Rising fuel bills are a concern for everyone. If you own a petrol car or a diesel, saving on fuel will always be appealing. Here are quick tips that will help you save/maximise your mileage without having to put any extra effort or any additions to your car.
1. Drive in the speed limit
Performance driving is best suited for the track, not for the roads. Not only is it dangerous for you but also it wastes a lot of fuel. Ease on the throttle. Maintain a steady speed limit. It is advised to keep a steady speed between 45 – 55 km/hr. If your car has an Eco mode, it will tell you if you are maintaining economy speed or not. Keep the RPM range around 2000 – 2500 RPM as well, this means shifting to higher gears. Follow the speed limit and keep the speed steady throughout the journey. You will immediately see a significant increase of almost 20 percent in your fuel efficiency.
2. Keep your tyres inflated
Your owner’s manual will tell you the ideal pressure for your tyres. Make sure you get the tyres properly inflated at regular intervals. Don’t forget it on your next visit to the petrol pump. 5 percent of under inflated tyres increase fuel consumption by 1 percent. They also damage the tyres extensively. Inflated tyres will give you an increase in the efficiency by 5 percent. Getting them inflated once in 15 days is sufficient.
3. Keep it light
Avoid carrying junk in your car, especially when you’re driving in city limits. Reducing the weight maximizes the efficiency of your car, as the car is carrying less weight. If you do short distances in the city, you can skip a lot of unneeded things from your car. The roof rack is best removed it as it does not come in handy and is only added weight. Another trick is to remove the spare tyre. Even though it is not the best advice, it will save a lot of weight. You can take the risk if you have tubeless tyres, as they lose air very slowly, enough to get you to the nearest service station.
4. Avoid the Air-Con
Using the air conditioning puts a lot of load on the engine and consumes lots of fuel. If you have climate control, the car will regulate the air-con setting for you; if not, it is best to switch of the a-c and let the fans run for sometime instead. At low speeds, you can roll down the windows instead and let some fresh air come in.
5. Roll up your windows at high speeds
Even though not using the a-c is recommended, make sure you keep your windows rolled up at high speeds. Open windows increase drag on the car at high speeds and that will make the engine consume more fuel. So you are better of using the a-c wisely at high speeds than the other way round
6. Plan your Trip
Planning your trip will give you a clear perspective on which route to avoid and where to stop. During peak hours, it is best to find an alternative route. You can even start early, to avoid the traffic. Not only will you be punctual, you could even have a good breakfast with all that extra money you save from your fuel efficient car.
7. Switch off the engine
When you are approaching a traffic light, or are stuck in traffic, it is best to switch of the engine if you are not going to move for over a minute. Few traffic lights will tell you how many seconds until the lights turn green and you can switch off and on your car accordingly. Idling also consumes fuel, since the engine will sip low amounts of fuel even when idling. Don’t turn of the engine, if you think it’s going to a small wait. It takes more fuel to start up then to idle.
8. Park in shade
Not only does your car hot up when parked in the sun, your fuel will also begin to evaporate. Look out for a spot to park under a tree, in the basement or in your building garage. In order to cool the cabin, you will be putting extra load on your a-c, not really helping your mileage figures here. Also choose to park in convenient locations not obstructing the traffic of course, so that your exit can be quicker and more efficient.
9. Use the clutch wisely
The clutch takes a huge toll in stop and go traffic. Most people half clutch in traffic to move the vehicle. This only increases the fuel consumption and will also wear down your clutch faster. It is best to release the clutch fully and let the car move forward in the first gear. This minimizes the use of fuel by a huge margin.
10. Car pool
A lot of reason we do have traffic is because of excessive cars on the road. Not that you shouldn’t drive but it is better to car pool instead of wasting fuel. Car pooling will easily save over 50 percent of your fuel consumption in a month. Most of us use the car to travel to offices every day. In most cases there will be plenty of people travelling on the same route. Make a car pool group, you along with 4 other people will be benefitting from this. Plus your car goes easy on the load, which results in lower servicing for the car. It’s easily a win – win situation for everyone.
You can also try adding alternate fuels like LPG and CNG to your petrol car. Let us know how these techniques’s work for you and what is the best efficiency that you could achieve on your car. If you have any other techniques to add that work for your car, let us know in the comments box below.
