There are some fundamentals to consider when driving your car that will invariably influence your fuel economy. Drive with care and you can save money with every kilometre!
Factors that greatly influence fuel economy are:
- Engine type (the more cylinders, the more power you are likely to have, but you’ll also churn through petrol)
- Weight of the car (and the load you carry)
- Transmission (manual transmissions are usually a bit more efficient depending on the skill of the driver and the age of the car)
- Air conditioning
- Electrical systems such as headlights, battery charging, media systems and speakers
So is the obvious choice to buy a car with a smaller engine? Not quite. It is possible that a four cylinder engine driving down the highway could use more petrol than a six or eight cylinder engine. Basically the more powerful engines can operate at higher speeds with less effort, and will therefore cost you less in petrol. By the same token though, a V8 will use more fuel when driven in peak hour traffic or in the suburbs at 40kmph, while a four cylinder vehicle will last much longer. There are exceptions to both cases, but take the above as a basic rule.
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast
If you accelerate aggressively in an automatic or ride the lower gears in a manual to speed your car up quickly, that’s when you use up the most fuel. The golden rule is to corner and accelerate smoothly – so use all of your gears when accelerating and try and have your car resting on a low RPM (engine rotations per minute). However, a low RPM can cause the engine to labour – which can cause some long term damage, so make sure you’re always in the correct gear for the right situation.
Trim the fat
Items like roof racks will impact your fuel economy by creating drag. You can save 5% of your fuel by reducing the load your vehicle carries, so why not do it? This does not mean you should leave your spare tyre at home.
Speaking of tyres, they should be pumped up to the maximum of the manufacturer’s recommended range. This improves fuel economy as well as handling. Also, Low Rolling Resistance (or LRR) tires distribute weight more efficiently than a regular tyre. Because of this, they use up to 5% less fuel than normal tires with no discernable loss of performance.
Stay tuned for more handy fuel saving tips in a future blog post…
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