MOTORING NEWS - In these tight economic times, every cent saved helps.
Follow these tips to save fuel:
1. Make fewer trips
Did you know that when you drive a car that has been parked for a few hours, the engine is cold and it uses much more fuel for the first five kilometres or so? Ideally you’d combine all your daily errands into one big trip.
2. Don’t drive in the rush hour
There are few worse places to spend your time than stuck in a traffic jam, but it’s also a very expensive way of travelling. Every time that you stop and start in traffic, your car needs first gear and a huge amount of fuel to get moving again.
3. Close the windows (and sunroof, if you’ve got one)
It’s not so much of a problem when you’re driving in town (see above), but when you’re out of town or on the motorway and moving more quickly, the shape of your car is very important.
4. Remove the roof rack or ski box
This is just like leaving the windows open, but worse. Even if the roof rack is empty, it increases drag and makes your car use more fuel.
5. Don’t carry round unnecessary weight
Just like your body, your car needs more fuel to move around more weight. So, just as you wouldn’t wear a heavy rucksack unless you had to, don’t cart stuff around in the boot of your car unless you need it.
6. Accelerate smoothly
The perfect way to travel is at a constant speed (ideally around 50mph), and in the highest gear (five or six). So if you’re a patient driver, you’ll have lower fuel bills – it’s as simple as that.
7. Don’t push the accelerator down too far
This one always surprises people. It’s not just to do with what gear you’re in. You may be in a high gear and travelling at a sensible speed, but if you’re pushing the accelerator down a long way to avoid changing into a lower gear (into third from fourth, for example), then you’re actually using more fuel not less.
8. Turn the air-conditioning off
It’s tempting to leave the air-con on the whole year round. It stops the windows misting up in the winter and you don’t ever need to think about the temperature inside the car, but it uses quite a bit of fuel.
9. Stick to the speed limit
If you ignored the law, you could shave a bit of time off your journey by travelling above the speed limit, particularly on long motorway trips.
10. Check your tyre pressures regularly
The lower the tyre pressure, the more fuel the car needs to move it down the road.
