1. Make fewer trips
Did you know that when you drive a car that has
been parked for a few hours, the engine is cold and it uses much more
fuel for the first five miles or so? Ideally you'd combine all your
daily errands into one big trip. Often that's not possible if you have
to pop out during the day to drop off and collect the family, but try
not to go out separately to do the supermarket shop or buy a newspaper.
2. Don't drive in the rush hour
There
are few worse places to spend your time than stuck in a traffic jam,
but it's also a very expensive way of travelling. Every time that you
stop and start in traffic, your car needs first gear and a huge amount
of fuel to get moving again. Second gear is not much better. The best
solution is to not travel during the rush hour. You can also save some
fuel by trying to understand what the traffic is doing in front of you,
and travelling steadily at a slow speed, rather than accelerating and
braking. If you have to travel in rush hour a lot, then you could
consider buying a hybrid car, which uses much less fuel in town than a
normal petrol or diesel.
3. Close the windows (and sunroof, if you've got one)
It's
not so much of a problem when you're driving in town (see above), but
when you're out of town or on the motorway and moving more quickly, the
shape of your car is very important. Car designers call it aerodynamics
and make lots of effort to reduce the 'drag' and make the car as sleek
as possible. Anything that makes wind noise as your car goes along is
actually making your car more expensive to run. You can't do much about
the design of your car, but you can avoid making it worse by not leaving
the windows and sunroof open. It's better to use the air vents for most
of the year, and the air-conditioning when it gets too hot.
4. Remove the roof rack or ski box
This
is just like leaving the windows open, but worse. Even if the roof rack
is empty, it increases drag and makes your car use more fuel, while a
big ski box is like having another car strapped to your roof. The latest
roof racks and ski boxes are quick and easy to fit and remove, so make
the effort to stow them away when you're not using them.
5. Don't carry round unnecessary weight
Just
like your body, your car needs more fuel to move around more weight.
So, just as you wouldn't wear a heavy rucksack unless you had to, don't
cart stuff around in the boot of your car unless you need it.
Ironically, the heavier the item (the usual culprits are golf clubs and
trolleys), the less likely you are to bother taking it out of the boot
and the greater the effect it will have on your fuel consumption.
6. Accelerate smoothly
The
perfect way to travel is at a constant speed (ideally around 50mph),
and in the highest gear (five or six). So if you're a patient driver,
you'll have lower fuel bills - it's as simple as that. It's unrealistic
to avoid overtaking, but there's little point accelerating past a car to
simply be in front of it at the next set of lights - any instant
gratification will appear on your fuel bill the next time you fill up.
7. Don't push the accelerator down too far
This
one always surprises people. It's not just to do with what gear you're
in. You may be in a high gear and travelling at a sensible speed, but if
you're pushing the accelerator down a long way to avoid changing into a
lower gear (into third from fourth, for example), then you're actually
using more fuel not less. Obviously, if your car has an automatic
gearbox (you'll know if it does), then it will probably do a better job
than you of choosing which gear to be in, so it's not a problem.
8. Turn the air-conditioning off
It's
tempting to leave the air-con on the whole year round. It stops the
windows misting up in the winter and you don't ever need to think about
the temperature inside the car, but it uses quite a bit of fuel, so we'd
advise you turn it off when it's not hot (on most cars the button has a
snowflake symbol).
9. Stick to the speed limit
If you ignored
the law, you could shave a bit of time off your journey by travelling
above the speed limit, particularly on long motorway trips. But,
although you might arrive about 20 minutes early on a 200-mile trip by
travelling at 80mph instead of 70mph, it's also a false economy. While
the car is running for 20 minutes less, it uses much more fuel when it
is travelling. That 20 minutes could cost you up to £7 extra in fuel.
10. Check your tyre pressures regularly
The
lower the tyre pressure, the more fuel the car needs to move it down
the road. We recommend that you take five minutes every fortnight to
check the tyres. If you're not sure what the pressure should be, you can
normally find the figures near the lock inside the driver's door.
Fuel
economy is an important factor when buying a car. As a rule, small cars
are generally more economical in town and bigger diesel family cars are
more economical on the motorway. We've put together a list of cars that
are cheap to run, as well as cars that fit other criteria that you've
told us are important, such as easy to park and good for families.
SOURCE. http://www.nairaland.com/
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