I used to get great gas mileage, but my current commute home in the evenings is through a very snarly part of town in terms of traffic, so my car tends to burn off loads of gas while I’m irritatedly idling at traffic lights. So I was interested to hear that properly inflating a car’s tires can make it perform more efficiently. It’s not an awful lot — according to this study it’s usually just shy of half a percentage point per tire for each drop in psi — but hey, that can add up.

Other tricks for saving gas include buying tires that are designed to perform well in terms of rolling resistance (which can improve overall fuel efficiency by up to another 4 or so percent) and choosing engine oils that are specially formulated to decrease friction and increase fuel economy. You can also make sure your car receives maintenance on a regular basis, lighten the load by taking out items you don’t really need in the vehicle, and drive less aggressively. But we’ll save discussing those in greater detail for another day. In this post, we’ll cover exactly how things will go down the next time your car’s tire pressure starts to grow a tad low …