November 2009

SPECIAL FEATURE SPONSORED BY AUTONATIONAL RESCUE

How to be a more economical driver

By motoring writer Russell Bray

Is it possible to drive economically, and so save money on fuel, without becoming a mobile chicane and a danger to other traffic?

It’s a question I am often asked these days and the answer is yes, but you have to concentrate more than when driving ‘casually.’

That’s because you have to look further ahead and anticipate problems to progress. There really is no point accelerating to 50 mph if you have to brake 30 seconds later.

Hard acceleration and heavy braking can be fun but they are the enemies of good fuel consumption.

Looking ahead, anticipating hold-ups, be they traffic lights or roundabouts, and easing off the accelerator early means you get more of the benefit from the fuel you have already burned. That’s because when decelerating modern cars now use little or no fuel.

You don’t have to take things to extremes to benefit considerably over a year’s motoring and you do need to use your brakes sometimes to prevent them glazing over and not being ready in an emergency.

If by judging your speed you don’t need to stop at a roundabout or a give-way sign that will also save you fuel too.

Pulling away from rest is a real fuel burner but reasonably brisk acceleration when you get the chance is a good thing. That’s because it allows you to get into a higher gear sooner for cruising at lower revs rather than lingering in the lower gears.

Many traffic ‘calming’ methods, such as speed bumps and deliberately narrowed roads requiring priority to oncoming vehicles etc, not only increase fuel consumption by forcing drivers to use lower gears but create more local pollution when they re-accelerate.

Going fast obviously burns more fuel, but driving quicker than you usually do on a de-restricted road may not.

It all depends on your car and its gearing. If the car has one of those near instantaneous read-outs see what it says at different speeds.

Using cruise control on journeys – and yes it takes practice and concentration – can save a fortune and rather like turning down slightly the thermostat on your central heating, travelling a few mph under the legal limit can save a small fortune.

On a recent trip to France in our VW Scirocco 2-litre TDI we managed 62.3mpg on one leg though officially the car only returns 55mpg on the combined cycle.

And that was despite ‘going for it’ up a mountain pass at one point. My average speed was 45mph over the 290-mile leg.

Many drivers don’t take advantage of the low speed pulling power (torque) of diesels and rev them higher than they need rather than changing up gears.

After a spurt in first or second you can often slip straight into fifth or sixth and the Scirocco will even pull sixth at not much over tickover without labouring. Maximum torque arrives at just 1,750rpm.

If you are in danger of running out of fuel, you are likely to get the best fuel consumption in the highest gear going as slowly as the engine is happy. Switching off the engine if stationary for more than a minute will also save fuel.

When main road cruising most cars benefit from their sleek, wind-cheating shapes, so don’t drive around with a roof rack or luggage-box if you don’t need it because they spoil the aerodynamics.

I have seen claims for 20% better consumption with a box removed.

Weight is an enemy too so clear out unnecessary junk in the boot, and don’t forget under-inflated tyres wear more as well as increasing fuel thirst. Driving around with windows open turns the car into a huge air scoop once above 30mph so it is actually more fuel effective to hit the air conditioning button to keep cool.

But using the air-con heavily does take fuel and I can remember cars that on a test track would not reach top speed because the air conditioning was taking too much power.

The Scirocco has a carbon dioxide rating of 134gram/km which means a year’s road tax is £120, but if you buy a car that is below the randomly chosen 120gram you could cut your road tax to £35.

From April 1, 2010, a new first year tax rate will be introduced.  Low emission cars – up to 130 g/km will pay nothing – while the highest emission cars (over 255 g/km) will pay £950. In truth it won’t really help the environment and seems unfair to people, perhaps with large families, who need a large car. The national media has dubbed the move an “envy tax” and a ‘showroom tax’

Oh, and it will clobber UK car builders like Jaguar and Land Rover

Autonational Rescue is the car breakdown service with the no claims bonus, for more information visit www.autonational.co.uk or call 08459 100 345.

Ends

Issued by: CPR Works Ltd
Contact: Roger Eversley/Jenny Carr
Tel: 01902 680068
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