Can I reduce my fuel costs?

[Dustydog]

Expect £6.75 per gallon at Easter.

Can we alter our driving styles to improve mpg?

Well I think we can.

Forget speeding at 80 mph and reduce down to 60 - 70 mph and the mpg in in my case reduces quite significantly. The extra time on a journey is not much longer.
Use advanced driving techniques , more advanced observation, resulting in less braking. Braking only absorbs the energy you have already expended in accelerating in the first place. Accelerate less harshly.

Ensufre your vehicle is in good mechanical order and regularly serviced either diy or garage. Try and buy all the spares at Trade price and negotiate hard with the garage.
Any more ideas will be most welcome

 

[Lutz]

Engines work most efficiently when under load. Therefore, accelerate to your cruising speed relatively quickly and change up a gear as soon as reasonably possible. Try not to exceed the engine revs beyond those of maximum torque.
Oh, and make sure that there is enough air in the tyres.

 

[Surfer]

If you are towing a caravan a lot of suggestions go straight out the window!

 

[Lutz]

No, the suggestions still apply. You'll obviously never get the same fuel consumption when towing compared with solo, but you can still improve economy by following them.

 

[JonnyG]

Buy a more fuel efficient vehicle! buy a more aerodynamic caravan and drive in the middle of the night when there's less traffic and the air is cooler so denser so giving better Mpg.
Drive at 50mph rather than 60 or 70, as the time difference isnt that big but mpg will be remarkedly improved.at the same time if you have a modern 6 speed diesel, then dont bother trying to use 6th gear unless you intend to travel at or above 60 mph.
These suggestion apply to both towing and solo driving except the 6th gear remark which is aimed solely at towing

 

[Lutz]

If you get into 6th gear without labouring the engine, use it.
Another recommendation when driving around town. Turn the engine off at traffic lights (unless you've already got one of those fancy cars which do it automatically anyway).

 

[JonnyG]

Lutz, i read so many post regarding the use of 6th gear and the term "labouring" In normal solo use, i believe you should get into the highest gear posible, as soon as possible, but this was all based on "normally aspirated engines" and not these high torque high geared diesel,especially where towing is concerned.
Father in law had a seat alhambra 110tdi[5 gears] top was 29.5mph/1000rpm. i had galaxy 115tdi 6 gears, top 34mph/1000 rpm, 5thgear was the same as that of his alhambra in its top gear[5th]
We have similar vans and holiday togeather.
Whilst the galaxy could indeed tow in top without labouring at about 50ishmph,on the flat my fuel consumption was worse than his.
Simply because i needed to put my foot down just a little bit more so that it produced the power[torque] needed.
When i decided not to use top gear, my mpg improved by 2mpg! about the same as his. note even at 60 mph in my 5th gear is only 2000rpm, in 6th its 1700 rpm, but you are using higher boost for longer durations so using more fuel, if you use top gear anywhere but the flatests of roads.
Here i read people stating they can tow at 50 or 55mph in top! 6th gear quite easily! OK maybe they can but they are loading the engine for much longer. more load equals more boost equals more fuel.....and dont forget one less gearchange up and down which all adds up.
For proof? look at the fuel consumptions of normal aspirated cars solo against towing, and then look at the modern diesel cars solo against towing. A normally aspirated car that says does 35mpg solo does 25mpg towing. A turbo diesel? say it does 60 mpg solo still wont do much above 30mpg towing Almost a 50% reduction in mpg. where as the normally aspirated engine say 30 ish % reduction. All down to how you work that turbo, and just because it can pull from really low-down a high gear, doesn't mean its the best option for mpg....

 

[mullsy1]

Totally agree.I have a 6 speed Mondeo but find 5th more suitable for the majority of time.On a trip down to Corwall last September I made a point of driving at 55 instead of 60 and got there without my fuel warning light coming on which had come on when travelling to the same site a couple of years previous

 

[Sedo]

I know what Lutz is saying and it's quite correct.
Check what revs your car comes into it's torque band and try and stick to these revs in each gear.
That is if your engine starts to deliver max torque at 1800 r.p.m. and you're cruising at 1600r.p.m., your engine is labouring, whether it's got 4, 5, 6 or more gears.
Tried it out years ago after reading an article P.C. magazine and the difference is noticable.
What'll be the problem in taller geared cars is the 60 limit when towing won't allow for sitting comfortably in top gear and using max torque.

 

[SpudDog57]

Towing @ 50mph rather than 60mph you end up tangling with trucks and going up and down the gear box more than if you plan ahead and cruise above the truck speeds we found when we came to the UK and started towing. 50 to 55 just doesn't work, may be travelling through the night you might get a slight gain.
We get best MPG using tip function and then change to auto mode when approaching cruise speed and then set CC. Auto selects 6th most of the time and gives good MPG in our TD.

 

[Big S]

Check your car's tyre pressure regularly. Tyres that are under-inflated reduce fuel efficiency by as much as 3% for 0.1 bar (2% per pound) they are under-inflated. Under-inflation also causes premature tyre wear giving your tyres a shorter useful life. Also be careful not to over-inflate as this will also cause premature and most likely uneven wear of the tyres which means you’ll also need to replace them sooner,
Slow down and drive at the lawful speed limit. Cars use about 20% more petrol driving at 70 miles per hour than they do at 55 miles per hour,
Avoid using air-conditioning whenever possible (not that we need to use it much anyway with our weather!). Air conditioning reduces fuel economy by 10% to 20% depending on your car’s engine size, etc. Use the air ventilation system instead,
Don't drive with open windows or sunroof when travelling at high speeds. Open windows on the highway can reduce fuel efficiency by 10%.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Expect £6.75 per gallon at Easter.

/quote]

AHH but that is forgetting about the budget reduction when the chancellor reduces the duty by 20p a litre

 

[Steve L]

What Lutz has said is basically right. Accelerate upto the max torque Rpm band and get to your cruising speed asap is the most efficient use of fuel. Also being anticipative and alert at roundabouts , approach in as higher gear as practical, be aware that you might need to stop but don't scrub off excess speed and change to your exit gear as you negotiate the junction, thus giving you max torque on exit to keep the vehicle under control. It's a basic lorry driving skill used daily since the truck was invented. When you drive an artic doing 9-12 Mpg, you need to save every teaspoon full.
My Rover 75 Cdti diesel does 64Mpg driving this way and at a top speed of 55 Mpg. (solo)
It does 37Mpg with the van on.
Ok up dinmore hill I get down to 22 Mpg doing 30Mph in third gear for about a mile up hill, but going down the other side in fourth gear I get 53 Mpg to balance things back up again.
I wouldn't count on the conservatives to reduce fuel tax either.
Back when petrol hit £1 a litre people protested and made a stand, but now all we talk about is how to make fuel go further. yep, I'm doing it too, but not without my own protest and signing up to Quentin Wilsons Fair Fuel tax campain.
Don't just "talk the talk" "walk the walk" and as I do, "do the do".

 

[Stuart_374401878]

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[ProfJohnL]

Hello Stuart,

We are all entitled to our own opinions, and just because someone else disagrees with you does not necessarily make them wrong or give cause to start name calling.

We all have our own views on what we need from a car and many of us either choose or may need to consider the frugality of the vehicles we choose.

On the basis that virtually all modern cars will reach the national speed limit (and most are capable of exceeding it) the argument of mines faster than yours is largely irrelevant, and it certainly does not impress me, where as the ability to use less fuel does.

I firmly believe we should all consider the impact our activities make on the environment, and the saving of fuel makes sense not only from a personal economic perspective but also to preserve the worlds finite supplies.

However I do believe your conclusion that your petrol driven vehicle is more economical than a diesel is flawed.
Currently the cost premium of diesel over petrol is typically no more than £0.03/l That is no more than about 3% based on a price of £1.40/l. Where a petrol car has a diesel alternative there is usually at least 20% to 30% improvement in the fuel consumption possibly as much as 50%. so which ever way you look at it diesels are currently significantly more economic than petrol

 

[JonnyG]

Sorry Prof, i have to agree with stuart.
You see in the alternative universe where stuart lives, petrol is the fuel to have, as diesel fuel make up is not the same as it is here in our universe.

 

[xtrailman]

The most efficient way to increase economy is to REDUCE the use of the car.

We now try to plan our shopping to reduce journeys, buy more food take less journeys.

We also have two freezers, kept full.

 

[quentineB]

Yes! You can definitely reduce your fuel cost. As a professional driver I have drove over a dozen cars for a long while. I have tried everything possible to see how I can reduce my fuel consumption. Good thing fuel efficient cars are now available. I am able to save some money for my other needs.