'Petrol efficiency experiment; an increase of 20%' blog discussion

Tojo_Ralph

ILoveSaving wrote: »

Back in October last year I had just filled up as usual, which was every 2 weeks on the dot. So I wondered if by leaving my radio off for the following 2 weeks, would there be any difference in my petrol consumption?

To my surprise, doing exactly the same trips as I usually do, including school runs, dance classes, shopping and work etc. I did not have to fill up for 3 weeks!

..........................
:rotfl:

Tojo_Ralph

paul.jacobs wrote: »

I tend to usually keep up with the traffic on motorway driving. SO this weekend I experimented on a 384 mile round trip. I drove between 60-65mph in the Grandad lane and kept up with lorries making very few overtaking manouvers. My trip was 40ish miles around town and 340ish motorways. I managed to get 48mpg in my 1.6litre petrol Astra which was great as I am lucky to do 38mpg on motorways. I worked out that I saved exactly £10.

The downside was that my trip was lengthend by about an hour and a half. And my leg was getting cramp as my foot was not moving as I maintaining a constant speed. I then had to make a stop during the trips and I was hobbling around for a while.

So a £10 saving and an extra hour and a half and a bit of cramp over a 384 mile trip - 27% saving

How on earth has it taken me so long to find this thread? ... it's hilarious. :rotfl:

pault123

Skeksis wrote: »

Also consider cars are more fuel efficient in their designed rev range - too low rpm is NOT more efficient - and also damages your clutch, and the now common dual mass flywheel. Taxi drivers are renowned for this - 30mph in 5th triyng to save fuel, puts too much torque through the clutch and flywheel..... with around a 1k repair bill!

Great advice i've been debating should I be in 5th gear when less than 40mph recently (6 speed gearbox) fourth gear feels good nice and responsive, engine not lugging as in struggling at too low revs BUT revs are at 1900-2100 so my fuel concious mind says change up to fifth. I can get an instant drop to 1100-1200 revs in fifth at 40mph only the engine sounds like its not going fast enough for 5th gear.

Which gear do other 6 box drivers use at 40mph?

pault123

Skeksis wrote: »

Another tip to save fuel is to remove the spare wheel to lighten the weight of the car and keep a can of tyre sealant in the car in case of an emergency.

I wouldn't bother, I have seen many nasty punctures where sealant would simply ooze straight out of the hole. Theres a lot of metal wire on the road nowadays, my tyre recently went completely flat in 2 minutes thanks to a one inch coil of metal. If it wasn't for my spare in the boot I would have been stranded far from home with the sun setting.

charlieheard

pault123 wrote: »

I wouldn't bother, I have seen many nasty punctures where sealant would simply ooze straight out of the hole. Theres a lot of metal wire on the road nowadays, my tyre recently went completely flat in 2 minutes thanks to a one inch coil of metal. If it wasn't for my spare in the boot I would have been stranded far from home with the sun setting.

Couldn't agree more. The last 2 times I've had to change a wheel, the punctured one was unrepairable. The first was in the outside lane of the motorway - by the time I'd got onto the hard shoulder the tyre was shredded. The second was in the Lakes on Easter Monday - I was squeezed into the side of the road and a piece of slate caused a 3-inch 'L'-shaped gash in the tyre caused. 2 kids in the car on a bank holiday without a spare :eek: NO THANKS!

harryhound

What do people make of:-
* "Skinny" spares and their requirement to drive on at 45MPH?
* Directional tread and the 50/50 probability that the spare tyre will be illegal?

Harry.

PS be very careful about pulling out that nail, it is a real gamble between "Have I caught it in time?" and "Oh drat, I've now got to change the wheel".

One other tip, nothing to do with saving fuel but a lot to do with wet nights on hard shoulders: If you have a traditional steel wheel bolted against a cast iron brake drum/disk, tell the fitter in the tyre depot to give the surfaces between the two a coating of copper grease. This should stop the wheel rusting itself on, because you have been driving gently and its 18 months since anyone needed to take off a wheel.

tomstickland

I carry tyre weld and I now have European breakdown cover.

baileypl

Further fuel saving tips:
- n

baileypl

- use downhill to gain momentum then go uphill on feathered throttle( many people brake downhill then accelerate uphill)
- keep momentum round corners rather than brake, where safe to do so
- adjust speed coming up to roundabout or traffic lights so you don't need to stop
- on busy motorways use middle or inside lanes mainly as outside lane suffers from concertinaring which involves braking then acceleration
Hope this helps!

Farty_Barty

Some years ago I accompanied a friend and took The Institute of Advanced Motorists, advanced driver test. This involved having your driving assessed by an expert, followed by some informative talks and some practice lessons until a "test" was taken uner the scrutiny of the Chief Driving instructor of the local County Police force.
This happened when my children were learning to drive and it gave us a common interest as we were all learning at the same time!

This also coincided with my move from a petrol VW GTi to a diesel Ford Mondeo, a very different drive! No more the instant acceleration you had with a petrol engine! To drive in traffic I had to plan ahead for roundabouts and other junctions, and use the momentum of the car rather than stamping on the throttle to "slot in" with other road users, using the point and squirt technique. This has the added benefits of less wear and tear on tyres, clutch, transmission, brakes etc. and therefore lower maintenance costs.

Driving pretty much the same route to work each day I also got to know the traffic light timing and phasing en route, leading to further fuel savings: I have heard that if you are stationary for more than 30 seconds, you use more fuel with the engine idling than you do when restarting, so if I know I'm going to stop for 45-50 seconds at traffic lights, I switch the engine off.

Dunno where this pearl of wisdom came from and it may well be outdated now with the advent of modern fuel injection systems. Does anyone know for certain or can point me to verified data to prove/disprove this theory?