I came across these twice in the past few days – once on a pf site which i can’t remember for the life of me, and the other in this month’s Money Magazine – so I’m taking it as a sign to share :) Some of these i’ve fell for, and others are brand spankin’ new (and interesting) to me.

While i usually don’t know what to believe out there, I’m sure these “experts” know what they’re talking about. That’s actually a pretty cool job if you think about it – going around proving myths aren’t true! I wonder how much you get paid for that? They probably just go around asking experts in certain fields for their opinion….that makes more sense, but it’s not as fun to think about ;)

Anyways, it’s always good to separate a little fact from fiction, so here are the truths behind some of those gas-saving myths:

1. Gas up in the morning
I’ll have to admit i’ve never heard this one before, but it has something to do with fluids being more dense in colder temperatures. So if you fill ‘er up early on, you’ll get more “gas molecules” for your money. Apparently the temperature of the gasoline straight out of the nozzel doesn’t fluctuate much though, so it really doesn’t matter. Oh well, it was a good try!

2. Change your air filter
Now THIS one i hear alllll the time! In fact, i heard it 2 weeks ago when changing out my oil at one of those Lube Centers (which i LOVE btw, you’re in and out in 15 mins if you can beat the lines, and they check everything!) While changing your filter is good to do every now and then, the myth-busters say it doesn’t help on gas. “Modern engines have sensors that adjust the fuel-air mixture as an increasingly clogged filter chokes off the oxygen supply”. Huh. Interesting…unless you have an older car eh?

3. Use premium fuel
Same goes with this bad boy, your engine sensors can detect the lower-octane fuel and adjust accordingly. This only applies if the manual says premium gas is “recommended”. If it says it’s required – then you should DEFINITELY stick to that.

4. Put in an additive
A definite nope on this one unfortunately…and I’ll be the first to admit i’ve tried a number of them out there! The idea of it is just so quick and easy, ya know? Oh well, guess we’ll have to kiss those secret sauces away for now…at least it’ll save a few bucks not putting it in anymore ;)

5. Avoid the AC
If you’re driving in town, then it works! (hooray). BUT, if you’re speeding along the highway, you might as well forget it. Keeping the windows down affects your mileage just as much because it causes aerodynamic drag…so you might as well choose your fav. option at that point – either way it just sucks. It also sucks that one of my boys told me this a few years ago and i just laughed it off….oops.

And there you have it, 5 myths all cleared up for ya! While it’s no fair there aren’t any secrets out there, at least you can concentrate on other ways to save on gas now – driving smoother, no heavy stop and go action, carpooling, riding public transportation, etc.

And who knows, I bet someone’s devising a little somethin’ somethin’ as we speak to help alleviate our gas crisis!