How To Get The Best MPG
Your MPG can make a difference!
We’ve been bombarded even more recently with escalating bills. Additionally we also have the rising price of fuel. Nudging towards £2/litre is frightening. So, in real world driving, how can we eek out the best mpg for our cars?
Simple Tasks to improve your MPG
Inflate your tyres to the correct pressure. Under inflated tyres mean more surface area in contact with the road, therefore more drag on the wheel. Tyres are the only contact between you and the road, it’s surprising how many people neglect this thought and only check tyres sporadically or when they think they look flat. Remove excess weight from your car, try and clear out unnecessary items from your boot and if you have a roof box/roof bars then remove them if you know they won’t be used in the foreseeable future. Road cyclists are often crouched down or trying to perfect their wind resistance to conserve energy. Same theory here for cars!
Do you fill your tank up or keep it at approx. half? Common sense would dictate fill up, then you don’t have to travel to the petrol station for 3-400 miles. However, only filling up half a tank can save upto 50 lites of fuel you’d be carrying around
Maintain your car. Has it been serviced recently? Well maintained vehicles use fuel more efficiently. Where do you fill up with fuel? There are a number of comparison sites nowadays which have a pricing tool to help you. Don’t necessarily use a fuel station as you get loyalty card points as the pricing could be out of sync.
Review Your Driving Style
Drive smoothly. This means gentle acceleration. Try decreasing your speed on the motorway as cars use much more fuel the faster they are driven. Often the inside lane flows more freely as truck drivers have been perfecting the art of efficiencies for years. According to Government research reported by What Car? Driving at 60mph instead of 75mph reduces fuel consumption by 17.7% in diesels and 12.8% in petrol cars. Anticipate the road ahead (which all instructors do) to avoid unnecessary braking. Change up gear as soon as you can.
Is your car in ‘Eco’ mode if you have this facility, along with using your stop-start. You’d be surprised by how many people deactivate their stop-start as they think it’s bad for the engine or they can’t start off quick enough! Do you drive with the windows open and/or the aircon on? Closing your windows reduces drag and not having your aircon on uses less fuel. Realistically, can you have the blower set to cold and the windows open a couple of inches? Finding out what works for you will save money. Theory dictates fuel used to compensate for drag with the windows open is less than the fuel used to power your aircon. However when driving on the motorway it’s the other way round. Maybe the 30mph tipping point for windows vs aircon? If you have cruise control and you’re able to drive at a constant speed then this is a great fuel saving device. Set it maybe for 4-5mph less than you’d normally drive at?
What Car? Recently published a list of the most and least efficient cars so if all else fails, you can always change your car?
