Driving in the UK can be an expensive affair. If you have to use your car every day, whether it is to go to work, take the kids to school or just to go the shops, you will probably end up using a lot of fuel. Add to this the cost of insurance, regular maintenance and perhaps even work after an accident, and you might find yourself quite out of pocket. While you might not be able to control the prices you pay, you can have an influence on how much fuel you use.
When you drive
The time of day that you drive at can have significant impact on your fuel consumption. If you are consistently stopping and starting, you will use more fuel than if you were moving the whole time. This means that although rush hour might be the time you need to get to work in, it is also the worst time to drive.
What you drive
Your car can have a great impact on your fuel consumption. This doesn’t just mean that you should drive an efficient car, although that often helps. You can make any car more efficient by lowering its weight, wind resistance and keeping it maintained. Practically, this means that you should remove your roof box if you have one, close your windows, not leave things you don’t need in the boot and keep your tires properly inflated.
Where you drive
Driving in cities is much less efficient than on the open road. This is due to the stop-start nature of urban driving. Equally, you might be making several short journeys with gaps in between. Turning the engine on and off several times causes much greater fuel usage than simply driving somewhere. Keeping a warm engine makes your fuel efficiency greater.
How you drive
Finally, the best way you can improve your car’s fuel efficiency is to drive in an efficient way. Accelerate and decelerate slowly, keeping in high gear. In this way, you can slow your fuel usage down to a minimum, and still get to where you are going. Finally, try to keep your revs low as you drive.
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