Reduce your motoring costs
This document is to help you look at your motoring costs and help you drastically reduce them by selecting the right,
Car Model. Fuel Type. Driving Style. Additives. Modifications
You and Your Car
Just take a moment to think about the car you own and run, is it really the correct car for you? If for example you own a two litre petrol euro box and you drive sixty miles a day commuting to work on your own you will be wasting a lot of fuel. It would be much more sense to run a small diesel with much better fuel consumption, cheaper insurance, lower road tax. Over a year the saving would be considerable, probably enough for a holiday in the sun.
So back to the original question what do you want your car to do for you?
Do you carry passengers? Do you carry materials for home or work? How often do you use the car?
From these questions you can narrow down the type and size of vehicle you need.
Fuel Type
Diesel
Diesel fuelled cars tend to be a little noisy from cold but when warmed up the modern Diesel engine is quite refined. The important factor is that the Diesel engine is economical on fuel and compared with the petrol counterpart. The common rail Diesel engine has revolutionised motoring resulting in ever advancing technolagy. This engine gives high power output [torque] at low engine revs and is still very economical on fuel.
An associate of mine commutes 100 miles a day in his VW Passat Tdi and returns 61MPG consistently. He is an excellent example of having the correct car for his economy. The high torque produced also is ideal for towing, so if you own a caravan then I would recommend a Diesel.
We are now seeing the latest smaller engine Diesel’s from France which are producing very respectable outputs and economy. On the upper scale Audi build their 2.0 TDI which now produced a massive 170BHP.
Gas
The most important advantage of gas is that it costs about HALF the price of petrol. Propane is now available throughout the UK in many outlets and is a viable fuel. Some Car manufactures are offering the option of gas fuelled vehicles. Vauxhalls Duel Fuel being one of them. Gas in an excellent fuel for the engine as there is no carbon been burned therefore the emissions are clean. The lack of carbon also leaves the engine internals clean, drastically reducing wear on the engine components. The disadvantage is that the gas storage tank usually has to be fitted in the luggage area reducing their space in the boot. A gas system can be retro fitted to a petrol car but it can be costly and only if your annual mileage is high will you recoup the cost of installation.
Driving Style
How we drive out car seriously effects the fuel consumption. On the very busy roads of the UK we spend much of out time in slow moving traffic; this is an excellent opportunity to correct our driving style to give the optimum in fuel economy. The secret is very simple and that is to do everything in our driving gently!
Accelerate gently, brake gently, changing up the gears gently and not revving the engine unnecessarily. Don’t coast down hills, this does not save fuel, but leave in gear and use engine braking. There is something called overrun cut off which stops engine fuelling when you take your foot off the accelerator! Modern air conditioning systems are much more efficient than of past. It is better to use the aircon than open a window, as the drag factor of an open window can use more fuel.
Additives
There are many products available to improve the vehicles efficiency but how effective they are can depend on many factors. If your car has been neglected and not serviced correctly it will benefit from an engine oil flush at servicing. With modern engine oils there is no reason to put additives into the oil as the quality of the oil is usually very high. Be sure to install the correct oil in the engine, refer too the car handbook and check the oil specification is correct when filling. A fuel additive on occasion for cleaning the injection system is recommended as dirty injectors lead to fuel waste.
Modifications
There are various types of fuel saving devices available which fit on to the fuel lines but they are of unknown effectiveness even though they are marketed. Changing the exhaust system for a modified system can upset the back pressure and effective combustion. Changing the air filter for a modified can also have the same effect. Chipping the engine management unit can also little effect to fuel consumption and be expensive.
A new idea to the UK is using a simple to build kit which generates Hydrogen in small and controlled amounts. This is using “Browns Gas System” [do you remember this from school]. On this web site I am going to build this kit and test it to see how effective it is. Over the next few weeks I will update this site with the progress and results. I have purchased a RangeRover petrol 3900cc on which I am going to use this system.
