Many people have many misconceptions about idling. Many leave their car idle as they go to buy a packet of cigarettes or do some other mirror errand. However although these can take a couple of seconds to a few minutes, it could be better to turn the engine off more frequently.

But what is the right thing to do regarding car idling? You may think as many do that it is better to leave your car idle for some time than restarting the engine. You may think that by starting your engine again you burn an excessive amount of gas. This is usually not true.

More and more evidence is pointing to the fact that you should minimize idling and put your engine off after a few seconds. The exact amount of time depends from model to model and from the age of your car but surely it should be considerably less than 60 seconds, for most models much less.

Idling does cause extra wear and tear. Some studies show that idling for just a couple of seconds can burn gas two times as fast as when driving at average speeds. This will mean that you have to pay extra cost on gas for your idling behavior. Also, when idling, the combustion in your car may be incomplete and this may damage your engine. Emissions are also greatly increased when idling and this of course increases global warming.

Therefore limit idling. In most situations it is much better to turn your engine off. By limiting idling you

• Save money on fuel
• Increase the lifetime of your engine
• Reduce air pollution

Article Source: http://www.articleset.com