Top Ten Driving Tips for Saving Fuel
» 2nd August 2011
Drive smart to save fuel and cut costs
Driving Tips from Vicki Butler Henderson and Neil Oliver
1. Slim down and watch your silhouette
– Every hundred pounds you carry cuts your fuel efficiency by one or two percent. The boot may be handy but you’ll save if you find another place to store your sports equipment, extra tins of paint, tool kits. Ditto roof racks. Ditch them when not in use. They distort your car’s best aerodynamic profile and can add 5 per cent to fuel consumption.
2. Don’t fill up
– It’s that weight thing again. Carrying a full tank reduces fuel efficiency because the extra fuel uses itself up just carrying its own weight. Drive smart and save by buying fuel as you need it – a bit like eating only when you’re hungry, really.
3. Slow down and keep it steady
– Speeding uses petrol. And racing along the motorway from one traffic hold up to the next is a sure way to waste petrol. The UK Department for Transport estimates that driving at 70mph uses 9 per cent more fuel than driving at 60. Add another 10mph and at 80mph you’re using 25 per cent more than at 70.
4. Get pumped up
– Most drivers check their tyre pressure before a long trip but overlook it for long periods of day-to-day driving. If you’ve ever tried to pedal a push bike with soft tyres, you know how foolish this is. Loss of as little as 1psi of pressure can reduce fuel efficiency by 3 per cent. Check tyre pressure weekly or whenever you buy petrol.
5. Be cool about chilling
– Air conditioning makes your engine work harder and uses extra fuel. If you must use it, do so sparingly. Fold up that suit jacket on the back seat and drive between business meetings in your shirtsleeves.
6. Get in the groove
– Avoid over revving your engine. Change up to a higher gear as soon and as often as you can safely do so. Higher gears use less fuel, plain and simple.
7. Multi-task
– It’s tempting to pop into the car whenever you have to run an errand but a bit of forward planning can save a lot of trips, a lot of fuel and a lot of money. Picking someone up at the station? Why not stop in at the dry cleaners, the greengrocers and the chemists at the same time.
8. Hang on to what you’ve got
- Check the seal on your fuel cap. Few people bother to do this yet fuel, which always evaporates a bit when the cap is open, can continue to evaporate if it isn’t properly sealed. Make sure it’s screwed on tight.
9. Don’t be an idler
– Idling in traffic uses fuel even though you aren’t going anywhere. If you’re in a queue turn the engine off. Consider turning it off if you are stopping often for more than 10 seconds.
10. Get an app
– There are all sorts of apps around that can help you save petrol, improve your driving habits or direct you to the cheapest fuel in your area. Petrol Prices.com or Drive Gain and Car Economy from Drive Gain for fuel efficient driving tips and pointers
