For most cars these days, buying higher octane gas is a waste of your money. Regular unleaded has approximately 87 octane already and is fine for your vehicle. For some unknown reason, several people I know personally just refuse to believe this, and I have no idea why.

True, there are some cars out there that are either over-engineered, poorly engineered, or have had too much in the way of after market modifications done to them, and do require higher octane fuels (mainly so they won’t “ping”), but if you drive an average late model car, check the fuel specifications in the owner’s manual – could be you’re throwing away hundreds of dollars a year on octane points you don’t really need.

High octane gas is always more expensive at the gas pump, so the next time you need to fill up, give regular gas a try (if your owner’s manual doesn’t specify premium) no harm will come to your vehicle.

If you do decide to try a lower octane gasoline, and your engine pings so bad it sounds like a machine gun, you can always cut your losses and buy an off the shelf octane booster from your local auto parts store, or “mega mall”, and ad it to your ill-fated tank of gas.

Octane is simply a measurement of how difficult it is to ignite the gas in your car, and has nothing to do with the quality of the gas. If you are experiencing engine pings, rattles, or knocks you can switch back to high octane gas.

However, if your owner’s manual does state that your car will run fine on “regular” octane gasoline, you shouldn’t be experiencing any of those knocks and rattles if you are keeping your vehicle maintained and making sure that you don’t miss those scheduled maintenance checkups.

If you’re driving a newer car that’s “regular-ready”, you definitely shouldn’t hear pings or knocks. If you do, get your vehicle to a mechanic ASAP.

The average fuel economy of new cars and trucks in the United States and Canada has increased by over 130 percent for cars and 75 percent for trucks.

This means a great savings to you at the gas pump since you are driving a much more efficient vehicle that you were several years ago. However, this doesn’t mean that you should ignore the cost saving tips in this e-book.

Hopefully, you are currently driving a fuel efficient car and want to squeeze even more miles per gallon out if it. It can, and should be done. Take back a little of what the gas companies have been taking from you for all these years.

Just as they are entitled to get whatever the market will bear for each gallon of gas, you are entitled to save whatever you can for that same gallon of gas. It’s your money; spend it how you see fit, not how they see fit.

Saving money on your gas bill (or anything else for that matter) is kind of like saving money on taxes. You’re entitled to do it but not that many people seem to be concerned about saving that’s rightfully theirs.

Only 15 percent of the fuel that you put into your car gets used for its intended purpose, and the rest of the energy is lost for many reasons. It is important to maintain your car and have an understanding of how your vehicle operates. 

If this information is foreign to you, you may consider taking a basic mechanics course to gain some knowledge. Not necessary mind you, and you never actually have to work on your own car, but it will help you understand it better. 

The more that you understand about the way that your vehicle runs and what it takes to properly maintain it, the more success you will have when it comes to taking steps to take to start saving money.

Now, if only 15 percent of the fuel that you pay for gets used as intended, that means you need to be absolutely certain that the condition in which your car is running is set up for maximum efficiency.

In addition to a mechanics course you may be able to find fuel saving tips that are available through a small mini-course at your local college, through magazines such as Popular Mechanics, Car and Driver, as well as others.