Careful driving and how to save fuel
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Most of us have to watch our outgoings nowadays and one fairly major expense is running our cars. The price of fuel seems to be forever going up and so there are a few rules we can all follow to help save on fuel.
A thing a lot of us are guilty of at times is putting our foot down when we accelerate. If you drive an automatic it is better to accelerate at a fairly moderate speed in order to give the transmission time to shift to the higher gears. Also if you accelerate away and brake straight away this is a big waste of fuel.
A good way to save on fuel is simply reduce your speed. As speed increases fuel decreases!
Under inflated tyres are often overlooked. If they are not set at the right pressure they will need to use more petrol to keep the car moving. Get a good tyre gauge and check the tyres at least once every month. One tip is to check when they are cold because driving the car will warm up the tyres and also the air inside which increases pressure and gives a falsely high reading.
Check your air filter because a dirty one restricts the flow of air to the engine which will affect performance and also economy.
New wheels and tyres may look really good and they can even improve the way that a car handles, but if they are wider they could create more resistance and increase fuel consumption. So it is worth considering keeping the old tyres for long road trips which will give you a far smoother ride and better economy.
If you are thinking of changing your car then maybe this is the ideal time to downsize a bit. Nissan and Toyota are two of the leading manufacturers who have developed highly fuel efficient cars.
This may not seem obvious, but take a look in your car and give it a bit of a spring clean. We are all often guilty of hoarding rubbish in our cars and its surprising how this extra baggage mounts up in the terms of weight. The more weight that is in the car the more fuel is burnt.
Finally, probably not a very popular thing to say, but whenever possible why not walk?!!
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