By Ralph Lee

As much as we’d like to hope, lower gas prices aren’t likely here to stay. But with prices lower than they have been in awhile-and especially when they really start to rise again-here are some tips to help you save gas.

Gettin’ in tune
Keeping your car in proper running condition is vital to getting good gas mileage and saving money, so make sure your engine is tuned up. Especially crucial under the hood are the spark plugs. Are they firing correctly? One that isn’t can cost you as much as 30% in fuel efficiency. All thumbs? You can still replace your own air filter and improve your gas mileage up to 10%. Check the filter periodically for the things that can clog it-dirt, dust, bugs, etc.-and change it according to your owner’s manual guidelines.

Pump ’em up
Make sure your tires are inflated to the proper air pressure indicated in your owner’s manual. Underinflated tires can wreak havoc on three fronts-they rob you of precious gas mileage (up to 15%), they wear out faster than properly inflated tires and they can cause an accident. Do the math. If you’re getting 20 miles to the gallon on underinflated tires, you can possibly bump that to 23 with the proper pressure. If your gas tank holds 15 gallons and you get three extra miles a gallon, that’s 45 miles per fillup. If you fill up once a week, that’s 2,340 additional miles a year you’re getting. Buy a quality tire gauge and check your tire pressure once a month.

Listen for the click
After filling up, make sure you tighten your cap until it clicks to prevent evaporation of gas and your money. More than 145 million gallons of gas evaporate each year from vehicles, according to the Car Care Council.

Made in the shade
Along with tightening your gas cap, park in the shade whenever possible to reduce evaporative emissions. And that big thing attached to-or maybe detached from-your house? Yeah, your garage. Park in it whenever possible instead of on your driveway or the street. Your car wil stay cooler (or warmer), lessening the need for the air conditioner or defroster when starting out.

To cool or not to cool?
The debate rages about whether air conditioning use affects your miles per gallon. Follow your gut on this one.

You’re not Jeff Gordon
Accelerate smoothly away from stop signs and stoplights to get the most out of a tank of gas.

87, 91, 93, hike
Figuring out what octane gas to use in your car can seem as complicated as a football playbook. As a general rule, use the octane recommendation in your owner’s manual. Using a higher octane fuel won’t necessarily get you better gas mileage, but it will you hit in the wallet or pocketbook. And while you’re filling up, don’t worry about topping off. You don’t need to get the absolute most miles possible before your next pit stop, er, fillup, so trying to top off will likely only lead to gas spilled on the ground or on the finish of your car. Once the automatic nozzle shuts off, stop pumping.

Channel your inner Columbo
Snoop around town and find the lowest gas prices-trenchcoat is optional. You might notice a particular station or two is always a few cents lower-or higher-than the rest. The Web site gasbuddy.com can show you gas prices as general as by state or as specific as by ZIP code. In many parts of the country, prices are often lowest on Wednesday and then increase toward the weekend.