Fuel makes up a sizeable chunk of your monthly motoring costs – especially if you drive like your trousers are on fire.
Fuel prices can be a big burden on your wallet – yes, even if you only put £20 in at a time – and, for many of us, a visit to the petrol station involves psyching yourself up to see some big numbers. But a few small changes to your driving style can add up to make noticeable differences, and every little helps if you’re trying to save cash.
With that in mind, here are 10 tips to make your car’s fuel go further.
How to improve fuel economy
- Drive smoothly
- Anticipate
- Slow down
- Turn off cruise control
- Check your tyres
- Avoid idling
- Don’t carry anything you don’t need to
- Don’t drive with your windows open
- Don’t leave your air conditioning on
- Perform regular maintenance
Drive smoothly
As well as making you look like you’re rushing home to a burning house (hopefully not), mashing the accelerator away from every roundabout or set of traffic lights is not going to set you on the enlightened path to outstanding fuel economy.
Every time you use full throttle, you’re asking your car to throw the maximum amount of fuel into the engine to propel you onwards as rapidly as possible. Ease onto the accelerator and accelerate more gently and you’ll see a huge improvement in your car’s fuel economy.
Anticipate
Try to predict when you’ll need to slow down or speed up. Are the traffic lights ahead about to change from red to green? Slow down in advance without braking hard so that you can keep the car moving and not actually come to a stop. Not only is timing your approach to red lights and junctions going to make your drive smoother and calmer – it’ll save you fuel too.
Every time you have to get your car rolling from a standstill you use lots of fuel, so you’re best trying to keep rolling if it's safe to do so. That way, you preserve momentum and, crucially, save fuel.
Not only that, but anticipating and slowing down ahead of time means you’re not bashing the brake pedal as much, which’ll make your brakes last longer.
The best way to improve your anticipation is to leave a larger gap between you and the car in front – then you’ve got more time to see what’s going on ahead of you.
Slow down
Are you the sort of person to sit merrily at 80mph on a motorway in the hope it gets you to your destination more quickly? You might be surprised that a 10mph difference doesn’t beat the sat nav’s ETA by much at all, and it’s also surprisingly bad for fuel economy. Drop down to 70mph and you’ll be sticking to the law while also saving a tonne of fuel.
Perhaps not a literal tonne, but enough to make a difference over the course of a year – research by What Car? suggests that doing 80mph uses up to 25% more fuel than driving at 70mph. You’ll save even more if you’re happy to chill at 65mph or even 60mph.
Really want to save fuel? Tuck in behind a lorry on the motorway and watch your fuel economy skyrocket. Remember to keep a safe distance to the vehicle in front.
Turn off cruise control
Cruise control is a godsend for long, boring motorway journeys – and it’s great for keeping your car at a set speed, which can boost economy. But using cruise control can also increase fuel consumption. Just think of the strain on your engine as it tries to maintain 70mph up a hill. By using anticipation and reading the road ahead of you, you can choose to slow down a little bit when going uphill or decide to take your foot off the accelerator on a downhill slope and let gravity do the work.
Check your tyres
As well as holding your car onto the surface of the road, your tyres play a huge part in your fuel economy. If your tyre pressures are lower than they should be, the tyres will require more effort to roll over the road, meaning your engine has to use more fuel to maintain speed. It may be a chore, but it’s worth popping to a petrol station once per month to check your tyre pressures and re-inflate them if necessary – and remember that tyres do tend to drop in pressure over time, even if they’re not punctured.
Studies show that a tyre that’s 10% low on pressure will decrease fuel economy by 2%. That fact probably won’t win you mates in the pub, but it’s good for your bank account.
Avoid idling
If you’re stuck in traffic, switch your engine off (if safe to do so) or use your car's stop-start feature when at traffic lights or in traffic to avoid burning excessive fuel. You might also appreciate the peace and quiet as you wait for the lights to change.
Don’t carry anything you don’t need to
It might seem like your car’s engine can shrug off any extra weight, but you’re not doing your fuel economy any favours by lugging around stuff you don’t need. Is your boot full of a big heavy pram despite the kids walking to school all week? Ditch it. Likewise, there’s no need to carry around a snow shovel during an August heatwave. All that extra weight will need even more fuel to propel it.
And for Pete’s sake, don’t drive around all year with your summer-holiday roofbox attached. It’s the car equivalent of trying to run a 100m sprint while wearing a sumo costume.
Don't drive with your windows open
Driving with your windows open can also increase your fuel consumption, especially when driving at higher speeds. Open windows make your car less aerodynamic, and the increase in drag will mean you use more fuel.
Don’t leave your air-con on
Air-conditioning systems are getting more efficient these days, but they still use a surprising amount of fuel to run. So unless you’re melting, freezing or your windows are fogging up – turn it off. Do check it actually works every couple of weeks, however – there are lots of seals in an air-con system that can degrade if not used.
If you need to keep cool, it’s generally more efficient to open your window at up to about 30mph, and above that it’s more efficient to use air conditioning – although try to use it sparingly!
Perform regular maintenance
Keeping up with routine maintenance makes sure that your engine is working at its best – and that means it can be as efficient as possible. Having your car serviced might seem like an expense you could do without, but your car will be a little bit more economical with fresh oil running through its veins and clean filters to stop any detritus getting in.
