10 simple tips to improve the fuel efficiency of your car.
Unfortunately, the cost of fuel is only going up. Whilst fuel discount cards can give you a bit of cashback, we can’t do anything about the price of fuel. However, we can suggest a few tips on how to increase the fuel economy of your car. You don’t need to be an advanced driver to be more fuel efficient.
Follow our 10 driving tips and you will improve fuel efficiency and get the more mpg from your car. We calculated that, with an average family hatchback, our tips could save you up to £300 per year. It might not be a lot but towards the end of the year, it could certainly contribute to Santa's shopping list!
Fuel Tip Number 1:
Keep your car well maintained and serviced. Inflate your tyres to the correct value according to the manufacturers guide to reduce resistance. Check them weekly and adjust the pressure to suit the unusual journey (i.e. motorway use or carrying extra passengers/load requires more tyre pressure). Get the car serviced regularly to keep everything moving smoothly under the bonnet. Shop around for servicing deals.
Fuel Tip Number 2:
Clear your boot and remove any excess weight. Take unneeded items out of the car, you only need your golf clubs when you are going to play golf! Remove car seats and prams if you're driving alone. In the middle of the summer, you don't need the shovel in the boot to clear the snow off your path.
Fuel Tip Number 3:
Drive smoothly and change gear early. Modern cars have a gearchange indicator. Accelerate and brake gently, and change to a higher gear as soon as possible. As a general guide, change up before 2000rpm in a diesel and 2500rpm in a petrol, without letting the engine labour at low revs.
Fuel Tip Number 4:
Loads of modern cars come with engine Stop&Start technology which can be great if it's used properly. If you are stuck in a queue/traffic lights for longer than a minute, use this feature and you’ll save money and fuel. Don't use it for short breaks as it will use more fuel to re-start the engine.
Fuel Tip Number 5:
Remove roof boxes or bike racks whenever they aren’t being used. They will worsen the aerodynamics of your car. The car has to work harder to cut through the air due to the extra wind resistance such things create.
Fuel Tip Number 6:
Unless it’s uncomfortably warm in the car, leave the air-con turned off and open your windows. Using it can put a strain on the engine and burn more fuel, especially at low speeds. 50mph is the breaking point when open windows will reduce fuel consumption more than having the air-con switched on. The same goes for heated windscreens, demisters and other electrical appliances.
Fuel Tip Number 7:
Use gravity to your advantage and build up momentum when going downhill to help you then get uphill, rather than accelerating more to get up a gradient. The best way to do this is to read the road as if you were on a pushbike and accelerate accordingly. Make sure you don't exceed the speed limit, some speed cameras are in fact placed where the road goes downhill.
Fuel Tip Number 8:
Stick to the speed limits. A research shows that doing 80mph uses up to 25% more fuel than doing 70mph. We don't suggest driving well under the speed limit in a mission to save fuel as this could cause an hazard and unnecessary frustration to following traffic.
Fuel Tip Number 9:
Plan your road far ahead while driving and keep moving where possible by anticipating obstacles. Easing off the throttle and keeping momentum is better than speeding up, braking and then starting all over again. On motorways observe the type of traffic ahead and anticipate slow moving traffic such lorries but return to the furthest left lane possible as soon as your overtaking is complete to avoid holding traffic behind you.
Fuel Tip Number 10:
Plan your journey in advance. Avoid traffic black spots and busy times if possible. Get the map or sat-nav out to avoid getting lost and driving farther than necessary. Listen to traffic announcements in the radio or use the traffic avoidance feature on your sat-nav to re-route you away from a traffic jam. MG
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