by Richard Harley

Created on: February 01, 2009

Some people say "to reduce fuel consumption, walk instead". Those people are stupid and are completely missing the point. Instead, following these seven handy tips will help reduce your fuel costs - perhaps by a significant amount.

1) Shed the weight.

Although losing a few pounds yourself might work, what I actually mean is try removing excess baggage from your vehicle. Carting a load of golf clubs around in the boot is stupid when you only play golf once a week. Remove the roof rack if you only use it once a year. There's a reason why trackday and race cars are stripped of anything and everything that isn't essential. Shedding weight will improve acceleration and fuel economy.

2) Tyre Pressure.

Your vehicle will use less fuel when the tyres are inflated properly. Simple physics dictates this - reduced rolling resistance, especially with larger tyres, can affect your petrol consumption by around 4-5%.

3) Avoid the rush hour.

There's no getting round rush hour traffic, but leaving five or ten minutes earlier can make a large difference to the amount of stop-start driving on your journey to work. Likewise with the return trip.

4) Coast up to traffic lights.

Don't approach a set of red traffic lights at speed then brake when you get to them. Instead, try reducing your speed by lifting off the accelerator so your arrival coincides with the lights turning green. Timed properly, you won't have to stop thus reducing the fuel needed to get back up to cruising speed. It takes a lot more energy to increase speed from 0-20mph than from 20-40mph. Idling at traffic lights also effectively means you're doing 0mpg. If you're going to be stopped for a long period of time, it's probably best to turn the engine off.

5) Drive slower.

Ahh - the dreaded 'drive slower' tip which I included in the middle, sandwiched between less obvious and annoying hints. It's a fact of life, however, that driving at a higher speed requires more fuel. Sticking to a steady 55mph instead of 70mph will increase your journey time by around 15% but will improve your fuel economy by 20%.

6) Reduce drag.

Drag is caused by things like open windows, air conditioning and open sunroofs. Trying removing one or all of these factors and your fuel efficiency should improve by 1-2% each.

7) Tune up your car.

Not with a badboy exhaust though - simply replace consumables when they need replacing. Items like a new air filter or fuel filter will improve the efficiency of your engine.

There you have it - seven basic tips. Follow all of them and you could see your fuel economy improve by 10-15%.

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