Cheapest Petrol & Diesel Discussion Area

It's difficult to drive slow here in Kent. There are too many hotheaded drivers who tailgate and honk their horn to push other folks down the road, it's really annoying for those of us who really want to conserve our fuel and drive slow.

Did you ever consider that some people need to get where they are going and that your selfish attitude is the sort that causes accidents?
If you want/need to drive slowly to conserve fuel do you ever consider pulling over to let other people past?
I'm not condoning speeding in any way but nothing frustrates me more than somebody doing 40 mph on a clear road with a 60 mph limit, especially when they create a convoy of like minded drivers who bunch together too closely to let anybody overtake.
37 years of driving experience has also shown me that the kind of person who drives at 40 in a 60 mph zone also typically drives at 40 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Adapt your speed top the road conditions and if you can't afford the fuel buy a more economical car or get a push bike:mad:

I'm consistently getting over 60 mpg out of my car which is driven at least 21 miles each way to work through Newcastle every day.

I have a computer which I have set to give instantaneous mpg readouts & use it to maximise my use of the accelerater.

A few thoughts:

Original fit sport tyres cost £150 each & caused a drop in mpg of approx 5 & only lasted 8,000 miles! Changing to £75 tyres that are original fit on Kias got the mpg back up straight away & they are wearing well.

Its really important to check your mpg every fillup & investigate if it drops - mine dropped 6 mpg over 2 tankfuls & needed a £20 tune up to get it back to normal.

Weight does matter - perhaps not in the short term but over a year it will make a difference - I have to climb a mile long steep hill every day so I have taken out 2 of my removeable rear seats - they are very heavy & I rarely even carry 2 people never mind 3! Also the bikes go in the back with the front wheels off, never on the roofrack!

Change your route: I cut out the last 300 yards at work where I would go through traffic lights & double back on myself. Extra walk about 30 yards. Saves diesel & tyres. At home in my village I park at the entrance to the village and walk 50 yards through a cut to home. This saves 0.4 miles each way - not a lot, but it is a steep uphill twisty road into our estate. So, a bit of planned parking saves about over mile a day, and its the most expensive mile as far as fuel & tyres are concerned.

Coasting downhill - 2 things to consider - if you can maintain a reasonable speed in top gear then this is the most efficient because the overrun fuel cutoff works. However, there are some long downhill inclines where if you lifted your foot off you would decelerate, but coasting would maintain your speed - this is when to coast - the engine still needs fuel to tickover but if you are travelling at 60 then it is negligible for the distance travelled.

If you have a computer with instantaneous readout use it to hone your right foot - its amazing what difference a slight bit of pressure makes.

Rethink your route - the shortest is not always the most fuel efficient. On regular runs take note of things that affect your fuel consumption like queues, traffic lights, ability to cruise, bad bends etc & try to plan a route that would be more efficient.

Journey times - the difference between hammering it to work and driving efficiently over 21 miles is 1 minute and a lot less stress! What does make adifference of up to 20 minutes is the actual time I travel, so I've rearranged my life to start later & finish later, saving up to 40 minutes a day commuting.

Finally, for those of you who say I could move closer to work: well I used to live a mere 6 easy miles away but unfortunately the woman I met & fell in love with lives 21 miles away......sometimes fuel saving has to take a back seat!

kento wrote: »

In response to other posters yesterday how many women know what their tyre pressures should be let alone check them?

I would like to point out that there are plenty of guys out there who know zero about cars. Here's an example. My car wouldn't start one day outside my house. 3 guys opposite were watching me and one offered the suggestion, "It's your starter motor, love." As a mere girl, I did not point out that my car (a Vectra) has a known issue with the idle control valve gumming up with carbon deposits and as such can cause problems with starting, poor idling etc. so it's the No.1 culprit if anything is up. Are you still with me? Now guys out there who make offensive comments about women drivers, how many of you can point out the idle control valve on a Vectra 16v engine? And the Haynes manual isn't any good to you because it doesn't include the many engine variants.

And yes, I know what my tyre pressures are and where to put the oil in. And I service the car myself - bet you pay a main stealer to do oil changes etc. for you.

And I thought attitudes like that had been left behind in the 1970s