You might have come across advertisements on tv or radio on gadgets or fuel additives that when used, will save you fuel. Well, whether the claims or true or not, why not give this 10 effective tips a try and best of all, they don’t a single cent. Read on to discover what you can do to stretch your car’s fuel economy.
1. Resisting rubbers
This is very crucial as a tyre which is under inflated by just 1psi will result in fuel efficiency being reduced by 3%. Even an incorrect inflation pressure by 6-7 psi shaves 8,000 to 10,000 of the tyre’s life span, as resistance to the road goes up quite a bit. A good number of those surveyed didn’t even know how to pump their tyres up.
Apart from significantly reducing the life span of the tyres, it also adds to the cost in extra petrol needed to propel the car against the increased levels of friction. More importantly, having flabby tyres also raises the risk of an accident due to the less than optimised grip.
2. Keeping calm
Ok, we’ve all heard about how rude some drivers can be and how frustrating it is to drive a car around Malaysia. Add lots of road works, lane closures, more tolls, more traffic police watching you and the ever-increasing costs of car ownership and you can be certain that our local drivers must be an angry bunch.
Well, this may sound like an absolutely unrelated idea, but keeping yourself calm actually does help to reduce the money you spend on petrol and tyres.
Remember the last time you got so agitated, you decided to express it by flooring the accelerator, aggressively raising the engine revs (and also the finger)? That’s not good when you’re less than calm, you actually use a little more force on the throttle than you would realise. Adding up all the tiny increments will result in a significant rise in the consumption level. So the next time you get agitated on the road and immediately want to rev your engine up and gesticulate wildly, don’t. Consider the pros and cons of each action and pick the one which has no negative effect on your fuel.
3. Fuel feuds
There are countless disagreements everywhere when people talking start talking about which brand of fuel is best. Whichever brand of petrol you choose, all of them have been subjected to quality assessment by our local accreditation board and have been found to have additives that helps reduce friction and clean the engines too. So, there’s not much feud to have when it comes to which fuel to choose. So as long filling at whichever kiosks that is convenient for you that matters.
4. The right lube
We’re talking about engine oils, specifically. Engine oils play a very important role in the running of your car. They lubricate the various mechanical bits, prevent corrosion, and even help to cool and clean your powerplant. Always use the manufacturer’s recommended type of engine oil, if no particular brand is recommended, then follow the viscosity rating that is recommended. For better protection and improved fuel economy, at least go for semi-synthetic oil and have the lube changed at the recommended interval.
5. Shift early
Contrary to popular belief, working your engine hard and shifting at redline will not destroy your precious car. Revving it up to even 6,000 rpm is not going to break anything. It will however, simply burn more fuel. If you are driving a manual, it is best to shift into the next higher gear without labouring the engine (no judders), while those with automatics should accelerate gently and allow the transmission change up at lower revs.
It is interesting to note at this point out that cars with a peak torque at lower engine revolutions would be better. Having more torque produced at a slower engine speed, there wouldn’t be a need to use more throttle and rev it up so much, just to accelerate sufficiently.
6. Keeping cool
Unlike the second point where we recommended that you stay calm, this is about that luxury that everyone here must have – air-conditioning. To switch it off completely would save a lot of fuel – even up to 10 percent in many cars. It would also be completely suicidal, thanks to the impossibly warm weather we have to endure.
Don’t worry, though, the experts aren’t insisting that it’s the best way here to save fuel, but they advise us to use it sparingly, and trying to limit the fan speed to lower levels.
Turning on the air-con actually uses up a significant amount of fuel, as it saps power from the engine to power its system.
So the next time you’re driving around and it’s a cool night or day, remember that you could be saving money just by turning off the air-con.
And, keeping calm also does help one to stay cool, too.
7. An idle engine is the wallet’s enemy
Driving in Malaysia means that we spend a lot of our time facing red lights. And at some larger junctions, it could be a few minutes before the lights changes in our favour.
During this short period of time, you could be saving that tiny bit of petrol by turning off your engine, and starting it up again when it’s time to move.
One very important thing to take note of, though, is that you should always pay attention to the traffic situation before shutting your car down, or even before starting it up again. Contrary to beliefs that repeated starting of the engine will damaged it, it doesn’t just as long as the engine has been warmed up (normally half way point in the engine temperature indicator, if there is not any, your car would have been properly warmed up after about 10 minutes of driving).
Cutting your engine off immediately when you’ve come to a stop isn’t the smartest thing to do, especially when the traffic lights are just about to turn green for you. At the same time, starting up your car too late would cause an inconvenience to other motorists behind you.
So before you put this into practice, learn to judge if traffic conditions are suitable for you to turn that key. Otherwise you’ll get horned at and then get agitated. Not very good for keeping cool and fuel economy again.
8. Moving off with grace
Gently accelerating off the line is also another crucial element which contributes to overall savings. There’s no need to rush off from the traffic lights every time they turn green, with hope that you will be the first to get to the next set.
Being kind with the throttle pedal also means being kind to your wallet. Remember: saving revs also means saving money.
9. Lose some weight!
While shedding a few extra kilos from under that belt is obviously a healthy option, that’s not what we’re talking about.
Take out all the unnecessary junk like books, shoes, cleaning equipment and whatever other items you normally hide in your car. Those inpidual items may be of little weight to you, but when they all add up, it makes a world of difference. Whatever that has not much use, or has no need to travel along with you in your car should be left at home – where it doesn’t cost you any unnecessary expenditure.
Having pointed that out, many of us could still lose a few kilos to help with our own fuel economy.
10. Shorter is better
Of course it is! Why would you need to travel a longer distance than required for you to get to your destination?
Plan your routes carefully and choose the smoothest and shortest ways. Any extra miles translate into extra costs – again, unnecessary spending.
If you know that a certain road is usually congested at various times of the day, plan your route to avoid it. Moreover, if you’re travelling to an unfamiliar place, deciding on which way to go before you get lost not only saves fuel, it saves time, too.