Save That Petrol

Prices at the pump has increased from our father's days, so it is even more important to ensure that every litre takes you as far as it can. I have some ideas on how we can save on petrol. Here is what I am doing and I know you can too. It's so easy

Tip 1: Car pool, that's the best way!
You can never go wrong when you can pool. Your travel expenses is reduce by 50% if you only find another person or even your partner to car pool instead of having to drive 2 cars. Of course, some sacrifices need to be taken into considerations like timing of departure and back. But if you can do it, not only you save money but if your partner is also a driver then you can drive to work on alternate days. That way you even get to relax en route. Imagine the savings. If you spend 400 dollars a month on petrol for two cars, you can immediately cut down the fuel expenses by half if both you and your partner car pooled. Thats a savings of 200 dollars a month on fuel only and not counting the saving on maintenance of the other car because you are only driving one cars instead of two

Tip 2: Plan your trip.
- Avoid the rush hour. Even if it means getting up a little bit earlier. Leave the house just before everyone else starts their journey to avoid the rush hour. Sitting in traffic is just a waste of fuel and your time. And when you are crawling, you are just gonna hit the brakes more and that's another petrol waster
- Plan your route. Take to shortest route possible or the route with the least traffic but most important, make sure it is the safest route

Tip 3: Downsize.
I used to drive a 1600 litre engine car but now I am driving a 1300 litre car. That's 300 litre less petrol in however you want to measure it and I still get to where I want to go in the same time. 1300 litres is all I need to zip around town and I am saving the environment by using less petrol resources and emitting less by products like carbon monoxide

Tip 4: Slow Down, man!
It is simple physics! The faster you go, the more drag your car will encounter. Try running in water versus walking. Got it? Furthermore, speeding and coming to a sreetching halt will only waste petrol. Rather, come to a slow halt at the traffic lights or toll booths. Studies shows that driving 50kmph on ordinary roads and 80kmph on highways is the best speed for fuel economy. Fuel efficiency improves by 10-30% if you drive 80kmph instead of 100kmph. That's about 30 dollar for every 1000km travelled

Tip 5: Keep it well oiled!
A poorly maintained vehicle consumes more petrol that a properly maintained car. Here are a few aspects of proper car maintainence:-
- Keep your tyre correctly inflated. Over or under inflated tyres comsumes 3.3% more petrol
- Engines needs to be well lubricated. Less fiction in the piston is better. So ensure you change the engine oil regularly because an oil's lubricating properties dimishes as it is used over time
- Keep the filters clean. Keep the air, petrol and oil filter clean and replace as necessary. Engine needs air and petrol to combust. A clean misture will give better combustion. An clean oil filter will remove the dirt in the engine chambers better so that the engine can operate in an ideal situation (minimal friction)
- Keep your car's moving parts lubricated by regular services and following strictly the serviceing schedule
- Once a while, give your car a polish. It cuts down drag. Believe me, it works! Having said that, if your car has a roof rack, remove it if you do not use it because it only good for creating wind resistances and reduces the aerodynamicity of your car

Tip 6: Keep it light!
Imagine you a cyclist. You use less energy if you bike is made out of the lightest material like alluminium or carbon fibre compared to a bike that is made from steel. Since we are not driving a F1 car, but the priciple of keeping your car's load light is still valid. So remove the clutter in your car boot. Then try not to fill your petrol tank to the max because your car is only gonna carry the load of petrol unnecessary. Think of your car like a rocket ship. All the weight the rocket carries is in the fuel. Balance between convenience of filling up your car with petrol and the unnecessary fuel weight it carries after you fill up

Tip 7: Keep it cool not cold!
Do not abuse the air conditioning . Keep the setting just cool enough for you to drive comfortably. The difference between setting the dial to max or on auto temperature sensing increases fule comsumption by 14%. Roll your window down and turn off the air-condition on cold morning or cool nights will save more petrol if your driving moderately. But if you are travelling on highways, i think it is better to keep the side windows rolled up and let the air ventilation vent open to let outside air to flow in

Tip 8: Don't let your engine idle
Of course, you can't help it if you are stuck at a traffic jam but it your are letting your engine idle while waiting for someone to finish doing the errant is a sure way to burn you money away. It is better to switch the engine off and restarting it later if you are going to wait for a long time. If you stop just idling for 5 minutes a day, you will save 5 dollars a month on petrol