With the price of fuel skyrocketing, driving efficiently is, no doubt, top of most motorists’ minds now. Granted, the best way to save fuel is not to take your car at all, like going carpooling or taking public transport. However, for those whose schedules or distance from the office does not permit such practices, taking one’s vehicle might be the only solution.

To help you get more miles out of each top up, here are some tips you can employ to stretch each expensive tank of fuel.

The first step is something you can do while the car is parked. Have a look at your vehicle and check for any unnecessary items in your car. This can be anything from trash, some forgotten bottles of water, or other items you may keep in the car out of habit. Do you really need a massive water jug or a five extra pairs of shoes in your car? Check for items left in your car that you don’t really use every day. Removing these things can save a little weight and improve your fuel efficiency. Of course, still keep the spare tire and tools. These are still essential.

Another thing you can check before your journey is the tire pressure. Most drivers don’t realize that this one aspect has the greatest effect on fuel efficiency. Maintain your tires at the correct pressure as indicated on the car’s user manual or by the sticker on the door frame. It’s usually on the driver’s side door frame, indicated in pounds per square inch (PSI), atmospheres (BAR) or kilopascals (kPa).

If you want to save a little more fuel, you can exceed the recommended pressure by 2-5 PSI. Bear in mind, going beyond the recommended PSI may also wear your tires unevenly. They may require replacement sooner than expected. Nonetheless, this strategy can help you save one to two km/L per trip.

The next tip requires a change in driving habit. This requires being a bit more gentle on the gas pedal. When driving in the city, try to press the gas pedal a little more lightly than usual. Sure, it will be slower, but you’ll also save much more fuel in the process. Besides being lighter on the pedal, try to be smoother too, by pressing and releasing the pedal progressively rather than suddenly. The smoother this is done, the more fuel you save.

When on the highway, use cruise control if your car has it. Learn how to engage your cruise control system and engage it when you’re on long stretches of highway. Cruise control systems are designed to have the car run at the speed selected in the most efficient way. Your car’s onboard computer will determine the best combination of gear and throttle input to maintain your set speed. So set it and use it if your trip involves a long stretch of highway.

Most drivers tend to focus only on the bit of road immediately ahead of them. Try to train yourself to look farther down the road. Instead of looking at just 50 meters ahead of you, try looking as far as 100 meters down the road. Trust your peripheral vision to detect obstacles and traffic closer to you.

Once you start looking further down the road, you’ll see early signs of traffic lights changing, vehicles changing lanes, jeepneys stopping for passengers, motorcycles swerving, and even potholes and road obstructions far sooner. This will allow you to make adjustments and prepare much sooner, resulting in smoother steering and throttle inputs, which then result in more fuel saved.

When you look farther ahead, it’s much easier to maintain a proper distance from other cars on the road. By keeping a farther distance from cars ahead, you give yourself more room to react to what cars in front and to the sides are doing. This helps you determine whether to step on the gas, coast, or begin to apply the brakes. When you have more room to react, you don’t have to step as heavily on the gas or brake. You’ll know when traffic ahead is about to clear up or come to a stop. When you have all this extra room, you’ll realize just how often you can simply coast or begin to gently apply the brakes and make better use of the vehicle’s momentum.

Whether you’re driving an Internal Combustion Vehicle (ICE), mild hybrid, hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), or even battery electric vehicle (BEV), all of these tips will help you get more miles out of your vehicle’s power source. In fact, employing these tricks will even improve a hybrid or EV’s already efficient systems, stretching your predicted range even further.

There’s no telling how long these high fuel prices will last, but practicing these tips will certainly go a long way to dull the impact of the high fuel prices.