Does the amount of weight on your car affect the amount of gas used?

Question

If you were to have say 20 extra pounds of things in your car, would you have to use more gas to pull it around everywhere?

Answer 1

Yes. More weight does make a difference. However, 20 Lbs. is not going to make a drastic change in mileage. If you’re having concerns about mileage, here are things to check. Replace you air filter, fuel filter, change your oil regularly, make sure your tires are at the recommended pressure. Even a 1 PSI difference in your tires can reduce mileage by 2%. If you don't have to have the 20 lbs in the car, kick it out as well. Use cruise control as much as possible, and keep your speed down to 65 when on the high way. The less you work the motor the better mileage you will get.

Answer 2

The theory is yes.

In practice no, not much.  Your car weights from about 1 ton (2000 pounds) to 2 tons (4000 pounds).  Adding another 20 pounds is not going to change that much.

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That is why Car Pooling makes so much sense.  You can load another person in your car and suffer very little loss in MPG.

good Luck...

Answer 3

yes bcoz they heavier the car is the more power the engine needs to move the car...so yes, it will use more gas!

Answer 4

Twenty pounds no.That's about what a gallon of gas weights.

Answer 5

probably not with 20 pounds, but with a significant weight increase, yes it would affect your fuel economy.

Answer 6

that would barely affect it,you wouldn't notice such a small amount as 20 pounds being added to it,it would take over a 100 pounds to actually make a real difference on it,once it gets moving though the weight becomes less of  a problem,its always been a well known fact though that the less weight you have to pull around the better the gas mileage will be,but it takes a certain amount of weight to make enough difference to actually notice it in the gas mileage,good luck.

Answer 7

In the case of twenty extra pounds, there'd be a very SLIGHT increase in gas used per mile, but hardly noticeable.

Answer 8

yes it does, but 20 pound will barely affect ur gas mileage. If you had some friends in your car then yes that would make a big difference in your car mileage. Just imagine urself pulling a car, is it easier to pull when it has stuff in it or when its empty?