Cash for clunker was launched by Federal government on July 27 to give a rebate of up to $4500 by trading in your old gas guzzler car.

Let us find out if we will actually save money by this or is it a another political stunt?

Gas Saving:

For that $1 billion, Americans will trade in roughly 250,000 cars and light trucks. The average gas mileage of those “clunkers” (vehicles such as aging Ford Explorers) was 16 miles per gallon, according to data released Aug. 5 by the Transportation Dept. The average mileage of the replacement vehicles (led by Ford’s small Focus) is 25 mpg.

Now let us do a simple math. Let’s assume that the average number of miles driven for both the new and old vehicles is 12,000 miles per year. The clunker thus would have burned 750 gallons per year. The new car? Only 480 gallons. That’s a savings of 270 gallons per year per car. With gas at $3 per gallon, they’ll save $810 per year, assuming they drive the same number of miles (which actually is a questionable assumption).

And at 250,000 cars traded in so far, that adds up to 67 million fewer gallons consumed in the U.S. per year and with a saving of  $201 million! This number may look very big. However, last year Americans burned over 138 billion gallons of gas. Therefore, cutting down the consumption by 67 million gallons is a drop in the ocean or may be a small step in the right direction.

In terms of the average fuel economy of the entire fleet, the Cash for Clunkers program is hardly even measurable. With 254 million registered vehicles in the U.S., the fact that 250,000 new cars are more efficient is a mere blip. “We’re talking about a tiny amount of cars,” says Lee Schipper, project scientist in Global Metropolitan Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, who studies fuel economy issues.

Carbon Dioxide Emission:

“As a carbon dioxide policy, this is a terribly wasteful thing to do,” said Henry Jacoby, a professor of management and co-director of the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change at MIT. “The amount of carbon you are saving per federal expenditure is very, very small.”

Calculations by The Associated Press, using Department of Transportation figures, show that replacing those fuel hogs will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by just under 700,000 tons a year. While that may sound impressive, it’s nothing compared to what the U.S. spewed last year: nearly 6.4 billion tons (and that was down from previous years).

So overall this program will benefit only a few Americans and may save few million gallon of gas, with no major impact to population at large.

What most people don’t know about tires is that they have a huge impact on fuel economy. Your car tires type and their care, can impact significantly how much gas you can save.

What kind of tires you have, will impact how much resistance your car is creating against the road and thus reducing the car mpg. With new technology, you can now buy lower rolling resistance tires-LRR. LRR tires are designed to improve fuel efficiency by minimizing the energy wasted as heat as the tire rolls down the road Fuel efficient tires are made with materials that heat less during a drive. Heat deforms that shape of a tire making it harder to roll. Heavier tires are less efficient, as are those with deeper treads. If you live in a climate that requires snow tires, take them off as early as feasible.

New car owners are not the only people who can benefit from LRR tires. In fact, Consumer Reports publishes a rolling resistance score when rating new tires. So as a consumer you do not necessarily have to pay more for this benefit. Many LRR tires cost the same as their standard brothers, moreover theses LRR tires have about the same tread wear rating and do not sacrifice grip. Just be sure to do your homework when buying new tires.

Tires with a good LRR rating can save upwards of $100 in gas a year at the very least! That is just the savings that one individual can accrue. The California Energy Commission has been thinking about LRR tires at the state-wide level. “California could save approximately 300 million gallons of gasoline annually by using low-rolling resistant tires.

Another factor which affects the mpg is the tire inflation. Lower pressure causes increased side wall flexing. Under inflated tires can add 6% to your fuel consumption, which could easily translate into burning an extra gallon of gas with every fill up if you’re getting around 20 MPG. Tires tend to lose air pressure more in the winter, 1 pound of pressure for every drop of 10 degrees Fahrenheit so check them more frequently when the air chills.

According to Mark Chung, director of strategic marketing for Yokohama Tire Corporation, which manufactures everything from ultra-high performance tires for passenger cars and SUVs to tires for buses, trucks and airplanes, “Tires that are under-inflated by just four to 12 psi (pounds per square inch) can reduce gas mileage by five percent or more and tire life by as much as 40 percent”.

“When a tire is under-inflated, the car’s weight rests more on the tire’s shoulders than its center, causing poor fuel economy, uneven wear and a less-than-firm ride, which can significantly reduce driver control.”

The tire’s proper inflation level, which is usually between 20 and 36 psi, can be found on a placard in the glove box or on the car door.

Follow following two simple steps to ensure that you always have right inflated tires:

Once a month, when the tires are cold, or at least three to four hours after the vehicle has been driven, check tire pressure with a reliable tire gauge. (Normal driving causes tires to heat, raising air pressure. Releasing air when tires are hot may dangerously under-inflate the tires.) And be sure that the valve stems have a plastic or metal cap to keep out dirt and seal against leakage.

Tires should be rotated at least every 5,000 miles and the Wheel alignment should be checked once a year. Misaligned tires can cause the car to drag, which lowers mileage and causes unnecessary tire wear.

As you can see from the above information, taking good care of yoru tires can save you money.