Fuel prices are currently out of control and they show no sign of getting any less frenetic in the coming months.
So, like most people, you probably want to try to save as much fuel as you can.
Besides buying an electric car or spending more money on a more efficient car, how can you save money on fuel? Here are our top five tips.
Set correct tire pressure
Overinflated tires can cause your car to not only use more fuel to overcome the rolling resistance of overinflated tires, but it can also make your car handle poorly.
What pressure should you use? That depends on your car. Each vehicle make and model has its own recommended tire pressure established by the manufacturer during engineering. These pressures are designed to strike a balance between handling and fuel economy.
To find the recommended tire pressure for your vehicle, open the driver’s door or front passenger door and you’ll find a sticker or plate stating what tire pressure you should use for your vehicle.
The sticker will recommend the right tire pressure for the vehicle’s load (i.e. the number of passengers you’re expected to carry) and that the tire pressure should be set when the tire is cool (so before you drive any longer).
If you are really conscious about saving money, increasing your tire pressure above the recommended level by up to 10% can reduce your fuel consumption even more because of the tire’s contact patch with the road. reduces and creates less rolling resistance. The trade-off is a sturdier ride and an adverse effect on dry and wet weather traction.
How much will this step save you? Inflation below 10% of a tire can increase fuel consumption by 2%. It’s a cost of about $100 per year* for the average driver.
Switch to a lower octane fuel
When you go to a fuel supply store, you’re usually given a choice between three different fuels – entry-level fuel (usually 91RON), premium fuel (usually 95RON) and very premium fuel (usually 91RON) is 98RON).
A large number of cars on the market today are made to operate on 91RON conventional unleaded fuel. In the event that your vehicle is made to operate on 91RON fuel and you regularly refill it with 95 or 98RON fuel, you can safely switch back to 91RON.
Going from 98RON to 91RON where your car supports 91 at least, can save the average driver around $300 per year.
But – if you drive a vehicle that requires 95RON or 98RON minimum, you should not switch to a lower quality fuel. You can cause long-term damage to your engine and leave your car nearly idle for a short period of time. You may also void your warranty in the process.
Should you use a ethanol mixture? Some vehicles support a 10% ethanol fuel blend (referred to as E10). It can save you a few cents per liter of fuel. Again, not all vehicles support ethanol fuel, so it should be avoided unless explicitly mentioned by your manufacturer.
Remove excess from your car
You know that giant toolkit, that old street directory, or that pile of junk you’ve accumulated over the years?
Every time you control the vehicle, you are asking the vehicle to work harder to move this excess weight. Even things like tow balls and blades on tow bars that you use once a year can add to the excess mass your vehicle is forced to tow around.
This also counts on the roof of your car. Do you drive around with roof racks or a roof cover, but not actively using them? This additional wind drag slows your vehicle down and forces your vehicle to use more fuel to travel the same distance.
For every 50kg of weight removed from your car, you can save about 2% on fuel use. That can save you more $100 per year* in the use of fuel.
Brake the engine and look forward
Moving a large, heavy vehicle from a standing start is like trying to move a large box on a carpet. It was difficult to move at first, but once you did, it became much easier to keep moving.
So it’s no surprise that the more often you come to a complete stop, the more you need to start from rest and force the car to use a lot of energy to get past that initial standstill. .
By looking ahead to traffic, you’ll be able to slow down sooner and possibly avoid a complete stop. You may find that by slowing down earlier, you’ve left yourself with enough buffer to then speed up again without stopping.
Another easy win (especially for manual transmission drivers) is to use your engine brake. By shifting gears to slow down instead of relying solely on the mechanical brake, once the vehicle switches to engine braking, the engine uses zero fuel.
Think of situations like going down a long hill – instead of slamming on the brakes, you could reverse gears and get to a state where the car’s momentum turns the engine and less fuel is needed to keep the car. motion.
While it may be just timing, these times add up to save you accumulated fuel.
You can save around $150 per year* by taking advantage of foresight and using engine braking.
Don’t speed up
Some people think that by exceeding the speed limit by 5 or 10km/h, they not only save a lot of time, but also save fuel because they spend less time in the car.
Unfortunately that’s not the case. During a 50km journey on a 100km/h road, if you exceed the speed limit by 10km/h, you save only three minutes in total.
On that same journey, if you stick to the speed limit, you can save about 15% on fuel because you don’t force your large, pneumatic vehicle to use more fuel to keep it going. itself moves at a higher speed.
By avoiding speeding up to 10km/h, you can save approx $300 per year* in fuel. That savings even increases when you move faster than the speed limit.
How much can you save?
If you commit each of these cost-saving crimes, you could miss out on saving about $1000* per year.
It is not an insignificant amount. And we haven’t even mentioned the cost benefits of keeping your car regularly serviced with fresh oil and clean filters.
Now is the time to get into good driving habits – it will save you money and potentially keep your car running for longer.
* Fuel economy estimates are based on a typical vehicle traveling approximately 15,000 km per year.
