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As you can see, modern vehicles have in some cases not come quite as far as some manufacturers would like you to think they have. While the classics featured above may not all be quite as high tech as today's vehicle, or produce the lowest carbon numbers, but many of them can still make great fuel efficient vehicles if properly maintained. Here are a few tips to make these older vehicles run even more efficiently.
Keep Your Classic Well-Tuned
While the above vehicles make great examples of efficiency, they do not have the same quality of materials in some cases and therefore require more maintenance in order to keep them running their best. The nice thing about these older vehicles though, is many of them are quite simple in design and therefore can very easily be maintained on your own with just a little armchair knowledge and elbow grease.
Switch Your Diesel Over to Food Grease
If you didn't know it already, with just a few alterations you can change just about any older diesel vehicle, such as the diesel Rabbit, to run off food grease and various forms of biofuel. Each vehicle may have its own delicate areas that will need to be dealt with in order to make it work successfully, so check with the companies that sell these retrofit kits to see what you will need to do to make them work for your particular application. For a $600 investment in retrofitting, this is a nice upgrade for people would like to start using a gas alternative, but don't have the money to go hybrid or full electric just yet.
Make Mostly Right Hand Turns
If ever there was a free tip to increase your fuel efficiency, it is this one. It will cost you absolutely nothing (except for a little extra brain power to plan out your routes), it can be use on any vehicle (used, classic, antique, or new), and it actually has proven results in the areas of less time spent on the road, less gas, and less emissions expelled into the air. It doesn't get much easier than this freebee.
Improve Your Classic Vehicles Aerodynamics
If there is one thing that most older vehicles could definitely use, is better aerodynamics. This is something that was not thought a whole lot about back in the early days. Of course some classic drivers would rather chop off their own ear than make an alteration to the classic lines of their vehicle, but there are some nice products out there that can make an older vehicle look pretty sharp. There are also a lot of noninvasive ideas you can do to improve aerodynamics, such as removing roof racks and antennas when not in use, or lowering the vehicle by just a few inches.
More Fuel Efficiency Ideas:
Do It Yourself Vehicle Care: Spark Plugs vs. Fuel Economy, Part 1
Why Fuel Additives Won't Improve Performance and Gas Mileage
Douglas Studdard of Bamachips Debunks the Economy Tune Ploy
Holter Graham's 3 Tips to Maximize Pickup Truck Efficiency
Read the previous page "Consider These Efficient Classic and Used Cars"
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