Honda Dealership in Baton Rouge | Richards Honda

Gas is high and is only going to get hire, here are a few gas saving tips that you may not have known about. If you know of any others, please feel free to share them in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you!

Don’t Top Off

We all like to get as full a tank as possible but studies show that by topping it off, that is filling it up as much as possible, even after the nozzle has clicked off a few dozen times, you are subject to a higher level of evaporation and seepage. So, save yourself some gas and stop pumping the first time the nozzle clicks off.

Tighten That Gas Cap!

Lose, cracked or broken gas caps cause the evaporation of 147 Millions gallons of gas per year, according to the Car Care Council. Be sure that you tighten your gas cap each time you fill up and if its cracked or missing,  replace it.

Put Her In The Shade

“If you let your car bake in the sun there’s going to be a greater amount of evaporative emissions that take place than if you park in the shade,” says Jim Kliesch, research associate at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and vehicle analyst for GreenerCars.com.

Heed that warning, park in the shade whenever possible. Also if you have a carport or a garage at home make sure that you utilize it. Maybe that will be the push you need to finally clean out that garage!

Fill You Tires To The Proper Level

Once a week check your ties pressure, in the mornings are best when your car has remained idle overnight. You can buy a digital gauge and keep in your glove box, if you are getting low (check your tire for recommended psi) then make sure that you fill it up.

Keep It Tuned

Fixing a car that is out of tune or has failed an emissions test can boost gas mileage by about 4 percent. So be sure to give your car regular tune-ups. You’ll also want to watch out for worn spark plugs. A misfiring spark plug can reduce a car’s fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent.

The air filter is another important factor in getting better gas mileage. Replacing a clogged filter can increase your miles per gallon by 10%.

Drive More Efficiently

• As your speed increases, your gas mileage decreases. For instance, driving at 62 MPH vs. driving at 75 MPH will reduce your fuel consumption by 15%, in other words, drive the speed limit.
• Don’t hard brake, coming to a stop slowly and steadily will also decrease your fuel consumption. Some studies show by up to 20%!
• Only use the A/C when necessary, it uses a lot of gas!
• Use cruise control whenever possible, maintaining speed will save on gas.
• If your at an idle for longer than a minute shut off the engine, it used less gas to restart than it does to idle.

What else can you add to this list?

Joe of Norway, Maine is anything but average. While the typical driver clocks about 14,000 miles per year, Joe does that in about three months. But his 1990 Honda Accord has been up to the task, and now boasts nearly 1 million miles on the odometer.

What’s remarkable about Joe’s story, which is chronicled on Honda’s facebook page, is that it really isn’t that remarkable. Reliability has always been the cornerstone of Honda products, thanks to an unwavering commitment to quality over the past 50 years. This commitment not only allows Joe and Honda owners to rack up the miles, but it also has lest to “Best Resale Value” awards by Kelly Blue Book’s kbb.com. The Accord has also been named to the prestigious Car and Driver 10Best list a record 25 times.

“Joe’s journey is a testament to his Honda’s reliability and how people have come to count on Honda for more than 50 years to get them to where they need to go,” said Tom Peyton, Honda brand manager for American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Honda was eager to share Joe’s story because of his dedication to his Accord. He averages nearly 62,500 miles a year and began keeping detailed records at around 300,000. He’s expected to cross the 1 million mile mark in September.

Source: Honda in the News

In a head-to-head competition between redesigned 2011 minivans, car buyer resource Cars.com found the best contender to be the all-new Honda Odyssey. The Odyssey led the pack for its styling, comfort and overall ride.

Cars.com tested the minivans in Atlanta over a period of three days. Day one consisted of 175 miles of highway driving, which was helpful for testing fuel economy. On day two, the minivans were evaluated for ride, comfort, handling, style and functionality. Finally, the minivans were evaluated by a local family, to get the car shopper’s perspective.

“We wanted to put these minivans through real-life tests with input not just from the experts but from a family with children,” said Olsen. “This shootout takes into consideration the important insight of what the family thought was a good minivan and which one truly met their needs, because their opinions are important and reflect what all minivan shoppers would want.”

Other vans competing in the Cars.com Minivan Shootout included the 2011 Chrysler Town & Country, the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan, the 2011 Nissan Quest, the 2011 Toyota Sienna priced at $41,144, and the 2011 Volkswagen Routan.

“Minivans haven’t always been so cool; in fact, some car shoppers have shied away from them,” said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com’s editor-in-chief. “The reality is that today’s minivans are sleek, practical and drive very well, which fulfills the needs of many families.  Looking at the Honda Odyssey, its overall package of innovative features, design and a great ride propelled it ahead of its competitors. The $42,000 price tag might seem steep, but the features that the consumer gets for that money are unbeatable.”

Source: Honda in the News

Honda’s high-quality, high-value lineup earned further impressive kudos from noted industry third parties recently, scoring recognition in both the U.S. News & World Report Best Car for the Money ratings and the Strategic Vision Total Quality Index.

In the former, which rely on U.S. News automotive analysis and five-year total cost of ownership data from TrueCar.com, the Honda Civic was named the Best Compact Car for the Money as a “well-rounded car” that “offers a winning combination of substance and style that make it an exceptional daily driver.” In addition, with “one of the largest cargo holds in the class, innovative interior storage options, good fuel economy and spunky performance,” the Honda Fit took home honors as the Best Hatchback for the Money.

Notably, the Civic also was the co-leader in the Small Car segment in Strategic Vision’s Total Quality Index, finishing in a virtual tie with—the Civic. No, that’s no misprint. Strategic Vision considered the Civic and the innovative Civic hybrid as two different entries, and both finished with nearly identical scores that were some 20 points ahead of the next nearest finisher.

And three other Honda models topped their classes in the current Total Quality Index results, which were drawn from a comprehensive set of data provided by 111,212 new-vehicle buyers who had made their purchases between September 2009 and June 2010:

• The dynamic Honda Accord Coupe topped the Mid Specialty class.
• The Honda Odyssey, completely redesigned for the new model year, was a leader in the Minivan segment.
• The versatile Honda Ridgeline bested all competition among Standard Pickup entries.

For more information on the 2011 Honda lineup, visit your local Baton Rouge or New Orleans area Honda dealer today.

Source: Honda in the News

Recognized for helping to make the daily grind a little less grueling, three Honda models were recently named to Forbes’ list of “Best Cars for Commuters, 2011.” The annual rankings are based on data from Consumer Reports’ evaluations, observed fuel efficiency in CR testing, and both front headroom and front legroom. As a result, the vehicles making the grade here are all ideal choices for the 42 million Americans who spend more than half an hour each morning on the way to the job—and the 7 million whose a.m. commute takes over an hour.

Accord—Honda engineers focused significant energy on improving the Accord’s fuel efficiency for the 2011 model year, and that effort paid off with both the EPA and with CR. The former rated Honda’s popular mid-size sedan as being capable of 23 mpg city/34 mpg highway/27 mpg combined, while the latter returned an as-observed highway mark of 37 mpg. The Accord also delivers an impressive 41.4 inches of front headroom and 42.5 inches of front legroom.

Civic Hybrid—One of the country’s fastest-selling hybrids—sales of the car jumped more than 155 percent to kick off the year—the Civic Hybrid returned a stellar highway fuel-efficiency mark of 47 mpg for Consumer Reports, while it’s EPA rated at 40 mpg city/43 mpg highway/41 mpg combined. And notably, the 2012 model, set to debut later this year, is slated to showoff an EPA combined rating of 45 mpg. Front headroom/legroom in the current model: 39.4 inches/42.2 inches.

Fit—Highly acclaimed for its surprisingly roomy interior—boasting 40.4 inches of front headroom and 41.3 inches of front legroom—the Fit can achieve EPAmarks of 28 mpg city/35 mpg highway/31 mpg combined, but CR upped the ante here by reaching 39 mpg highway in its own testing.

Plus, all three offer Honda’s traditionally high levels of standard and available content, including premium audio systems and advanced navigation systems, to help lower the tension levels during the trip to work.

Commuting to work may never exactly qualify as “fun,” but as this research clearly shows, it helps to have a Honda from a Louisiana Honda Dealer.