Posted on 09 November 2016 by CarTakeBack

9 Fuel Saving Tips

With prices at the pumps putting a strain on our bank balances, we thought we'd take a look at how to save yourself needing to fill up as frequently, with some fuel saving tips.

1. Drive less

Let's start with an obvious one, drive less! You need to dash out for a loaf of bread, do you really need to take the car though? Save yourself some money by leaving the car at home and walking instead. Or if you're going to pick up your kids from school, combine your errands into one trip, get the bread on the way, then you're making one journey instead of two.

2. Miss rush hour

None of us like to be stuck in traffic but unfortunately it's sometimes an inevitable part of our day. If you can miss driving during rush hour then do, for those that can't, think about how you drive. Stopping and starting in first gear through traffic uses a lot of fuel. Instead of braking and accelerating try and move at a steady slow speed instead.

3. Don't carry extra weight

Cars needs more fuel to carry more weight. So take all of the stuff out of your boot that you don't need and leave it at home. If you have a roof rack, as well as adding extra weight, it makes your car less aerodynamic, so in between trips when you don't need it, take it off.

4. Close your windows

This is one for when you're out of the city and driving more quickly. Having the windows open makes the car less aerodynamic so there is more drag on the car, meaning you'll be using more fuel.

5. Turn off the air-conditioning

Air-con is a useful gadget in a car, it keeps us cool in the summer and stops your windows misting up in the winter. Using the air-con in your car uses a fair bit of fuel though, best to turn it off unless you really need it to cool yourself down.

6. Check your tyres

The lower the pressure of your tyres the more fuel your car needs to use to get it moving. So check your tyre pressure every few weeks to make sure they're at the correct level.

7. Don't speed

You shouldn't be ignoring the speed limit anyway but whilst you might think you're saving time, you aren't saving fuel. Driving faster uses more fuel, so you might make your journey quicker, but it'll mean you need to fill your car up sooner.

8. Choose the right gear

If you push the accelerator down too far to avoid changing into a lower gear, then you're actually using more fuel than it'd take to change down a gear. Obviously if you're driving an automatic you've no need to worry, it'll choose the right gear for you!

9. Check the prices

As well as getting into the habit of doing all this, another thing to help you save a bit of cash on your fuel is by using an app to find the cheapest fuel in your area.