Ensuring certain conditions before driving can ensure a better fuel economy Wheel alignment can have a big impact on the life of your tires. An in correct tire alignment will cause more friction and wear away the tires much sooner. A wheel alignment will cost roughly 45 dollars for front and back. Correct ignition timing will also help in keeping your car running optimally. If the cars ignition timing is not set right it will cause the spark plug to fire earlier before the piston is in its correct position and as a result the fuel used will not give its optimal output. A mechanic can correctly set the timing for your car with the use of a timing gun. Using the correct fuel grade for your car can also have a big impact on the fuel economy of your car. USE THE FORCE WISELY You will be supervised how much of an impact your throttle control will have on your fuel economy. Heavier acceleration from the lights and heavy stop and start style driving are expensive ways of driving. Driving in traffic can't always be avoided but moving a few inches each time to get closer to the car in front won't help much either.
SERVICING DESIGNED TO USE LESS FUEL Having your injectors professionally cleaned is a great way to improve the flow of injectors Here is a comparison of 2 injectors running |
| CLEAN INJECTOR | DIRTY INJECTOR |
Keep your car light
Ensuring any extra items left in the car are not being carried around with you can make a big difference to your fuel economy. Say you have a full tool box in your car, you could be adding 20-30kg. I can feel it when there is another person in the car and find the car not as responsive with the more weight. Imagine having an extra 20-40kg just sitting in your car. It would be like having that other person always in the car.
HOW TO WORK OUT YOUR FUEL ECONOMY
An explanation of the traditional litres/100km rate.
How to measure your fuel economy.
The best way to measure your fuel economy is by filling up a full tank of fuel. Only fill it up till the pump clicks once and releases. Before leaving the petrol station press your trip meter or if your car does not have one you can note down the odometer reading. You can now drive the car as normal till you have to fill up again.
A note - Try fill up from the same place you filled up the first time, the reason behind this is each fuel pump will can have different cut of points where the fuel will stop filling. This can interfere with your reading.
Once your ready to fill up again till the pump clicks once. Take note of your trip meter reading (or odometer reading) and the amount of litres it took to fill up the tank.
Its now just a matter of doing the sums:
Most 4 cylinder cars under 2 litres will average between 6-10L/100km on average
6 cylinder cars will average around 9-13L/100km
8 cylinder (or V8) cars can average between 10-18L/100km
