Page 1 of Petrol Management?

Now these bloody ridiculous prices always creeping up week on week are beginning to cost me a fortune in petrol. I travel 35 miles each way along country roads.

For the first 2 years of this job I had a Vauxhall Corsa (N) 1.2 - 40 litre tank.
When I started travelling to my current job it costs around 35 quid a week to fill.
Last week I dumped my car (at which point it was now £45 a week to fill)

I now have a Vauxhall Zafira 1.4 and hoped the fuel management would be better with it being almost brand new. Takes just over £50 to fill it but after almost my first full week of driving it i`m going to have to fill it up again after only day 4! (when my working week is 5)

This isn`t economical sense...my question is if i keep revs down and stay in a low gear will that help me save on fuel or some other way? Or is it very little difference?

I don`t mean cooking oil or anything ;)

Cheers

G


I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which i`m dying are the best i`ve ever had.

First gear burns a lot more fuel than the others. You want to stay in a high gear as possible to keep the revs down, thats how you save petrol.

Other things don`t over rev when accelerating, try and keep it smooth and steady. Also if you are really concerned out the car in neutral or turn it off when you are idle i.e at lights.

Despite your Zafira probably being more modern and efficient than your Corsa, it`s also likely to weigh considerably more negating any gains. Also, a misconception is that a smaller engine (like your 1.4) will automatically use less fuel than a larger 1.6 or 2.0 diesel. Sometimes if the car is underpowered it`s actually less efficient than the bigger engined version - the smaller engine has to work so much harder (not saying this is necessarily the case with your car though.)

Also, trying to drive with lower revs won`t necessarily use less fuel if your car is struggling up a slow incline in 5th. You just drive so that the engine doesn`t have to struggle. Obviously don`t accelerate too fast, use the brakes as little as poss, keep all windows shut, ditch your roof-rack, drive naked and try to slip-stream Transit vans...

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Quote:
try to slip-stream Transit vans.

P*ss off and pay your own fuel bills or I`ll stand on the anchors and have some new rear doors off your insurance.
Not to mention the two weeks in Spain to get over the horrendous whiplash. ;)

Snaps

I have an 03 zafira 1.8 petrol and on a 60lt tank I let it get to the red and have 10lts remaining I get 320mls on the all urban driving which I think is pretty good :D

mmm chocolate

Quote:
Also, a misconception is that a smaller engine (like your 1.4) will automatically use less fuel than a larger 1.6 or 2.0 diesel. Sometimes if the car is underpowered it`s actually less efficient than the bigger engined version - the smaller engine has to work so much harder (not saying this is necessarily the case with your car though.)


This is very true, a perfect example is a few years back my uncle & I were subcontracting to BT, every day we would drive from Cardiff to North London and back (our choice as hotels were far to expensive)

We had exactly the same vans, LWB High Roof Fiat Ducato, and carried the exact same equipment. The only difference was Richards was a 2.5 litre diesel and mine was a 2.8 litre turbo diesel. Same size fuel tank in both.

We would take it turns as to which van we took, We would fill up in Cardiff, drive to London, work all day and drive home, about halfway home, usually around Swindon, Richards would be almost out of fuel. However mine would get us all the way home and still have over a 1/4 tank remaining.

Another tip is to not press too hard on the accelerator pedal, the harder you press the more fuel is sent in to the engine, if the engine is struggling to accelerate you are just wasting the fuel.

It is usually more economical to change down a gear, accelerate, then change back up. If you`re going up a steep hill on the motorway, you will have to put your foot right down in 5th gear, but change down to 4th and your foot is only halfway down, using approx half the fuel.

All the best

Gerald.

i garaged my cossie as it was costing me £12 a day, 38 round trip 19 each way and on dual carriageway. 22 mpg doesnt get you far and when u boot it alot less. U will use more in a 1.4 than the corsa anyway but as prices keep going up budgeting is useless ha ha..... most economical way is a moped, or motorbike or smart car, they are nippy and get real good mpg......................................................

dvdhouse

Never believe manufacturers fuel consumption figures either when buying a car. Fifth gear on Monday ran a feature about the Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion where it`s claimed that it gets about 71 miles to the gallon. Tom Ford`s family tested it and got only 47mpg. The Volkswagen spokesman blamed it on driving styles and the fact that there were two adults and two children in the car.

The highest possible gear misconception has been around since cars with carburettors - when it WAS true.

As said earlier - a lower engine size will not necessarily mean better fuel economy.

Here`s some tips:

1. Keep your engine clean. Most of us tend to use the bog standard fuel, but once a month tankful of Shell V-Power actually helps clean the engine - there are additional surfactants and detergents added.

2. Keep your revs between 2000-3000, whatever gear you might be in. This will mean you might need to change gears much more, but it will definitely help.

3. Rapid accelaration is the biggest killer. Learn to keep a light right foot. Anticipate braking and accelaration as much as possible.

4. Keep tyre pressures as recommended. Slight drops cause higher fuel consumption.

5. The first gear is just for moving off - shift to 2nd ASAP.

Just my tuppence...

T¦M3CH4S3R

"I am worst at what I do the best, for this gift I feel blessed. I found it hard... it was hard to find. Oh well, Whatever! NEVERMIND"

Whilst modern engines are more fuel efficent modern cars are heavier as people want more and more luxuries which negates any fuel savings