If the global events of the past 24-months haven’t already taken a toll on the generally resilient spirits of the South African public, talk of yet another petrol and diesel price increase is never far from the lips of our administrators. As many families finalise their end-of-year holiday plans, we take a closer look as ways to potentially save fuel along the way.
1. Keep your vehicle up to date in terms of servicing and maintenance
Highly complex, it stands to reason that the internal workings of a vehicle are only as refined and, ultimately, efficient as the weakest moving parts. While a service or maintenance plan remains a nice-to-have line item within a car’s purchase price, even without this convenience, it’s recommended that – at very least – you have items like air- and oil filters, the freshness of oils and lubricants and the working efficiency of spark plugs (on petrol-powered cars) inspected at least one a year.
2. Monitor the condition of your tyres
Rolling resistance plays a crucial role when it comes to determining how efficiently your vehicle travels in a straight line. While it stands to reason that the general condition of your tyres plays a massive role in this regard, arguably more important than ensuring these items are in good condition in terms of tread depth and expiry date (yes, rubber has an expiry date), is maintaining the recommended pressures in these items. Generally, your local petrol-pump attendant is more than happy to check that the pressure in your tyres corresponds with the listed operating ranges recommended by your vehicle’s manufacturer.
3. Remove any unnecessary drag
Useful when transporting bicycles and supplementary storage boxes, keeping your roof rails attached while they’re not required creates unwanted drag by disrupting the flow of air up and over your vehicle’s roofline. Extra drag means your car’s engine is having to work that much harder to first reach and then maintain cruising speeds. By the same token, driving with one or more windows open has a similarly negative impact on drag – and thus efficiency.
Taking it to the extreme, it’s always best when it comes to reducing potential drag to keep your car as clean as possible, too.
4. Monitor the use of air-conditioning
More often than not, having the air-conditioner running (especially, when included, in an Auto setting) is a default operation in our part of the world. That said, there are times when these not-particularly-efficient systems can either be switched off or, at least, placed in an Eco setting.
In winter months, consider dressing a bit warmer before heading out so as to negate the use of things like the heater setting on your air-conditioner and, especially, seat warming functions.
5. Plan ahead
The advent and subsequent evolution of modern navigation systems and associated mobile-phone Apps means it’s that much easier to plan your trip around prevailing congestion and traffic conditions en route. It stands to reason that opting for the path of least resistance when it comes to potential start/stop traffic and potential delays means your car’s engine is less likely to have to perform continuous moments of deceleration, before needing to acceleration up-to-speed, once more.
6. One round trip
With the abovementioned tip in mind, try to plan for one main trip to accomplish as many daily errands as possible, as opposed to a multitude of small excursions where each time you stop, your car’s working parts lose crucial operating temperature – on each occasion needing a restart of your engine, too.
7. Steady as she goes
Housed within the instrument cluster of many modern vehicles is an efficiency-focused indicator of when an optimal change of gear is recommended. While these systems are by default programmed to feel somewhat unnatural in terms of maintaining momentum, their role within the process is nevertheless aimed at encouraging reaching the tallest (most efficient) driving gear, as quickly as possible. With this in mind, and even if your car’s onboard computer doesn’t include this feature, it’s always worthwhile to try to shift to “top gear” as early as possible, while getting up to speed.
8. Consider your use of cruise control
Convenient especially whilst on the open road, the function of a cruise control system is to maintain a pre-set, constant cruising speed. It’s worth remembering, though, that these systems are only efficient on long, predominantly flat stretches of road. While some modern applications do include the ability to anticipate (via the navigation system) a forthcoming change in elevation, most current cruise control functions only know to change to a lower gear once already on an uphill stretch. This often relatively dramatic downshift and subsequent acceleration to that pre-set cruising speed is, obviously, not good for overall fuel consumption.
9. Anticipate
Unlike your car’s cruise control function, you as a driver possess the built-in means to anticipate ever-changing conditions on the road ahead. On the open road, try to steadily build and then carry momentum onto an incline, while lifting off the throttle on the subsequent downhill section. Around town, if the traffic light up ahead has been green for an extended period of time, think about a considered deceleration towards an inevitable change to red, rather than leaving it to the last minute and needing to break unnecessarily hard. Anticipate when the light might turn green again and move away with a steady throttle, as opposed to being surprised and needing to accelerate with gusto towards the horizon.
A motoring journalist with more than 20 years’ experience, Ian McLaren will be compiling a series are articles documenting his learning curve when it comes to all things auction. Find him on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok at @IanMcLaren76.
These articles aim to offer insights only and in no way encourage reckless or hit-and-miss purchasing decisions.