Tips for saving fuel: Avoid these mistakes
Created: 05/10/2022, 11:38 am
Driving style has a major impact on fuel consumption.
Here we reveal how motorists drive sparingly.
In view of the extreme fuel prices and strong dependence on raw materials, saving fuel is once again very popular.
Even the ADAC now advises leaving the car at home more often.
And speed limits and car-free Sundays are also part of the public discussion.
But even those who do not want to or cannot do without the car have an influence on energy consumption.
Misconception: slow acceleration does not save fuel
The gas foot has the greatest impact on personal energy efficiency.
Depending on the driving style,
up to 50 percent more or less consumption
is possible, according to the Central Association of the German Motor Trade.
The specific speed driven is not necessarily decisive, especially in the city and on country roads a lot of fuel can be saved with a forward-looking driving style.
Slowly starting and accelerating is less efficient than fast
, braking with the pedal wastes valuable kinetic energy.
So the savings recipe is: Get up to speed quickly and then
drive it as evenly as possible
.
Do not disengage the clutch when coasting, instead use the overrun cut-off of the engine brake.
Saving fuel when driving: Drive at a steady pace, but not at top speeds
If you drive evenly, you drive sparingly.
However, this does not
apply to top speeds
on the motorway.
Because the air resistance does not grow evenly with increasing driving speed, but quadratically.
So if you double your speed, you quadruple it.
At high driving speeds, you need disproportionately more energy just to keep the vehicle moving.
That's the theory.
In practice
, consumption in many cars increases
rapidly and violently
beyond the recommended motorway speed
.
According to calculations by Graz University of Technology from 2017, the difference in consumption between 100 and 130 km/h for a diesel car can be
around 24 percent
be.
In the specific test case of the Austrians, this corresponded to an additional consumption of 1.5 liters per 100 kilometers.
Avoid short trips
Taking the car to the bakery – an expensive idea.
Because frequent short-distance journeys cause, among other things, increased engine and battery wear.
And consumption also increases
because a cold engine requires more fuel to produce an ignitable mixture.
In relevant tests by automobile clubs and car magazines, there were deviations of up to almost 90 percent compared to the (generally not too precise) factory specifications - upwards, of course.
Above all, large and heavy cars with powerful engines do poorly
.
But even small cars approve around a quarter more than planned.
If you really want to drive to the bakery by car, you should include the tour in a longer errand trip if possible.
Avoid ballast in the car
A lot accumulates in the car over the months: However, the grit bag from the winter or the inflatable boat for the summer vacation should be towed into the basement or garage when the opportunity arises.
Because every extra kilo has to be accelerated using energy
.
In the long run, even a small amount of ballast adds up.
In addition,
roof boxes or bicycle racks
should also be removed as soon as possible after use, as they increase air resistance.
Check tire pressure
Tire pressure can be checked at every gas station.
But hardly anyone does.
The correct air filling is not only important for tire durability and driving safety, but
also for fuel consumption
.
0.5 bar too little can increase the rolling resistance of the tire so much that the engine needs five percent more fuel.
A lot comes together over the course of the year.
Even those who have a tire pressure monitoring system on board (mandatory for new models since 2012) are not relieved of responsibility.
Because the sensors only report when there is a significant loss of pressure.
Some systems would not even recognize a relatively even loss of all four tires.
If you want to optimize the fuel consumption of your car, you should also choose the smallest permitted tire size, advises the manufacturer Michelin.
And mothball the winter tires in the summer.
Because their softer rubber compound increases friction and thus fuel consumption.
(Holger Holzer/SP-X)