Here are some helpful tips on looking after your vehicle
and getting the most out of it. These safer and more eco friendly driving tips
may help maintain your vehicle and help prevent the need for future broken
car
parts. Also with the recent increases in fuel bills, if you are looking to buy
a new vehicle then these tips may help you decide.
Car choice plays a big part
in the extent to which your motoring affects the environment, but whatever car
you've got there's a number of simple things you can do to reduce energy use
(fuel consumption), CO2 emissions and pollution.
These eco-driving tips are the
motoring equivalent of insulating the hot water tank, fitting low energy bulbs
and not leaving the tv on standby – simple, common sense tips that really will
make a difference. You'll save money on your fuel bills too.
You could even
save more than 10%-33% on your fuel bill.
Maintenance
Regular Servicing – Get
the car serviced regularly (according to the manufacturer's schedule) to
maintain engine efficiency.
Engine oil - Make sure you use the correct
specification of engine oil (refer to the handbook)
Tyre pressures – Check tyre
pressures regularly and before long journeys. Under-inflated tyres create more
rolling resistance and so use more fuel. Getting tyre pressures right is
important for safety too. Refer to the handbook as pressures will normally have
to be increased for heavier loads.
Before You Go
Lose weight – Extra weight
means extra fuel so if there's stuff in the boot you don't need on the journey
take it out and leave it at home.
Streamline – Roof racks/boxes create extra
wind resistance and so increase fuel consumption. If you don't need it take it
off, if you do, pack carefully to reduce the extra drag.
Don't get lost – Plan
unfamiliar journeys to reduce the chance of getting lost – try the AA Route
planner or consider a 'Sat Nav' if you regularly drive unfamiliar routes. Check
the traffic news before you go too.
Combine short trips – Cold starts are
inefficient so it pays to combine errands such as buying the paper,
dropping-off the recycling, or collecting the kids into one trip rather than
making multiple short trips.
Consider alternatives – If it's a short journey (a
couple of miles or so) consider walking or cycling rather than taking the car –
fuel consumption is worse when the engine's cold and pollution will be greater
too until the emissions control system gets up to normal temperature.
On The Way
Leave promptly – Don't start the engine until you're ready to go. This
avoids fuel wastage due to unnecessary idling and ensures that the engine warms
up as quickly as possible. (In winter months, scrape ice rather than leave the
car idling for a long period to warm up).
Easy does it – Drive smoothly,
accelerate gently and read the road ahead to avoid unnecessary braking.
Decelerate smoothly – When you have to slow down or to stop, decelerate
smoothly by releasing the accelerator in time, leaving the car in gear.
Rolling
– If you can keep the car moving all the time, so much the better. Stopping
then starting again uses more fuel than keeping rolling.
Change up earlier –
Change gear as soon as possible without laboring the engine – try changing up
at an engine speed of around 2000 rpm in a diesel car or around 2500 rpm in a
petrol car. This can make such a difference to fuel consumption that all cars
in the future are likely to be fitted with Gear Shift indicators that light a
lamp on the dashboard to indicate the most efficient gear change points.
Cut
down on the air-con – Air conditioning increases fuel consumption at low
speeds, but at higher speeds the effects are less noticeable. So if it's a hot
day it's more economical to open the windows around town and save the air
conditioning for high speed driving. Don't leave aircon on all the time – you
should run it at least once a week throughout the year though to maintain the
system in good condition.
Turn it off – Any electrical load increases fuel
consumption, so turn off your heated rear windscreen, demister blowers and
headlights, when you don't need them.
Stick to the limits – Drive at or within
the speed limit – the faster you go the greater the fuel consumption and the
greater the pollution too. According to the Department for Transport driving at
70mph uses up to 9% more fuel than at 60mph and up to 15% more than at 50mph.
Cruising at 80mph can use up to 25% more fuel than at 70mph. Don't be idle – If
you do get caught in a queue avoid wasting fuel by turning the engine off if it
looks like you could be waiting for more than three minutes.
Coasting - does it
help save fuel?
Coasting - rolling downhill or approaching a junction with the
car out of gear - is inadvisable because the driver doesn't have full control
of the vehicle, though it used to be quite a common practice to save fuel.
You
lose the ability to suddenly accelerate out of tricky situations. You lose
engine braking which takes some of the load off the brakes on down hill
stretches and helps to avoid brake fade - overheated brakes require harder
pedal pressures to stop the vehicle.
These days, coasting is still inadvisable
and changes in vehicle fuel systems mean it won't save you fuel either.
Old car
with carburettor - take your foot off the accelerator pedal with the car in
gear and fuel is still drawn through into the engine. Fuel savings could be
made by coasting out of gear.
Modern car with electronic engine management -
fuel and ignition systems are effectively combined and controlled by one
Electronic Control Unit (ECU). Take your foot off the accelerator and the ECU
cuts the fuel supply to the injectors anyway so there's nothing to be gained by
coasting.
Modern diesel engines - these also have the ability to shut off the
fuel when you take your foot off the accelerator.
How much can you save?
The
aim is to see how much you can improve on your current average fuel consumption
or the 'official', manufacturer's figure by following the advice above.
If your
car has an onboard computer that records fuel economy (miles per gallon / MPG)
then take a note of the overall average fuel consumption you're getting now and
then see how much you can improve it by following the 'eco-driving' advice
above.
It should be possible to re-set the computer so it starts recording a
new average MPG. With no onboard computer, you'll first need to find out the
official, manufacturer quoted fuel consumption for your car. You may see three
different figures quoted, 'urban', 'extra-urban' and 'combined' – it's the
third, 'combined' figure that you want.
You can look-up fuel consumption data
on the Department for Transport's website www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/
Measuring
fuel consumption
With no onboard computer you can calculate average fuel
consumption over any period by following the steps below.
Fill the tank and
record the mileage
Keep a record of any subsequent fuel purchases (it's not
necessary to completely fill the tank again until you're ready to work out your
mpg.)
Ideally go back to the same pump at the same garage you first filled the
car and fill the tank again to the same level
Now divide the total mileage
since the first fill by the total number of litres used and then multiply by
4.546 to get miles per gallon (for example if you've covered 1000 miles and
used 101 litres of fuel, your average mpg = (1000/101)x4.546 = 45mpg)
Rather
than compare your new improved fuel consumption with the official combined fuel
consumption you could establish a baseline average fuel consumption for your
current driving style using the steps above and then another average once
you've started applying some of the 'eco-driving' techniques above.