How to Reduce Your Fuel Consumption

There is no escaping the fact that fuel prices will continue to rise in the future. The result of this would be a lot of pressure on people’s personal finances. Unless some new technology is made commercially viable, the only way you can counter this trend is by increased fuel efficiency.

This makes it important for you to know how to reduce your fuel consumption. There are certain practises which, if followed, can make a huge difference in how much fuel your car uses. Here are some tips designed to help you reduce your fuel consumption.

1. Maintain slow to medium speeds: The more you make your engine work, the more fuel it will guzzle. Driving your car at high speeds means that there is more aerodynamic drag which, in turn, means that your engine is working harder.

By maintaining slow to medium speeds, you can significantly decrease the fuel consumption of your car.

2. Avoid hard acceleration or braking: The maximum amount of work that your engine has to do is when the car is starting from standstill. When it is moving the kinetic energy or momentum of the car helps its engine, but at standstill all the power for movement has to be applied by the engine.

Therefore, if you want to reduce your fuel consumption, you need to ensure that you do not brake very often and accelerate slowly from standstill.

3. Plan your trips to minimise distance: It is always good to plan your trips in advance because this would allow you to minimise the distance you are travelling. For instance, if you are going to the shops, you can plan the trip in such a way so as to reduce the to and fro from one shop to another.

It would also be to your benefit if you set a monthly distance cap on your car. This would not only help you keep to the distance target but may also reduce your car insurance premiums. Car insurance providers favour car owners with low monthly distance projections.

4. Do not idle unnecessarily: Idling means that your car is not moving but the engine is on and consuming fuel. As is obvious, at temporary stops and traffic lights, you should turn your engine off to save as much fuel as possible.

6. Join a carpool: Carpools are the perfect solution for you if you want to reduce your fuel consumption. As you share the load with other people, your total fuel consumption would reduce drastically.

7. Check tyre pressure regularly: Everyone knows that tyres with pressure below the recommended levels are dangerous on the roads. What people do not know is that such situations also increase fuel consumption. Under inflated tyres cause more friction on the road.

8. Use air conditioning to a minimum: Air conditioning can put a lot of pressure on your engine. The more you use your air conditioning and the higher levels you use it on, the more your car will consume fuel. Therefore, if you can avoid it, try not to use your air conditioner.

While lowering your fuel consumption would save you money that you would be spending on excessive fuel, it would also help your car insurance premiums. Furthermore, as low fuel consumption is usually related to low engine usage, this would also make your car last longer.