The price of petrol has been at an all-time high lately, and many will have felt this in their wallets. A cheaper petrol price is therefore very desirable, but cannot be achieved in the short term. Therefore, the following tips to drive more economically.
The facts
Before we start with the tips, first a few important facts:
- A warm engine block uses less gasoline than a cold engine block.
- Constant speed is more economical than braking and accelerating, braking costs money!
Tips
With these facts in mind, the following tips are easy to understand and, in retrospect, very logical! Read the following tips carefully:
Long distances
Try to only use the car for distances longer than five kilometers. After five kilometers the engine is warm and will use considerably less petrol from then on. If you take the car for short distances, you will consume more and your engine will wear out faster!
Drive away quietly
Then drive away slowly until the engine is up to temperature. Driving away sportily, while the engine is still cold, again costs relatively much more fuel.
Park in reverse
Parking in reverse saves on fuel consumption. When you park, your engine is warm (assuming that the previous tips have been used). You have to perform fewer actions when driving away. When this order is reversed, consumption will increase.
Avoid excessive consumption
Unnecessary gasoline consumption = unnecessary refueling (i.e. paying). Always make sure you are aware of traffic jams and the correct route, for example through navigation. It is also useful to have selected landmarks in advance, so that you can save searching while driving. In addition, unnecessary weight will also cause unnecessary consumption. Try to only put what you need in the car and leave out all unnecessary luggage. The amount of fuel in the fuel tank will also count towards the weight. Half a tank easily weighs an extra 20 to 25 kilos!
In addition to unnecessary mass and kilometers, unnecessary power also contributes to higher fuel consumption. Therefore, try to use all electrical equipment as little as possible. Rear window heating costs up to five percent extra fuel. Driving with the windows open can result in five to ten percent extra fuel consumption (plus more noise, which means the radio has to be louder and therefore costs more fuel). Using air conditioning can save ten percent or more. Using the above equipment can quickly add up to twenty percent extra consumption!
Constant speed
Try to keep the speed as constant as possible. When you slow down, the speed must be built up again. So braking costs money! Using cruise control will help enormously.
Anticipate in time
Try to stop as little as possible at traffic lights by anticipating traffic in time. Ultimately, it is cheaper to release the accelerator in time at a red traffic light, so that it is green when you arrive and you do not have to start from a standstill. Here again, braking costs money!
Ideal speed
The lower the revs, the less fuel is consumed. Make sure that you switch in a timely manner. The number of revolutions at which gears must be shifted differs per car. As a direction you can maintain 2000 rpm.
Avoid wind friction as much as possible
On the highway it is better to limit yourself to a speed of 90-100 km/h. In many cases this saves a travel time of a few minutes, but you save proportionately more petrol! The relationship between gasoline and wind friction is not proportional. This means that you use proportionately more petrol at a higher speed. It is therefore advisable to ride behind trucks. They often drive on cruise control, which means you automatically drive constantly. They also catch the wind for you, which of course saves fuel.
To catch as little wind as possible, the streamline of the car must be respected. Therefore, keep the car as free as possible from obstacles such as ski boxes, bicycle carriers and all kinds of other things that catch the wind.