Petrol Saving Techniques

With the price of fuel steadily rising to $2 a litre, it appears that petrol prices and petrol saving has become quite the political debate that is getting heavy attention from the media and the pollies alike.

Saving money on petrol has become the nations new obsession in Australia.

The key thing we need to look at with saving petrol and saving money on petrol, is ‘How can we make a difference?’ and start to minimise our fuel consumption.

In order to identify where you are using up most of your petrol while driving, I am going to list the top ways as stated by Wheels Magazine that people waste petrol and how they can minimise that petrol consumption.

Petrol Saving Tips

1. The worst way to consume lots of petrol, is by having a lead foot. It is suggested that you slow down, avoid fast acceleration and remember that even if you drive faster to get from a to b, it still does not get you there quicker, as proven by Wheels Mag Aug 08.
2. Using toll roads to cut time in traffic. This technique was proven to not save much money or petrol, as most tolls cost over $3.20 in Sydney while 10km of petrol costs $1.60, meaning effectively the toll is the same as driving 20kms – you do the math, unless its bumper to bumper traffic, avoid the tolls.
3. Turn your engine off. This is considered absolutely a waste of petrol. In the past people thought it helped save petrol and running costs, when in fact stopping and starting a car are when the vehicle uses its maximum petrol. Only turn the engine off if you are in gridlocked traffic for hours.
4. Ensure your tyre pressure is correct. A deflated tyre, even by a couple of PSI can amount to a 5% loss in fuel and severe safety under-performance by your car. Check your tyres fortnightly to ensure maximum PSI is always in effect.
5. Use cruise control. When doing long trips, set the control function – it stops you unnecessarily accelerating and using petrol that is effectively useless on the open road. This can save around 5% of your petrol in just 30mins of cruising.
6. Get to a higher gear in manual cars as quick as possible. This reduces engine use and petrol consumption by moving the car in a more economical gear. Bit hard to stay at 90KM/h in Sydney though!
7. Put the windows down. Leave the air conditioning off. This does not make a HUGE difference but can help save between 4-5% of petrol in your tank.

Best way to save money on fuel/petrol?

Now for the final answer on how to save money on petrol, this answer has been proven by Wheels Magazine, tested by myself (Alex Wilson) and has also resulted in cutting my fuel bill down by around 55%.

What is it you ask? Simple.

Do not travel in peak hours on the road. Avoid peak hour. Peak hour and grid lock traffic can result in using 1/4 of your tank for each hour you spend in bumper to bumper traffic.

So, how do I avoid peak hour traffic? I leave for work an hour earlier each day, I catch the train as much as I can and I also try and leave work a little bit later so I can get all my work done, catch up on my emails and avoid the rush.

Question on Petrol Saving

How do you save money on petrol? I would love everyone to share how it is they personally save money on petrol.

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