Petrol Cost Cutting Article Discussion

tripled

MSE_Martin wrote: »

2. Filling up at night. This is one I put in for fun, hence the deliberate use of the word 'miniscule' in there - the difference is never going to be big.

I bet you there must be at least one person dilligently filling up at two in the morning whenever they can

gazza007

Have we gone American!!!! "Tires":rotfl:

Brent

Advice regarding air conditioning is now incorrect. Best to keep aircon on all the time. It keeps the compressor,seals and valves in the system in good order. When left unused for months they can dry out and leak coolant. Very expensive to repair. My seven year old Citroen Xantia with 88,000 miles up averages 45mpg-mostly urban. Has 27bhp (EastCoast Racing) powerboost and frequently wears a roofbox. Class 1 advanced driver but don't accelerate or brake fircely, drive smoothly in correct gears and keep to speed limits.

epninety

A few observations :-

- "Don’t keep the engine running unnecessarily."

If your car has a turbo, and you've just run at high speed/load, it's kind to let the engine idle for 10 secs or so before shutting off. This lets the engine oil cool the turbo bearings a bit, so the oil doesn't 'fry' on the bearings when it stops circulating. It's not money saving if you have to get your turbo fixed!

- "Only use ‘better fuel’ if your car can cope."

Supermarket diesel *may* not be the cheapest option. I've often noticed slightly lower mpg (and reduced performance) running on cheap diesel.


Other ways to reduce fuel consumption, under the 'driving habits' topic :-

Drive Slower - by which I mean reduce your 'normal' cruising speed from 75 to 70 or 70 to 65 will make a significant impact on fuel consumption.

When you can, plan your journey times. Less sitting in traffic means less wasted fuel.

Just my 2p'th.

epninety

MSE_Martin wrote: »

To answer a few of the questions.

2. Filling up at night. This is one I put in for fun, hence the deliberate use of the word 'miniscule' in there - the difference is never going to be big.

The thermal expansion of petrol is often quoted as approx 950x10e-6/degC, so if the fuel were 10C cooler you could get an extra 0.45L into a 50L tank!
It may be more - the environment agency website has slightly higher figures for expansion.

The question is now - how much does the delivered fuel temperature vary? Probably not by close to 10deg even on the worst days.

Of course the fuel pump is calibrated +1%/-0.5%, so you could be up by 0.5L or down by 0.25L from what you paid for anyway. :rolleyes:

Conor_3

Another point.

Cruise control fuel economy can easily be beaten partly due to the fact that CC can't read the road ahead. CC is designed to maintain a set speed regardless.

Gears to go, brakes to slow is a wonderful saying but doesn't do a lot for saving fuel. As cars cut off fuel on overrun, you want to use engine braking as much as possible. For example:

Approaching a motorway exit, lifting off the accelerator at the 100 yard marker then continuing to the end of the sliproad without using the accelerator gives you a good few hundred yards of free motoring whereas driving down the sliproad and braking at the end uses fuel most of the way.

Other tips...approaching roundabouts and traffic lights, trying to time it so that you don't need to stop.

I could go on and on - I did a economical driving course with a former employer as even a 1/2MPG improvement saves a lot when you do 7-8MPG and over 2000 miles a week.

wolf_2

Has anyone used or heard about MPG CAPS. They suggest a 11 to 15% fuel efficiency improvement.

http://www.myffi.biz/hiw/

Thanks

colin79666

Conor wrote: »

Gears to go, brakes to slow is a wonderful saying but doesn't do a lot for saving fuel.

very true, however its also true that brakes are much cheaper to replace than a gearbox :cool:

GetRichSlow

A good article but it misses out a big issue and that is that petrol (apparently!) is not the same wherever you go. I always keep a record of the mpg my car does to the gallon (calculated manually, not relying on the display!).

For anyone interested - my results (averaged over a two year period):

BP - 29.2mpg
Shell - 28.4
Tesco - 27.4
Esso - 27.2
Sainsburys - 27.2
Asda - 26.5

Of course this will vary for different cars / driving conditions / time periods / etc etc, but for me over two years it's conclusive enough.

Going to ASDA and saving 3p a litre might be tempting, but if you're losing 3mpg, you're losing out big time overall!

E.g.

Saving 3p per litre on 10 gallons (say 45litres) at ASDA over BP = £1.35

Miles on 10 gallons on ASDA fuel = 265 miles
Miles on 10 gallons on BP fuel = 292 miles

27 extra miles on BP = approx equivalent of 1 gallon, 4.5 litres or £4.36.

I also believe cars run on decent fuel have lower maintenance costs and go wrong less frequently than when using supermarket fuel... but I've no evidence for that one! Pure speculation!

Nonetheless, on cost alone, my advice is find your nearest BP or Shell... and avoid ASDA at all costs!!!

Dalavich

Shame about Pipeline Card seeming a dead duck! I was hoping for that one.

Living in a rural area where we have the choice of only 2 petrol stations, this whole article seems very little use!

Can't really adapt driving style, somehow you've still got to drive up steep hills and stop for sheep on the road.

Why don't we start doing what the French did and get a petrol discount for rural areas Martin?