Here are seven tips for keep your fuel costs down while still being able to enjoy great days out
Many Brits drive cars daily and nothing about owning and running them is cheap. From the extortionate insurance costs to the ever fluctuating price of fuel, cars often eat into our well earned cash.
But with summer coming up and many families or groups of friends doing days out or making longer journeys for weekends away, driving experts from Zego, a private hire specialist, have shared a handful of tips and tricks that will help keep your fuel costs down as you explore the UK.
Some may seem more obvious than others but all will make your tank last longer.
1. Avoid idling for extended periods
Sitting in your car with the engine running but not actually going anywhere is a quick way to eat up fuel and raise the amount of money you spend on filling up your car. While many may believe that turning on and off your engine actually burns more fuel than idling, so when sitting in traffic it’s actually more cost effective to turn your engine off and only turn it back on when you need to move. Many modern cars even feature ‘stop start’ technology for that reason.
2. Plan your journeys
If you have many little jobs or places you need to drive to in one day then why not do them all in one outing rather than multiple little journeys that require your engine to heat up multiple times? By doing multiple trips, your engine will be warm already so won’t require as much fuel to start the car.
And if you’re not rushing to get from point A to point B then finding a more eco friendly route with less hills will also help.
3. Avoid frequent accelerating and breaking
Whenever you break or speed up your engine eats up an increased amount of fuel, which sometimes can’t be helped but if you’re approaching a line of traffic then coming off the accelerator early may help. You won’t need to break as much or at all conserving fuel and allowing your car to stay in the same gear.
And if you’re driving on faster roads like motorways, driving at a constant speed will also help conserve fuel.
4. Check your tyre pressure
The less inflated your tyres are, the more resistance the car is having against the ground as it moves, which in turn makes the car consume more fuel. The car is having to work much harder to just move the vehicle, so making sure your tyres are the correct pressure about once a week is a good habit to get into.
5. Work the gears
This won’t apply to automatic cars but those driving manual cars are encouraged to change their gears at the most effective points. Experts from Zego say the reason is because “when slowing down, it is important to remain in gear, as the fuel cut-off switch in a fuel injection engine is activated, meaning little to no fuel is used while braking.”
They also claim that you should try to stay in as high a gear as possible while avoiding going over the speed limit.
6. Open your windows and switch off your air conditioning
Another sure way to increase your fuel costs is by constantly having your air conditioning on during the summer. While it may be hot outside and the air conditioning is nice and cool, to save money opening a window or two will give some slight relief but also keep costs down.
In a study from 2013 found that cars travelling between 40-70 mph use more fuel when driving with the air conditioning on compared to having the windows open at the same speed.
7. Remove weight and reduce drag
Last but not least, reducing drag will also help keep fuel consumption down. The heavier your car is the more drag it’s going to cause and the more duel your car will need to use to get from point A to point B. So if you have unnecessary items stacked in your car then taking them out is more cost effective in the long run.
