fuelefficientdriving

Fuel Efficient Driving

With the price of oil rising almost daily, it is more and more necessary to ensure you get the best mileage per gallon out of your car.
A few disciplined routines will assist you in doing this....

Stay within the speed limit. A discipline indeed, but the faster you drive, the more you're pulling away, slowing down and speeding up, the more fuel you will use.
On a motorway, driving at 55mph rather than 65mph can save you up to 25 per cent of your costs.
Plus that's only about 10 minutes added to an hours drive.

This can also be achieved if you have cruise control, set it at 55mph.

Avoid unnecessary braking and fast acceration. This can save you between 5 and 10 per cent as well.

Don't use your car as a second garden shed! There is a habit to leave things in the car, especially heavy one's. Extra weight in the back will just make your engine do more work and spend more money for you.

Maintain you car well and on a regular basis.
A lot of car costs are simply down to neglect. This can range from not keeping the tyre pressures correct causing extra wear and tear on one or more of the tyres.
Changing engine oil frequently will reduce the strain on the engine, keep it internally clean and last a lot longer, especially if you have a diesel engine.

Have the engine tuned now and again, a fault in the timing could make the car idle or run at the wrong amount and use more petrol in the process.

The same applie to the oil filter, a clean one will effectively keep the everything running smoother and could save 10 per cent of petrol costs.

Make a mental note of the cheaper petrol stations. Work out how much you spend weekly and compare accordingly - then calculate your savings over a year. It could be someones Christmas present!

Keep the interior clean and maintained. It won't save you any money on petrol, but the money you sell your car for will be strongly influenced by this.

Then, the final and most difficult one - do I really need to drive today? Is there an alternative for the shorter journey. The petrol used on a short journey to 3 or 4 shops is extortionate. Switching the engine on and off 4 times on a 6 mile round trip will cost you.
Buy a bicycle, it's free to travel on and keeps you fit as well !