7 Petrol Saving Tips For Your Cars & SUVs

Posted on | February 9, 2012 | No Comments

Increasing petrol (gas) prices can put a strain on your budget. With the recent 50% hike in petrol prices in Nigeria, it means your petrol budget automatically goes up by 50%. If you spent N5K per week to fuel your car, that goes up to N7.5K That is at least N10K extra per month. This may mean saving less, or something in your budget has to give way. These fuel saving tips can lessen the impact on your budget, either by getting more kilometers out of each litre of petrol, or cutting down the time you spend in traffic. You can decide what works best for you

1. AVOID RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC

If you live in Lagos mainland and work on the Island or Lekki axis, coming out at the wrong time can mean 3 hours getting to work and 4 – 5 hours heading back home. If you hit the road at the right time, e.g Third Mainland before 6am outbound and 4pm home bound, you can make the same trip in one hour or less. That alone can reduce your fuel consumption by up to 50%

2. CARPOOL WITH COLLEAGUES

If you do not have a staff bus, you can car pool with colleagues that live nearby, and save up to two days of driving. You still get the same comfort and convenience, and also get to read, listen to tapes or sleep. This will save you up to 40% of your fuel cost if you get two drive days.

3. SLOW DOWN

One of the best ways to save petrol is to simply reduce your speed. As speed increases, fuel economy decreases exponentially. Although we don’t like to drive slowly, it’s a proven fact that fast driving will increase the drag (turbulence) and hence increases your fuel consumption. It’s your choice. Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes petrol. It can lower your Petrol mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than petrol money.

4. REDUCE EXCESS WEIGHT

Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 KG in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2 percent. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle’s weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones. Keep only what is necessary in the car. The heavier the car, the more fuel consumption and this is applicable to most cars.

5. CHECK YOUR TYRE PRESSURE REGULARLY

Under-inflated tyres are one of the most commonly ignored causes of heavy fuel consumption. Tyres lose air due to time (about 1 psi per month) and temperature (1 psi for every 10 degree drop); under-inflated tires have more rolling resistance, which means you need to burn more petrol to keep your car moving. Buy a reliable tire gauge and check your tires at least once a month. Be sure to check them when they are cold, since driving the car warms up the tires along with the air inside them, which increases pressure and gives a falsely high reading. Use the inflation pressures shown in the owner’s manual or on the data plate in the driver’s door jamb.

6. DON’T USE THE AIR CONDITIONER ALL THE TIME.

This may be impractical and not applicable to those of us that live & experience the mad traffic in Lagos. You can cut down on your air conditioning by turning it up a bit or switching off at intervals in heavy traffic. On the express, winding down your glasses increasing air drag on the car, hence turning off your AC at high speed may not save as much. Basically, turning on the AC, loads the engine and reduces fuel economy. In cool weather, you can switch off the AC to save petrol. Park your car in the shade if you can, so you won’t have to keep the AC working so hard and your car temperature is kept minimal. Turn off the AC some minutes before you reach your destination and don’t keep it working until the last second.

7. REDUCE IDLING TIME IN TRAFFIC

When you’re in Traffic, and you you foresee that you will not be moving for more than 30 seconds or 1minute you can turn off the engine. Leaving the Engine Running in Traffic ( With AC ON ) increases your fuel consumption over time.

Personally, I feel (1) and (2) will have the biggest visible impact on your budget, while others add up over time. If your budget cannot absorb the impact of rising petrol prices, the cutting back on some avoidable excesses is the way to go

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