Regardless of the cost of gas, you want to get the most miles out of your tank. How can you improve your car’s fuel efficiency? Here’s how.

Gas prices tend to go up in the summer when most people travel. This also happens to be when people load up their cars for road trips. If you want to save money on fuel and get the best gas mileage possible, you’ll want to take advantage of these tips.

Here’s how you can improve your car’s fuel efficiency.

Tires are what improve fuel mileage

It may be a poorly worded play on the famous line from Days of Thunder, but it’s true. The tires of your car are the only thing that touches the road. If you want to get the most out of a tank of gas, you’ve got to make sure your tires are properly inflated. Don’t have them overinflated or underinflated. The best rule of thumb is to check the tires once a month when you’re at the gas station. This way, you’re performing two tasks at the same time, which means you’re saving gas.

Ditch the extra stuff

You’ve heard of “junk in the trunk,” well, you’ve got it. This doesn’t mean you’ve got a large backside, only that you’re probably carrying items in your trunk that you don’t need. Why do you have stuff in your car that you don’t need or use? Yes, you need an emergency kit, and that spare tire could come in handy, but you don’t need extra sports equipment, backpacks, or boxes full of junk. Get those items out and improve your car’s fuel efficiency.

Combine your errands into single trips

If you’re looking for the best way to get the most gas mileage out of your car, you’ve got to plan your trips. No more heading to the grocery store several times a week because you can’t figure out what you want to eat. If you’re running errands, make sure you have several stops planned to combine all of these trips into one. This will help you save fuel and spend less time doing things you don’t enjoy.

Use cruise control more often

If you have a modern vehicle, you might have an advanced form of cruise control that maintains the distance between you and the car in front of you. Even if you don’t have this adaptive cruise control feature, your cruise control should be your friend. This feature lowers the RPM while driving and allows you to improve your car’s fuel efficiency while on the highway. If you’ve got a car that calculates your fuel mileage for you, you’ll see improvements in this number when you use your cruise.

Proper maintenance is key to fuel savings

There are reasons why you should change your oil and check your air filter regularly. In fact, a dirty air filter can cost you up to 10% of the efficiency of your vehicle. Oil that’s run its course only clogs up the inner workings of your engine, requiring more fuel to keep things operational. Stay on top of the maintenance, and you’ll be rewarded. Your tank of gas will last longer, and your car will also stay on the road much longer.

You don’t need high-grade fuel

Hopefully, you’re not driving a car that requires higher-grade fuel to drive properly. If you are, then saving money on fuel is even more important to you. Using the proper gas ensures you get the best gas mileage during your drive. There isn’t any benefit in using premium fuel when regular fuel will do the trick. Make sure you know the appropriate octane rating for your car and use the gas that’s right for your vehicle. While this won’t improve your car’s fuel efficiency, it will save you money every time you fill up the gas tank.

Start rolling low and slow

You might not need the low part, but your driving habits directly impact the gas mileage you get out of your vehicle. If you always have to be first away from a stop light or stop abruptly, you’re killing your fuel economy numbers. Learn to take off slower, drive slower, and stop slower. Yes, slow is the way to go if you want to save gas. When you’re driving, if you remember you need to take things slow, you might also notice that you’re calmer behind the wheel. This is simply an added benefit of taking it slow.

These seven tips should help improve your car’s fuel efficiency and make it easy to squeeze a few extra miles out of a tank of gas.