Economical driving

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Heavymental

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Given the cost of fuel these days, has anyone got any tips on how to get the most mpg out of their vehicles? I've been driving like a right geek these days as I regard it as a bit of a challenge to get the most mpg I can!:rolleyes: I try not go above 70 on the motorway, freewheel downhill, try and avoid stopping at roundabouts by timing it so that the queue is gone by the time I hit it. I generally try and avoid braking by keeping my distance from cars infront and look far ahead to allow me to get off the gas asap if needed. I also try and stay at 56mph which I'm told is the most efficient speed. I live in a rural area so its a bit easier than you city dwellers. My P reg diesel Golf does about 57mpg at the moment. I don't think I could improve on that really but anyone got any other tips?
 
Heavymental said:
Given the cost of fuel these days, has anyone got any tips on how to get the most mpg out of their vehicles? I've been driving like a right geek these days as I regard it as a bit of a challenge to get the most mpg I can!:rolleyes: I try not go above 70 on the motorway, freewheel downhill, try and avoid stopping at roundabouts by timing it so that the queue is gone by the time I hit it. I generally try and avoid braking by keeping my distance from cars infront and look far ahead to allow me to get off the gas asap if needed. I also try and stay at 56mph which I'm told is the most efficient speed. I live in a rural area so its a bit easier than you city dwellers. My P reg diesel Golf does about 57mpg at the moment. I don't think I could improve on that really but anyone got any other tips?
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I have wondered the same thing.

I have had three diesel vans of around 1800cc and have never bettered 39mpg....whereas a friend (Hi peter! I know you're out there!) regularly gets I think between 40/50 from a 2.0 litre golf turbo diesel, doing short runs.

Driving style is important I think.

I did the advanced driving course a years or two ago (with infinite regret I flunked it) which tought me much about reading the road.

It takes 15 mins(for me at least ) to get into it, but is worth it if you can teach yourself the skill(s). i.e. Like you say, loooking into the distance and backing off the gas ifyou think you'll need to slow down.

I just keep to 70 (indicated 72/73) on the motorways. A pretrol car doing 80s and 90s will positively drink it....or would have done at one time.

The AD course teaches you to keep to urban speed limits.......big time....;). (So, 30mph is goign to be more econonical than 35 (in top gear))

Harsh accelleration is notorous for fuel consumption but we all do it to an extent.

I drove my Dads old audi coupe for several years which gave about 27mpg aroung the lanes here and 33 on a run.....which wasn't too bad for a 1921cc petrol in a fairly big body shell.




note if your doing 57mpg thats pretty good isn't it?
 
Assuming you're doing your average mixture of driving rather than all town, all motorways etc, I imagine 57mpg will be the best you'll see?

On a modern car, you'll use less fuel engine braking downhill than you will free-wheeling with the engine at idle, albeit marginally. Safer and more kind on your brakes, too!

Other than that, you're doing everything people will recommend - anticipating other road users so you can take it easy with the brakes/throttle makes the biggest difference.

As a poor student, I managed to be fairly economical, but driving for a living and ragging the vans everywhere these days has got me out of that habit!

Nowadays, the Land Rover barely manages double figures in terms of MPG regardless, and the kick-down on the Impreza is too tempting! If it had a manual box, I'd drive it more gently, I imagine.
 
DavidF said:
note if your doing 57mpg thats pretty good isn't it?
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Yep, it is, and I imagine, as Mark points out that its probably the best I'll see. Thing is, a friend of mine who drives an 1.9td Audi A3 and has a similar commute to me, recently told me that he's filling up much more often than I do so it got me wondering about all the things I do that he doesn't and any other tips I'm not aware of. As I said, I regard it as a bit of a challenge and hence I think I'm a bit of an expert/bore on it already!:Lplates::Quad:

Mark Telkman said:
Assuming you're doing your average mixture of driving rather than all town, all motorways etc, I imagine 57mpg will be the best you'll see?

On a modern car, you'll use less fuel engine braking downhill than you will free-wheeling with the engine at idle, albeit marginally. Safer and more kind on your brakes, too!
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How does that work then Mark? I assumed idling would use the minimum amount of fuel? Does a P reg diesel count as a modern car!? I actually only freewheel when there's nothing infront as I'm aware of the brake use. I slip it into gear when I need to keep the speed down or if I see a situation developing down the road before resorting to wearing out the brake pads.

I did tend to rag cars in the past but I think the combination of doing alot of miles every day, costs of fuel and several speeding fines have slowed me down. I also did an advanced driving course that made me think a bit more about the consequences of high speeds. But then, on the other hand, if I'm in a hire car I rag it to bits, where I consider it safe to do so of course so I think it just comes down to being tight with cash and not wanting to waste it on burning up juice for no particular reason. Unless a great tune comes on the radio and the sun's out!:redrum:
 
And another thing, whats the rules on revs? I always assume if the engine is revving too high or too low then that can't be good for fuel so I'll try and keep it around 2k revs as far as possible.
 
Travelling downhill, in gear, the force of gravity turns your wheels, which in turn will turn your engine over for you, so you don't need any fuel at all to be injected into the cylinders.

Obviously this is dependant on whether your car's ECU is intelligent enough to shut off the fuel altogether - I would assume yours is!

The difference is probably negligible!
 
Another top tip is the weight of your car. Think F1 racing car strategy here. If you drive until empty then fill to the top, you are using more fuel when full simply due to carrying more weight. Not sure what the optimum would be, but I guess full = more weight = bad, so maybe trying to keep half full would help?
 
robert_cyrus said:
using aircon rather than having a window open etc.
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The air con will use juice...takes power from the alternator!!


Revs?

I was having this conversation with same mate a bit ago; with diesels its a false economy to let the engine labour (certainly modern high revving turb diessels) for ages at low rves. All that doing is dumping diesel in the engine that aint getting burnt. Thats (IIRC) a different philosphy to pretrols where your best economy is from highest gear (ie lowest engine speed) and widest throttle openngs. Thats called volumetric efficiency (if 20+ year old memory is to be beleived...I was well into this at one time).

So, I would say , neither let the engine labour nor extend it for long periods. They say, if you want to drive for economy drive as if you were running the engine in but if you're driving up a hill with 1000 rpm on the clock and it aint doing nothing......it wants the next cog down.
 
You get better economy from engine -braking downhll, because the ECU detects this and cuts off the injectors entirely. That is, the engine is driven and consumes no fuel.

Keeping tyres properly inflated is a biggie. You can easily pick up 2-3MPG by ensuring correct inflation. Likewise, good basic maintenance helps efficiency - regular oil changes using the right stuff and so on. This is critical with turbodiesels.

Certainly with petrol engines best efficiency comes near to peak torque RPM; so try to drive keeping engine speed around there to suit roadspeed. Don't hang about on acceleration either - get briskly up to speed and hold it, it's more efficient. Aircon causes less loss than a wide-open window over c50mph IIRC.

If your car has cruise control use it when traffic permits on long drives.- this will mantain speed on motorways and fiddle with the ECU to do it most efficiently. If you are going a long way, drop your average speed - say 62-65mph on motorways. It costs you no significant extra time, but since aero drag increases with V^3, it can have a marked effect on fuel consumption. It also quieter and less tiring so you get there more relaxed and alert. I've had reliable 42MPG averages out of my (rather overboosted ) saab turbo on long runs this way - I can't complain at 500miles from a 63l tank, for a 1350Kg 250hp monster...
 
felix said:
. Likewise, good basic maintenance helps efficiency - regular oil changes using the right stuff and so on. This is critical with turbodiesels.
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Yep.

The guy who I get my vans off....I was showing him the service shedule for my last Escort; he didn;t want tnow. He just said a major service every 12 months ......+oil change every 6 months and you'll never have any trouble with them.

A few people have said that.

felix said:
If your car has cruise control use it when traffic permits on long drives.- this will mantain speed on motorways ...
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sensible..
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7356916.stm

hammondcrash.jpg
 
Dev said:
Yes but doesn't open window = increased drag = more fuel? Don't know where the break even point is.
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Yes of course it does, Dev.

I was just being a bit contrary.....

I don;'t worry about any of this stuff too much....and I certainly dont have money to throw about.

Its good to think about it I guessbut I wouldn't take it to an extreme.
 
I read that the human body gets uncomfortable at about 0.5g into a bend, but most modern performance cars can easily do 0.8g before you start to lose grip. Don't quote/sue me here.
I always look a few cars ahead, see what the brake lights way up the road are doing and I don't tailgate. In fact I leave a very big gap between me and the next car where possible then I can be skinny on the brakes.
 
SMEagol said:
I always look a few cars ahead, see what the brake lights way up the road are doing and I don't tailgate. In fact I leave a very big gap between me and the next car where possible then I can be skinny on the brakes.
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Yep.

I was driving into my main local town recently doing just that.....

I knew I wasn't feeling too bright after a recent fluey thing....so was leaving TONS of room up front.

I was glad I had as the car in front got friendly with a van coming the other way........and both went spinning, the car in my direction....

We missed but it had me wondering for moment.
 

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