Top Tips

Tips on Economy Driving 

Modern automobile technology has made great strides in reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, but handling the car correctly is also one of the biggest and often insufficiently explored factors in saving fuel.

Everyone who puts even a few of these important hints into practice will reap the benefit in hard cash next time the car is filled up. By making sure that their cars are well looked after and by adopting a suitable driving style, it’s easy to squeeze the greatest mileage out of every drop of petrol.

As far as the car itself is concerned, regular routine maintenance is essential. It is also important to check the tyre pressure because low pressure causes increased rolling resistance and costs more money in two areas, fuel and tyre wear.

Another useful tip is not to carry unnecessary ballast around in the boot. A 100-kilogram load can result in increased fuel consumption by more than five mpg in town driving.

For further fuel saving success, don’t leave the roof rack on when you don’t need it. everything that worsens the car’s aerodynamics also causes it to consume more fuel. Turning off electrical accessories like air conditioning, rear window demister or additional lights also results in fuel saving, because they all use some fuel in their operation.

While on the move, the golden rule is to look well ahead and maintain steady speeds. Unnecessary accelerating and braking not only costs fuel but frayed nerves as well. Accelerate briskly but not aggressively: it’s better to press the accelerator pedal down further in a higher gear than to run the engine up to high revs. Change up to top gear as soon as you can. Drive in fifth or sixth gear from around 30 mph and keep to low revs (between 2000 and 3000 rpm) whenever possible.

Using only 75 per cent of the vehicle’s top speed is also economical. It results in fuel savings of up to 50 per cent with only a negligible loss of time. In winter, don’t warm the engine up with the car at a stand still. Instead, drive off immediately after starting the engine and let it warm up to operating temperature while driving within a medium rpm range.

Switch off the engine for stops of one minute or longer. The engine burns fuel even while idling. The automatic fuel intake shutdown while coasting, while driving down a hill or while braking, provides another means of saving fuel. So don’t use the accelerator while coasting and don’t take the vehicle out of gear.

 
Don’t use the “sports” option and unnecessary manual shifting lead to increased fuel consumption in vehicles with automatic transmissions. The engine operates most frugally in the “D” gear, which can almost always be used. Gentle, even pressure on the accelerator pedal causes the transmission to shift earlier to an energy saving gear.

 How to test fuel economy?

If you're the organised sort, you'll keep all your receipts and MOT certificates. So there's a very simple way of finding your annual average cost-per-mile?

Find your MOT certificates and take one odometer reading (the mileage) from the other. If your 2009 certificate says 49,325 miles and your 2008 certificate says 36,897 you have travelled 12,428 miles. Now tot up the fuel receipts you've collected over the year and divide that total by the total mileage (in our case 12,428). And the number you come up with is your average cost per mile.