it consumes more fuel. Whatever be the lubricants used, petrol-based or synthetic, they too have a life and with time lose their viscosity and thereby their lubricating quality. When they are fresh their lubricating quality or viscosity is also high and any vehicle engine will work to its highest levels of efficiency. Lubricating quality reduces over time because of the heat produced when a vehicle runs. Burning of fuel by any vehicle and its efficiency is directly proportional to the viscosity of lubricant used.

The slight edge that synthetic motor oils have over petroleum based lubricants is their ability to retain viscosity over a longer period and this directly affects the running of an engine, reducing fuel consumption

When changed properly and regularly, synthetic lubricants protect the engine from wear and tear increasing its life, and also helping it to run to optimum efficiency longer. Considering all this in relation to the life of a vehicle means economizing on fuel usage and thus saving money on diesel or gas.

Some other savings are as follows:

Per unit cost of synthetic motor oils is more than their petroleum-based counterparts. But with longer intervals between oil changes they can help to offset the amount spent initially on oil. While this could be twice of thrice the cost of petroleum-based lubricants, the oil change interval is as much as 35000 miles as compared to 3000 to 5000 miles that is normal for conventional oils. In short even though synthetic lubricants cost thrice as much as conventional oils, they can affect savings up to seven times more, because they last that much longer!

Any vehicle owner of truck driver saves on overall cost plus the cost of oil change too! The period between oil changes when using synthetic lubricants ensures their longer viscosity helping the engine to operate longer at maximum efficiency levels when compared to the loss of efficiency several times when petroleum based products are used, as these lose their lubricating ability over many cycles.

Most of us today look beyond the money spent on lubricants and fuel because we are environment conscious. Bear in mind that petroleum is getting scarcer and is not renewable, whereas using synthetic oils means reducing maintenance costs, keeping a vehicle’s efficiency high and permitting use of a product that is not petroleum dependent.

Many believe that using indigenously prepared synthetic oils can reduce America’s dependence on oil from foreign countries and make political or economic statements to that effect.

Users of single vehicles will not be much affected by this; not as much as those who run a business that extensively uses vehicles like fleet owners, lawn mover or chainsaw operators, truck drivers and RV owners. They can effectively influence others and create awareness about synthetic lubricants to save more on fuel and keep vehicles and tools in good condition, while ensuring their longer life and efficiency.

Have you given a thought to the tires of your vehicle in order to increase mileage and save on gas? It helps slightly if the tires are properly inflated and you also get a safer ride in greater comfort. Have you heard of using nitrogen to inflate your tires?

This is the latest ingenuity on the automobile scene. Auto racers like NASCAR often use nitrogen in place of air to inflate the tires of the racer cars because of the several advantages it offers. Better mileage is the least of them. Using nitrogen can increase gas mileage by a sizeable five to fifteen percent at the nominal price of $3 to $5 without having to be anxious about the tires being inflated properly.

Air comprises of several other gases besides oxygen and nitrogen. Filling car tires with nitrogen can do away with the problems caused by the presence of oxygen. Air causes corrosion of steel and aluminum wheels. This causes leakage through the stems of valves, round tire beads and wheel flanges. Air also permeates through rubber; in fact it can escape from rubber even when there is no leak. Humidity present in the air also speeds up corrosion and rusting. These are the reasons why at times a tire wears an ‘exhausted’ look. The loss could be up to 2psi a month when you use air. The same amount of loss would occur in 6 months when nitrogen is used. Nitrogen helps to maintain better pressure in the tires and this helps to improve rolling resistance, give better tread and minimizes fuel usage.

Nitrogen filled tires will also remain cooler than air inflated ones and this helps to maintain a constant, steady air pressure that remains unaffected by fluctuating temperatures. This helps in the long run to improve the life of tires and gives better gas mileage to your car.

What exactly is the amount you can save with using nitrogen? This is a good question. Assume you are inflating the tires your cab pick-up with nitrogen and were till now getting an average of 15 miles per gallon. With nitrogen this will marginally rise to an average of 16 mpg. Not sizeable enough a saving, isn’t it? But with time this will prove substantial. If you pay as much as $3 per tire to fill nitrogen, four will cost you $12 and this will give you 6.66% increase in gas mileage. This means the same percentage of saving per gallon of gas bought. So if you are paying $3 per gallon of gas, it can help you save as much as $.20 for a gallon, effecting a saving of $3 for every 15-gallon fill up. In short you regain after every four fill ups. This will soon lead to your calculating the profits from tires filled with nitrogen!

If you wish to save on gas the best thing to do is to drive less. If that is not possible, improving gas mileage with tires that are nitrogen filled is the easiest way to get better mileage from your car.

1. Avoid too much acceleration and putting brakes suddenly as these affect mileage, damage the mechanics and waste fuel.

2. Drive at a constant steady speed. You can expect an average of 85-90 miles per gallon from an 80cc 4-stroke motorcycle. Cars cannot beat the fuel efficiency of a sports bike that can give something like 35 mpg because it is so designed and low in weight.

3. Cut down on unnecessary trips on your motorcycle.

4. Jot down changes in mileage that the bike offers.

5. If you use your motorcycle to go to work, avoid driving during peak hours when traffic is high. You can change your route to one that has lesser chances of traffic jams. Stop and start functions increase the fuel consumption of any vehicle.

6. Maintain a service record of the motorcycle.

7. If waiting at traffic lights or caught in a traffic jam, switch off engine.

8. Always go for good quality engine oil as impure oil can reduce fuel efficiency. Same rule also applies for gas.

9. Regular cleaning and servicing of the motorcycle keeps fuel efficiency at high levels.

10. Regularly checking the pressure of air in the tires helps avoid friction on roads. This reduces the use of acceleration power thus giving a better mileage to the vehicle.

11. Organize trips so that you can reduce the number of stoppages.

12. Highway travel offers roads that are flat, where it is easy to maintain a steady driving speed without unnecessary acceleration and this is a sure way to increase the mileage you get out of your motorcycle.

13. Avoid keeping the engine idling over long periods. This can be a drain on fuel.

14. Organize your routine so that you do not allow the engine to cool off too long before starting the engine again.
A cold engine consumes more fuel to warm up.

15. All these tips will keep your motorcycle in good shape and offer high fuel efficiency.

Some of the factors that affect fuel efficiency are the gas formula used, riding style and accessories used for the motorcycle. While calibrating a mileage chart for motorcycle fuel efficiency, remember that such factors can cause variations. Therefore, such a chart would only be a general guide as against accurate miles per gallon of the motorcycle.

Most motorcycles generally have a gasoline engine or an internal combustion engine. Some use a different type of fuel. Those that run on alcohol combustion are however not as efficient as those run on gasoline. Alcohol and gasoline are also used together as a combination fuel. Some motorcycles run on a diesel engine and work to 50% efficiency as compared to a gasoline run engine. The gasoline-run engine continues to enjoy the highest popularity because of its fuel efficiency.