OS solutions to rising fuel prices

sparrer

quintwins wrote: »

lucky u £30 didn't even half fill our car on monday and it's already at 1/4 now

I symathise, the fuel tank on your car must be huge to have to pay so much. While there is only me in my household I don't have the benefit of a husband and/or wage, instead I live on a pension, have a disability and drive a small 10 year old car. I'vre no hope of replacing it when it dies, leaving me housebound, thanks to the horrendous increase in fuel and therefore every other commodity essential to living. Lucky me indeed...

beemuzed

Living out in the sticks we have always found the car is essential as public transport is impossible. The bus just doesn't run every day to the village where I used to work - and no trains anywhere near.
Don't use it nearly as much now I'm retired, and I do make use of my bus pass if I can, so there has been a saving of late. Walking any distance with small children is certainly difficult. We didn't have a car when I was growing up and certainly walked considerable distances - but buses were frequent and therefore could be used when young ones had had enough ( or when Mum wanted to get anywhere quickly!)
I think it's dreadful if it's becoming a choice between fuelling the car or feeding the family. Sadly many of us have become accustomed to living considerable distances away from where we work so there's no easy solution.

davidjwest

I've got a 150 mile daily commute (there and back) and so am keen to save money, here's a few ideas:

I drive when the roads are quieter

Plan the route to avoid accidents (listen to radio for traffic announcements, have a phone app etc)

Use the Petrol Prices websites

I use Shell diesel as I find that gives me better MPG (keep a spreadsheet to record MPG for yourself)

I work from home sometimes when work allows

Cruise Control helps!

I stick to around 60 mph to be more efficient

Try using additives, I've used Millers diesel additive and it has marginally improved the MPG, not sure if it's worth it yet but will be working it out when the additive has all gone.

Plan ahead to avoid unnecessary braking

Drive off straight away after starting the car, don't wait for the engine to warm up

De-ice the car before starting it

You can also get special chips that allegedly improve MPG, my findings are they don't work or if they do improvements are marginal

Same for tyres, I'm not starting that debate again though! Make sure the tyres are correctly inflated.

There's more tips no doubt.............

B00st

Biggles wrote: »

Only if you're in the habit of 'blipping' the accelerator pedal when you restart, which isn't necessary on modern cars. Some 'eco' cars automatically cut out after 5 seconds of being stationary and restart when you depress the clutch.

It actually saves an enormous amount of engine wear (not to mention fuel), as it isn't turning over. The only bit that gets more wear is the starter motor and I've not had any problems in 20 years.

The Stop-Start systems on many modern cars (and they don't have to be 'eco' ones, even Ferraris and BMW M-cars have such systems) operate quite differently to just switching the engine off. They actually stop the engine at the top of the compression stroke just before the engine is due to fire, so only take a miniscule tickle to get the engine to rotate and then fire.

They also have a load of parameters which have to be met before the system will even operate, such as outside temperature, battery condition, length of time the engine has been running etc.

hubert_cumberdale

i currently drive 200 miles a day to get to and from work so im way of fuel saving lol

i did make a hydrogen bubbler and install it on my engine and it made a great improvement but i didnt incorparate a one way valve and it kinda exploded! so back to the drawing board on that

but on a happier note i did buy my first house less than half a mile from my work so i may not need the car anymore

Kilty_2

I don't do a massive number of miles in a week but I MUST use my car for work because I start at a stupid hour and there's no buses

I did what everyone says you shouldn't and bought a more fuel efficent car - 60MPG instead of 30 makes quite a difference (and so does the reduction in insurance and tax - the finance pays itself from these two before the fuel cost comes into play)

Living_proof

I am fortunate enough to work at home but that in itself creates a demand to get out of the house/office at the weekends.

Even before the present fuel crisis I have always tried to 'kill two birds with one stone' and combined journeys to limit the fuel I use but I recently worked out that my Micra used to cost about 9p per mile for fuel, and last week it was 14p.

There is a limit as to how little one can use a car, particularly living rurally as I do. Certainly travelling to car boot sales (big hobby after Easter!) can only be justified if I share the journey with someone else. My father always used to tell me to drive a car imagining I have a jelly on the bonnet. I pretty much always have.

Wig

Lpg..............

Justamum

Wig wrote: »

Lpg..............

Do you need a special car to take that? Or can any car be adapted?

Mrs_Arcanum

Fill up as early in the morning as possible. Cold fuel has a marginally lower volume.

Learn to decelerate rather than brake.

Don't load up the car more than absolutely needed.

Managed to improve our fuel use by 30% (DH was somewhat heavy footed so cost has had it's benefits)