Fuel Saving Tips for Cars

[StuartDH]

Energy saving tips for cars have got to be a goodway of reducing the impact on the environment on than while we wait for better public transport or alternative fuels etc, so what energy saving tips have you got? To start things off:

Switch off your air conditioning to save 16%
Driving with your windows down can reduce MPG by 8%
Make sure your tyres are at the right pressure to save 1-2%
Energy efficient tyres can reduce fuel costs by 5%

[Paul mabbott]

Apart from the obvious ones that are taught for tests and may be legal requirements?
Keep your speed down!
Accelerate (and decelerate) slowly rather than in one big burst!

PS: and diesel is currently the most energy-efficient, easily available fuel.

[Jez]

Power Plus don't you know? once i can find the info about it as i'm busy looking for it i'll post it. Generally you can fit to your engine and it can reduce your C02 emissions by 40% he says as a humble cyclist.

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

PS: and diesel is currently the most energy-efficient, easily available fuel.

Doesn't it depend to a large degree on what kind of driving you do?

Having had my car (2.0 litre petrol Nissan Primera) written off recently, I'm currently in a hired Vauxhall Vectra 1.9 litre diesel. On a recent 250 mile round trip, on motorways and sticking to about 60-65 mph as much as possible, the Vectra's on-board trip computer told me I'd achieved 43.4 mpg. In the Primera on similar trips I regularly used to get between 40 and 45 mpg (also according to the on-board trip computer - I've heard that these are not always completely reliable.)

I do seem to be getting a bit better fuel consumption on short, local journeys with the diesel than I was with the petrol but only by about 20% at most.

I confess I know nothing about such things but have always been told that petrol burns cleaner than diesel (as in less particulates) so doesn't that make the petrol vehicle cleaner too?

So it seems to me that if you mainly do long-distance motorway driving then petrol is best, but if you rarely get more than 10 miles from your front door then diesel is best.

Happy to be shot down on this by the more knowledgeable types!

Dave P.

[Blackbrook Eye]

How about a comunity bus for twitchers

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Blackbrook Eye

How about a comunity bus for twitchers

How about a twitchy bus for commuters

[derekimo]

Planning ahead is the most useful thing. If you must make short trips save up a group of them and do them all at once. Choose a route and time of day to travel that is less congested and allows you to cruise at a steady speed, acceleration is not your friend. Keep a good gap to the car in front so you can choose how to brake and accelerate and look well ahead so you can change speed gradually in response to the traffic.

Use the car as little as possible when it, the car, is cold. In its first couple of miles from cold the fuel consumption is very poor indeed. This is one of the reasons grouping journeys together is a good thing.

Weight is your enemy. Every kilogram you have to accelerate uses fuel. Don't carry anything you don't need to. Go on a diet .

Take your roof rack off when not in use, above 30 mph it will add significantly to your fuel bills and pollution.

When choosing a new car avoid automatics, only the audi multitronic gets close to manual efficiency.

I do most of the above, when I remember . Recently I dropped my motorway cruising speed and my fuel consumption is 2% better. Not bad for an automatic

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, it depends what type of pollution we're discussing. Diesel produces particulates. Petrol produces carbon and nitrogen oxides. If our biggest concern is enhanced climate change then petrol is the thing to warm.
Of course, far better to burn as little fossil fuel as possible!

Originally Posted by pressld2

...........I confess I know nothing about such things but have always been told that petrol burns cleaner than diesel (as in less particulates) so doesn't that make the petrol vehicle cleaner too?
................
Dave P.

[Tormentil]

# Start the engine only when ready to go & set off immediately. Avoid revving up & push in a manual choke as soon as possible.
# Control your speed as travelling at less than 15mph creates the most pollution. As your speed increases up to 60mph your level of pollution decreases. Travelling over 60mph increases your level of pollution again. 40-55 mph is the most economical speed. At 70 mph you use up to 30% more fuel than at 50 mph. Drive steadily & read the road to manouevre smoothly.
# Harsh acceleration and braking can use up to 30% more fuel and can cause increased wear and tear on the vehicle, especially brake pads & tyres.
# Get in the right gear, preferably top. Change before 2,500 revs per minute.
# Avoid idling. Shut off the engine when standing still for one minute or more.
# Check tyres monthly. A 7psi under-inflation wastes half a gallon per tank & will wear out your tyres faster.

[nightshade]

Diesel is better for long trips with a steady drive(plan your route and journey times) I have had 57mpg out of a 1.4 fiesta diesel but because I tow a trailer tent I now have a 1.6 fiesta diesel which(towing)is returning 51mpg and solo around 55mpg this betters my 1.3 petrol fiesta which returned around 45mpg
solo and 40 towing a camping trailer

[nightshade]

Some older diesels can run on 50-50 diesel and vegetable oil others 0n 30-70
this reduces particulates,best I can do with a new motor is the 10% included in "city diesel" A friend reports no discernable loss of performance when he tows a caravan with his "Bongo" on almost 50-50
BEFORE trying this get Extremely reliable advice from a "Qualified person"

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Jez

Power Plus don't you know? once i can find the info about it as i'm busy looking for it i'll post it. Generally you can fit to your engine and it can reduce your C02 emissions by 40% he says as a humble cyclist.

Fuel Saver. Fitted into fuel line can save 40% of polluting gases & 10% on fuel costs. Powerplus

[svenrufus]

Originally Posted by Tormentil

# Avoid idling. Shut off the engine when standing still for one minute or more..

Glad you mentioned that, this is something I have wondered about. You give a time of one minute, and I do do this whenever I remember to. But I did once hear that there is additional damage to a car from wear and tear in starting it up, over and above what happens in running it, so presumably that would have a negative impact as well as more damage reduces efficiency, and having to replace parts more often. Is this true or a bit of a myth? If it is true, does anyone know what the best balance between the two approaches is?

My fuel saving tip is to walk. Sometimes I forget where I've parked the car when I go to use it as it has been such a long time since I last went near it. The car now has moss and lichen growing on it, which I am particularly proud of.

[nightshade]

I was stuck on a motorway in a huge queue of traffic waiting to get off a slip road because a "Green Person" had turned their engine off and could not restart their car

[Jez]

Hurricanes will get stronger as cars on roads keep on increasing. Only 5% of the planets population drive cars but there contributing and causing problems & even death to victims of such violent storms in developing countries such as the low lying islands of the pacific which is most vunerable to flooding & extreme weather that is caused by climate change.

We had a main road closed down for the last two days. A lot of people complained about the 40 minute journey out of the town centre. When cars double in numbers 80 mins to get out of Town? I went by bike and i sailed straight through!

[juliejam]

My best way of saving fuel for my car is simple ..
Dont use it ..I try not to make unnecessary journeys..
Try to avoid driving through a busy town when you can ..
Get my kids to walk from school they old enough..
And for me walk to get around.Im lucky that ive got woods and parks pretty close by and with farm land just a small distance away ...silly I use to use the car
just to get a few bags of shopping with the shop just mins
away. Its all to do with the time you have....I run around 12miles aweek ..so i dont mind the exercise..

Julie

[Jez]

I would just like to say that if more jobs were local and 20, 50 , 100 miles of more then i think this be a great help but unfotunately alot of hard working people have do these things to support their families. But catching the train surely isn't out of he question.

Originally Posted by Jez

Fuel Saver. Fitted into fuel line can save 40% of polluting gases & 10% on fuel costs. Powerplus

Can't see a price!

[nightshade]

Lets start by:
Banning Pupils from driving cars to school and blocking all the side roads within quarter of a mile

Then ban Parents from taking the kids to school when they only live half a mile away this could help avoid obesity.

Then make trains run on time, not overcrowded, with proper supervision and shelter for the more vulnerable people, children, lone women etc.

Buses with a display board telling passengers where the bus is and how long it will be with fares that do not cost more for a journey into town than it would cost me to take AND park the car for the day

[Jez]

Originally Posted by nightshade

Lets start by:
Banning Pupils from driving cars to school and blocking all the side roads within quarter of a mile

Then ban Parents from taking the kids to school when they only live half a mile away this could help avoid obesity.

Then make trains run on time, not overcrowded, with proper supervision and shelter for the more vulnerable people, children, lone women etc.

Buses with a display board telling passengers where the bus is and how long it will be with fares that do not cost more for a journey into town than it would cost me to take AND park the car for the day

I'd just like to say how sensible Juliejam is. Secondly how sensible Nightshades ideas are.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Jez

Fuel Saver. Fitted into fuel line can save 40% of polluting gases & 10% on fuel costs. Powerplus

The power plus website doesnt actually say how these work - " a vareity of tecnologies which make the fuel combust in a more efficient manner" Hmmm chinny me thunks - if these technologies really existed wouldnt car manufacturers be fitting them as standard.

Also the letters and articles in the testimonial section are showing clear signs of having been photoshopped which i find less than reassuring

alround i'd've said that this is likely to be a progression onone of those ceramic magnet jobs which havent yet been proven to work at all , at least not in any reliable and independent tests.

[nightshade]

Going back a few years many devices were tested and the only one that genuinely worked was a steam injection system.
You have all probably noticed how much better the car seems to run on a cold damp day, you get more air into the cylinders plus a little more water vapour which improves combustion

[nightshade]

Not exactly what I recalled about steam injection but.......
For 40 percent better fuel economy, introducing the ... steam engine - AutoblogGreen

[Jez]

Originally Posted by eeyore

The power plus website doesnt actually say how these work - " a vareity of tecnologies which make the fuel combust in a more efficient manner" Hmmm chinny me thunks - if these technologies really existed wouldnt car manufacturers be fitting them as standard.

Also the letters and articles in the testimonial section are showing clear signs of having been photoshopped which i find less than reassuring

alround i'd've said that this is likely to be a progression onone of those ceramic magnet jobs which havent yet been proven to work at all , at least not in any reliable and independent tests.

Why not try contacting them to find out how it does work it's only an e.mail away?