It is a well-known fact that diesel engines have great fuel-efficiency. However, you can make your new diesel powered vehicle even more fuel-efficient by following the tips below:

Keep A Steady Pace When Driving

Your diesel engine is not designed for stop and go traffic. Diesel engines are designed to perform their best when driving at steady, constant speeds. When driving through town, try to go with the flow instead of speeding up at each intersection only to have to slam on your breaks when you hit a stop light. When you are on the freeway, use cruise control to keep a steady pace. The more your speed remains consistent, the better fuel-efficiency your vehicle is going to get.

Learn How To Short Shift

If you grew up learning to shift with a gasoline engine, you still have a few things to learn before you will be able to effectively shift with a diesel engine. Diesel engines tend to reach their max torque levels at lower RPMs than the gasoline engine you grew up driving. What that means for you is that you can shift sooner in a diesel engine. Don't wait for the RPM needle to hit red before you shift; shifting before the needle is in the red zone will save you fuel. This shifting technique is known as short shifting.

Learn How To Idle Using Less Power

Idling is not great for your engine. As stated above, diesel engines are designed to go at steady speeds. When you do have to idle, make sure that you shift into neutral or first gear. Try to keep your RPMs low when you idle; the higher your RPMs, the more fuel you will be wasting.

Check Your Fuel Filter On A Regular Basis

Diesel fuel sometimes contains contaminates. These contaminates do not burn off and tend to clog up your engine and cause major issues down the road, from reduced fuel-efficiency to major engine damage. You can prevent these issues by checking your fuel filter every month, and changing it out when it becomes dirty. You can do this yourself, or you can take your vehicle to a professional auto service, like Transmissions Northwest.

Clean Up Your Gas With Diesel Additives

It would be nice if the gas you put into your vehicle was always of the highest quality. However, the quality of diesel gas can vary greatly. The easiest way for you to control the quality of gas that goes into your engine is adding diesel additives to your tank when you fill up. These additives are designed to clean up the fuel in your tank and allow your engine to run more smoothly.

If you follow all five pieces of advice given above, you will notice that you get more miles out of each tank of gas. All you have to do to increase the fuel-efficiency of your diesel vehicle is make a few changes to your driving habits, and stay on top of preventative maintenance for your engine.