Consumer Reports – Experts give some simple tips to protect your engine from stale gas if your car is sitting idle – There are a lot fewer cars out on the road right now, because many drivers are isolating in their homes to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. Overall road travel in the U.S. was down 38 percent for the week ending March 27, compared with typical nationwide travel for this time of year, according to Inrix.com, a company based in Kirkland, Wash., that provides traffic analytics. If you’re driving less, or not at all, gasoline sitting in your fuel tank could be getting old and stale, and degrading. “Gas can start to go bad in as little as just three months because the lighter, more volatile components of gasoline evaporate over time,” says John Ibbotson, Consumer Reports’ chief automotive services manager at the Auto Test Center.  Using old fuel in your car can sap engine power, causing hesitation and stalling. The worst case is that your car might not start. Luckily, there are a few simple ways to protect your car’s gasoline for the long run, provided you act now. The two most important steps are to completely fill up your car’s fuel tank and also add a substance called fuel stabilizer. Also, filling up now is less expensive than it has been in some time, with the nationwide average price for a gallon of regular falling to about $1.93 on Monday from about $2.40 a month ago, according to AAA. Of course, when venturing out to fill up your car, follow our safety guidelines for pumping gas during the pandemic, and for any other task you might need to tackle, such as grocery shopping…” [h/t Pete Weiss]