Lower Fuel Consumption Tips ?

[Richard]

The obvious one is walk or cycle of course, but conditions such as where you live, School Runs etc. does dictate you need a car.

So this thread is about saving fuel whilst you're driving, maybe on things such as gears, revs etc. and on servicing, adjustments....

Do you knowingly save on fuel consumption?

If so, how?

What we spend is often how we drive!

Richard

[Gwenoakes]

I try to save money on fuel by making one journey to places and doing umpteen things when there, i.e. go to bank, build society, post office, shopping, friends, accountant, post letters, buying from specific shops where things are cheaper.

I do watch the revs on the car too and use 5th gear whenever I can because have been told it is more economical on petrol, also car is serviced regularly but mainly because we cant afford for it not to work.

We cannot go anywhere without using the car because we live out in the sticks, so a car is a must for us as we are about 2 miles from the nearest bus stop and buses are spasmodic to say the least, so never used my bus pass..........yet.

[Spreckly]

Same as Gwen. One weekly trip into town for everything, and if we forget something, we wait until the following week. We have the same situation with public transport, two miles from where we live, and buses are few and far between.

We don't do outings, any family visiting are none too frequent, and we drive at a fairly low speed.

[KathJ]

I always believed that using the aircon in the car used more fuel so I tend to have the window open instead. Not sure if this is s myth or true

[Meanqueen]

Correct tyre pressures. Remove all clutter from the car to keep the weight down. Only take with you what you need for that journey. Remove roof racks if not being used. Give yourself enough time for your journey so you don't need to rush. Erratic driving, harsh use of brakes and accelerator, will use more fuel. Don't stab the pedals. Concentrate on the road ahead, plan your moves, change of direction, adjust speed, according to what you can see ahead of you. Traffic lights in the distance, ease off gas, watch the sequence of changing, let the vehicle slow down by decelaration, is there a queue, only use the brakes if you have to. Approaching a roundabout, what is the visibility like, can you see into it before you reach the give way, slow down, drop a gear, can you carry on without stopping.

Stay calm while driving, control your anger if someone else's driving is not up to scratch. What they do is their business, as long as they get out of your way. Ignore distractions in the car, other people talking etc.

Take an advanced driving course with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, or go back to the driving school you learnt with and take extra lessons.
Happy motoring.
Ilona

[elliebear15]

Here's a dilemma. We just chose a really nice primary school for our oldest daughter, great Ofsted report, best results locally, nice atmosphere and culture.
But I will have to drive there and back every day, only a 7 minute drive but it is too far too walk and across a very busy main road anyway. There are no bus services that would be practical.
We could have gone for a much closer school but the results were not as good and the atmosphere in the school wasn't great.
But one or two other kids from our village are going there in September too, I think, so I am hoping once I get to know some of the Mums, maybe we can take it in turns to pick up a gaggle of youngsters.