Petrol, fuel, gasoline, juice – whatever you call it, it’s just another man-made dependency that we can’t live without now. If you’re lucky enough to live in Malaysia, you would have experienced that nasty 10% hike in fuel prices of late, and if you’re like me, are probably living in twitching fear of the next price hike.
So now that we’ve established what we can’t control, let’s focus on what we can. Practice these few fuel saving tips to max out the life of your full tank.
Start up and drive off
Once you’ve started up your car, don’t idle it out while being stationary. The practice of ‘warming up the car’ is a myth, and in fact, a car warms up faster when you’re driving it than idling it. Leaving a car to idle just wastes petrol, increases the emission of unwanted fumes and is bad for those breathing in the fumes. So start your car only when you’re prepared to move off to save your fuel.(Pic via shutterstock.com)
Take it easy on the breaks
Jamming your brakes on and off during your journey is a real fuel killer. Drive at moderate speeds, or at least keep a large distance from the car ahead of you so that if it slows down, or if a car cuts into your lane, you won’t need to go down on your brakes hard. Constant speeds and infrequent braking increases your fuel efficiency of up to 30%. So yeah, unless you’re Batman there’s really no need to drive like a maniac. (Pic via abc.net.au)
Shut it down
If you’re pulling up and waiting for a friend to hop in, turn off your engine if you think you’re going to be longer than 5 minutes. Your fuel is meant for the car to move, so it’s kind of pointless if you’re running it when you’re going nada in distance. And yes, I’m sure you can survive 10 minutes without your air-conditioning running. First world problems, I say.
Leave it running
I promise, I’m not trying to confuse you here. Yes, leaving your engine on for a long time is pointless and wasteful, but so is turning it on and off too often. In case you didn’t know, it also costs petrol to start up your car. If you’re only going to be a while, say 2-3 minutes, don’t bother shutting down your engine, as it would end up only being more expensive than leaving it running. (Pic via recombu.com)
Pump it
The foundation of your car, a.k.a. the four things that we call ‘wheels’, also play a big role when it comes to fuel consumption. Under inflated tires would decrease the pick-up of your vehicle, meaning that more fuel will have to be used in order to get your car accelerating. So make sure your tyres are pumped to their optimal pressure (refer to your car manual or the specs on the tyre), and you’ll not only heighten your fuel efficiency, but prolong the life of your tyres too. (Pic via motortrader.com.my)
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