Downshifting the motor Car Tax/Fuel Cost Advice please

MikeyMacbeth

jeferey wrote: »

Not such a daft idea
I think if you are going to keep the car but want to reduce your costs, one easy way of doing this is to increase your mpg. I have been hypermiling for 3 years and regularly get over 20% MORE than the manufacturer's figures for my car.
Have a look at this website for more ideas, there's some really simple stuff you can do and you probably won't need the brick

Hypermiling! love it:rotfl: I'd never come across that term before - will give that site a read.

I did a cost comparison with the bus after working out the cost by car last night:-

Journey to work cost by car (daily): £3.58
(5.4m to work rounded up to 5.7 to allow for deviations x 2)

Journey to work cost by car (weekly): £17.92
firstWeek (green boundary): £12.00
Saving: £5.92

So the bus may just work out a bit cheaper - as long as I don't get tempted to stop for a pint in town!:D

jeferey

MikeyMacbeth wrote: »

I'm afraid your figures don't seem quite right:

2011 figures
Tot. fuel spend to date: £481.94
Tot. Miles travelled: 2,536
Tot. Litres: 372.47 (divide this by 4.546) 81.933 gallons
Avg price/Litre: 129.46
Avg price/gallon: £5.88
Avg miles/gallon: [STRIKE]33.30[/STRIKE] (2536 miles divided by 81.933 galls) 30.95mpg)
Avg miles/litre[STRIKE] 7.33[/STRIKE]: 6.81
Avg fuel cost/mile: [STRIKE]£0.196[/STRIKE] £0.19
Min price/L: 124.90
Max price/L: 132.91
Fixed + Fuel cost /mile: [STRIKE]£0.31[/STRIKE] £0.30 (better!)

And over all time:-

4th Sept 2006 to 11th June 2011:-
Tot. fuel spend to date: £4,790.00
Tot. Miles travelled: 30,306
Tot. Litres: 4,619.81 (divide this by 4.546) 1016.24 gallons
Avg price/Litre: 103.93
Avg price/gallon: £4.72
Avg miles/gallon: [STRIKE]31.45[/STRIKE] (30306 miles divided by 1016.24 galls) 29.82mpg)
Avg miles/litre: [STRIKE]6.92[/STRIKE] 6.56
Avg fuel cost/mile: [STRIKE]£0.17[/STRIKE] £0.158
Min price/L: 82.62
Max price/L: 132.91

If you carried on at the same mpg (30.95) for the full year (around 6000 miles) you would spend approx £1171 on 881 litres at a nominal £1.329.
Increase your mpg to 42 and you would only use 649 litres which would cost you £863 for a saving of over £300 a year - it's not impossible and there for the taking!.....

MikeyMacbeth

jeferey wrote: »

If you carried on at the same mpg (30.95) for the full year (around 6000 miles) you would spend approx £1171 on 881 litres at a nominal £1.329.
Increase your mpg to 42 and you would only use 649 litres which would cost you £863 for a saving of over £300 a year - it's not impossible and there for the taking!.....

I see the point - that's a huge potential saving! - you think 42mpg is achievable? I'm going to see if I can work out how much of my mileage is commuting in rush hour (has to be the mpg killer with all the start-stop-start-swear it engenders).

Yikes! been using the wrong conversion factor for litres to gallons (imperial) - had looked up on the web and just took the 1st one I found (Lx0.22=gallons) without double checking . Sloppy Mike, sloppy...

Back to the spreadsheet drwaing board - luckily I put the conversion factor in one cell rather than formulas down the list!

jeferey

MikeyMacbeth wrote: »

I see the point - that's a huge potential saving! - you think 42mpg is achievable?

Don't see why not - other Fabia owners can achieve it, you just need to apply your mind and drive differently, more defensively, slower, drive without brakes (well not literally :eek: but anticipate the road ahead and let your car engine slow you down - your cars ECU will turn off the fuel supply and it's free miles ), etc.

buglawton

Tyres and brakes will also last longer, more £££s saved

jeferey

buglawton wrote: »

Tyres and brakes will also last longer, more £££s saved

Dead right and I find I am more relaxed when I get out of the car too

getmore4less

MikeyMacbeth wrote: »

A very sad graph of the cost of my petrol over the last 5 years

Try normalizing it based on current cost per ltr.

Also unless you fuel the same time every week/month some rolling averages can give a better picture try a few periods.

buglawton

And just think most of it goes to the taxman