We’ve all heard the myths about cars.  Things like you can drive further from a quarter tank to empty than you can from half to a quarter.  Or you should also keep your tank on full or drafting a semi will help your gas mileage.  So what’s true?  Let’s take a quick, closer look at a few myths.

First, can you really drive further from a quarter tank to empty?  This one is actually true.  Gas gauges in cars aren’t linear.  They tend to stay at full longer, then drop quickly to a quarter and slow down all the way to empty.  Once you hit empty you generally have about two gallons left in the tank.  I wouldn’t test this one too much though, it is still possible to run out of gas. 

Speaking of gas tanks, is it better to keep the tank full all the time?  This one isn’t true exactly.  It isn’t better for the car to keep the tank full, unless the weather gets cold and you have a garage.  Driving from the cold to warm garage can cause the tank to sweat, putting water in the tank that could freeze on your next trip.  And that’s no good.  Also, it’s just a good idea, but other than that, the car won’t run better. 

Sticking with fuel, what about getting premium fuels?  Will they actually pay for themselves eventually?  Putting those ten to twenty extra cents per gallon on the credit card on every fill up generally doesn’t do much for the standard car.  There are cars out there, especially high performance cars and such that need it, but the difference is so minimal on a normal car that you will probably not notice any major differences.

And what about drafting that semi truck, can I get better gas mileage?  Yes, sort of, but don’t.  The reasons are simple, it doesn’t make that big of a difference and it’s illegal to follow close enough for it to make any difference. In a normal car, in everyday conditions the difference is minimal.  Plus if that truck stops you could have to max out your credit card to pull your car from under that truck and repair it.  Or worse, it could cost you your life.  Is that worth the couple of cents you might possibly save? 

That’s definitely not all of the myths out there, but it’s a few. Rule of thumb is, don’t try anything you’ve heard unless you look into it.  You could end up with more problems than you started with.