Here at Car Articles, we’re big fans of cars of all shapes and sizes. We’re also big fans of the recent advancements in mile per gallon technology for both diesel and petrol engines. After all, better fuel economy means we can use our cars without having to spend more cash right? More importantly perhaps it means that there is less strain on oil – which is of course a dwindling resource.
With that in mind, we’ve tried once again to jump on the economical driving front. We’ll never be hypermilers (we’ve seen reports of some getting in excess of 10MPG or more over the rated mile per gallon figure), but we’re also not stupid with our cash. So, here are five tips that might just help you out:
- If it’s a short journey, just leave the car at home. Whilst this might seem like a complete misnomer (and so like a piece of crap advice), hear us out. Short journeys are the enemy of miles per gallon. If your car isn’t up to temperature and it’s likely to be idling at traffic lights, that’ll harm economy. Fuel consumption will be up and MPG will be down. Less than a mile, stretch your legs a while.
- Low rolling resistance tyres at the correct level of inflation will beat your ‘just off the forecourt’ summer racing tyres when it comes to MPG. They might not look as cool though.
- When you see a red (or lights turning to amber), don’t speed up to them or maintain constant acceleration. Take your foot off the accelerator and allow the car to slow naturally. You’ll save on unnecessary fuel being burnt.
- Go easy on the brakes. Obviously safety must come first, but if you accelerate less then the chances are you’ll brake less. You don’t want to turn all that lovely forward motion into heat in the brakes now do you?
- Don’t labour the engine – by being in too high or low a gear the engine will struggle. You’ll be able to tell this is the case if the revs are far higher or lower than normal.
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