How To Figure Out Gas Mileage

It is always a good idea to figure gas mileage on your vehicle as well as any that you are planning to purchase. Gas prices fluctuate and you don't want to pick up a gas guzzler and end up broke. While figuring gas mileage is just math, there are steps to take that can need to be taken in order to get an accurate number.

Materials List:

• car (You need to know how many gallons of gas it will take)
• gas station

1. Find out how many gallons of gas your vehicle will hold. You can look through the owners manual for this information, or if you are purchasing a new car, you can ask the salesman. Either way, this information is important for you to know. It can help you plan out how much you are going to pay to fill up as well as assist you in figuring gas mileage.
2. Reset the odometer. A car keeps track of the number of miles overall that it has traveled. Most newer cars have an option to keep track of the miles you travel on a specific trip. As soon as the car is full of gas, you can reset the numbers and track how far you have traveled. The distance you have traveled is important to figuring gas mileage.
3. Drive around as usual. Remember that traveling long distances on the highway may effect the way you figure the gas mileage.
4. Stop before you run out of gas. While this seems obvious, the only way to get a completely accurate number when figuring gas mileage is to run the tank to completely empty. You may just want to get as close as possible without being stranded somewhere with no backup plan.
5. Divide the number of miles that you were able to travel by the number of gallons of gas your vehicle will take. You have just figured your gas mileage. You know how many miles you can travel on one tank of gas.