A way to use less petrol?

beaker141

SNIFUR wrote:

Get a bike! walk, run or catch a bus.

Benefits?
Less Pollution
Get Fitter
Reduce the number of cars on the road
Reduce traffic congestion
Ecologically friendly
Not having to worry about half filling the tank or not (maybe a lit bit less pressure in the tyres will make it easier to pedal)
Save not only on petrol costs but also Insurance, Road Tax, MOT and servicing not to mention depreciation.
These are just a few of the top of my head but no doubt there are contless more advantages

Chill out

DISADVANTAGE - getting knocked off your bike - twice !!

My colleague has tried cycling to work rather than car to save money, the first accident saw a car pull out of junctin with him hitting the front wing launching himselft over the top of the bonnet - they didnt bother hanging around to see him.

The second just recently saw him clipped by a car which threw him off balance, ending up in the centre of the carriageway with a BMW screeching to a halt with hims legs underneath the centre of the car. He was very shook up by the second one, praising the drivers alertness and brakes for stopping before he squashed him.

He has now given up on the cycling again !

Of course us being compassionate work colleagues had 2 songs in mind for him "Im all shook up - Elvis" and "I like to ride my bicycle - Queen" !

ice-pop_2

Hi,
Many people spend far more on running a car than they need too,
and for most people,the cost of fuel is not their biggest cost.

DEPRECIATION is the real big cost. Especially on new or nearly new vehicles.
Used cars are much cheaper than they used to be,and they age much more slowly. £1000 can buy a good motor if you or a friend can spot them. Also look after your car well,and keep it for a very long time.
One of my cars I have owned for 15 years and it has been virtually trouble free.

Next thing is SERVICING. Modern cars are a doddle to service, if you can DIY.

If you cannot DIY FIX a broken car (not as common as it used to be)
then find a good mobile mechanic. There are some around. My local Peugeot dealer charges £75 an hour. A solicitor is probably cheaper (and he might do a better job then the kids they employ there.)

Finally, I buy my tyres in the North of England. They are cheaper there, and I got an MOT at GT Tyres in Thurnscoe, Nr Doncaster last week for £20.

If you do seriously high milage, buy a second hand duel fuel car and run on LPG. Currently cheaper per mile than even diesel, but as soon as it becomes popular the Chancellor will make it only 5p a litre cheaper than unleaded.
Paying for a conversion is usually not worth it unless you have a taxi or a massive 4x4.

Mike

flick_2

vansboy wrote:

Some of DavidVinces ideas are fine, but...

Beware the tip to get into higher gear too soon. This is for 2 reasons,

1 - you can cause the engine to 'labour' making it less efficient & strugle to catch up with the speed your doing.It won't be a smooth ride, either.

2 - current feeling among many professional drivers & those skilled in advanced driving techniques, favour lower gears, in town & built up areas, for better control & safer driving.

If you maintain 3rd gear at the 30mph limit, you may use a little more fuel, but your control of the car will be greater & the flexibility from it will be VERY apparent. Similarly 4th gear at under 40mph limit.TRY IT!!

& for my suggestions...

Forget supermarket fuel (lots of debate about this, but it IS a different product.

Use Shell - get a Bonuspoints card, worth nearly 1p/ltr, depending on spend levels.

Get a Shell credit card - use it once & they give you £10 free petrol, by points/voucher.

Run the tank 'till you've got a gallon or so left, then brim it as full as you can, 'till the first click of the nozzle. Don't go past this, 'cos in the summer, you'll find the fuel expands & you'll loose it via overflow.

In summer, re-fuel in the early morning, as for reason above, the petrol station's supply will NOT have expanded during the heat of the day.

Plenty more ideas in http://www.honestjohn.co.uk for ALL things motoring

VB

what do you mean about supermarket fuel? The reason I ask is I have noticed differences when I purchased fuel from a "major" supermarket as opposed to fuel retailers

Silent_Bob_3

Currently doing a test with BP Ultimate as Sainsburys was out of Super.

So will see what difference - if any - I get in miles per tank from BP Ultimate as opposed to Sainsburys Super. In a way I hope I get more as the BP Ultimate was 89.9p a litre compared to Sainburys 81.9p litre.

vansboy

what do you mean about supermarket fuel? The reason I ask is I have noticed differences when I purchased fuel from a "major" supermarket as opposed to fuel retailers

Hi Flick,

What I mean is, that, quite simply, various additives are usually selected at the fuel depot, by the delivery driver, when he takes on his load.

They actually use a card system to select who gets what & where it's going to.

So, regardless of whats written on the side of the tanker, you're NOT getting, say, Shell form an Asda forecourt!!

VB

samson_3

Has anyone ever tried using veg oil in their diesel cars? I heard it works and does not damage the engine. Also very cheap.

ReductionQueen

samson wrote:

Has anyone ever tried using veg oil in their diesel cars? I heard it works and does not damage the engine. Also very cheap.

See my post on page 2 of this thread about this, I have looked into it, one of the first things I posted about on the MSE boards.

Theoretically you have two chioces. One is to make biodiesel out of veg oil, and then use it like regular diesel. The other is to somehow pre-heat the veg oil in the tank (to make it thinner, and therefore nearer the viscosity of diesel) so that you don't need to do anything with the veg oil. Many older diesels will be happy with either, but very new engines have fuel managment ect, and sometimes don't get on with it apparently. I got a lot of useful info from the https://www.honestjohn.com site, in the 'backroom' section, as recommended on this board. Don't forget the excise angle on this. The bloody government want the last drop from everybody!

wisewoman

fuzyfelt wrote:

Hi all,
I've been wondering for a while if this works, and just doing some quick calcs in my head maybe somebody could tell me if my working's wrong...

If I only fill up my car 1/2 full of petrol each time, do I save 'cos the car's more efficient 'cos it's not carrying around the extra 1/2 tank of petrol?

Based on these figures:
1000 kg car,
40 litre tank capacity which is about 40 kg,
full tank every week, about £30.

I calculate ruffly:
20kg ( half a tank ) is 2% of the weight of the car, so uses 2% less petrol.
2% of £30 is 60p x 52 = £31.20 per year.
I'm sure there's some complex integrals and stuff that can be used, but is there anything wrong with the basic idea? Is this an easy way to save £31.20 per year? Anyone got more info so we can work it out accurately? Does BP not want us to know this?

Andy

Hi! My hubby says that you'll save more money by making sure that your tyres are at the correct pressure...soft tyres create more surface tension and friction, and so adversely affect fuel economy.

Silent_Bob_3

Update on my BP Ultimate v Sainsburys Super test.

Give or take a litre of petrol in fill ups - absolutely no difference in mileage / mpg whatsoever. That doing the same journey 5 days a week and being fairly consistent in my driving style.

Back to Sainsburys then at 8p per litre less. :j

crunchy_with_ketchup

At uni I looked at some of the research on driving styles and fuel economy, which challanged some conventional wisdom (IE what my Dad taught me based on the 70's fuel crisis). Since then I'v been to a fuel efficiency seminar aimed at professional drivers. Some points from those (some of which have been mentioned before):

Steady, slow accelaration, moving up through the gears early is not generally fuel efficient. A car is at its least efficient during the accelation cycle, but the difference between efficiency under gentle accelaration and brisk accelation (we aren't talking merciless thrashing here, just brisk accelaration) is fairly small. Therefore it is better to get to cruising speed quicker, and hence spend more time/miles efficiently cruising and less inefficiently accelarating.

On the flat driving at a steady spped is the most efficient way to go (fairly obvious). Where terrain is undulating it is more efficient to gradually lose speed going uphill, and gain speed going downhill. BUT....

Gear changes are poor for efficiency, so avoid slowing down too much going up hill if it means avoiding a downchange. Don't leave a downchance too long though, or you may end up just losing loads of spped and crunching your way down several gears (especially in a car with limited torque).

Equally, when accelarating, don't assume you should use all the gears. Brisk accelation in third, then straight into fifth can be more efficient. This is especially true of modern cars and especially 6 speed boxes which often have closer ratios.

Perhaps the easiest way to improve efficiency is to read the road and plan ahead, avoid unnecsary braking, and especially avoid coming to a complete stop. If you can keep the wheels rolling, you will make a significant fuel saving.