3 Myths About Fueling Up Your Car or Truck

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Don't look now, but the price of gasoline is climbing again, with some U.S. cities seeing gas going for $4 per gallon.

Officially, the U.S Energy Information Administration has gasoline at $3.75 per gallon this week, up from $3.54 only two weeks ago. It's particularly costly in California, where the average price of a gallon hovers around $4 in the middle of February.

With gasoline becoming an increasingly precious commodity, auto consumers will no doubt turn to some time-honored practices to save a few shekels on fuel, including driving less, carpooling or telecommuting from the home office.

For those who keep driving, there are time-honored strategies such as buying cheaper gas and keeping tabs on a vehicle's fuel economy.

But are those strategies more help than harm? Edmunds.com is out to debunk some long-standing myths about vehicle mileage - and what the company has come up with may change the way you think about gasoline and fuel economy:

Your fuel economy gauge should be your guide. That's just not so, Edmunds says. "Our testing reveals that one such gauge claimed fuel economy 19% higher than the actual result," Edmunds says. "Calculating gas mileage manually is the most accurate way to monitor your car's fuel economy."