Fuel prices are soaring everyday. Imagine, a litre of petrol can buy two litres of milk. Driving, without keeping a check on your fuel consumption is like allowing your hard earned money to slip out of your pocket unknowingly Following are the basic fuel saving tips. We will carry these tips in this issue and the next as well. 

Keep tyres properly inflated 

Keep tyre air pressure at the level recommended by your vehicle manufacturer. Under-inflated tyres have more rolling resistance, which means you need to burn more fuel to keep your car moving. Check your tyres at least once in 15 days. Be sure to check them when they are cold, since driving the car warms up the tyres along with the air inside them, which increases pressure and gives a false high reading. Use the inflation pressures shown in the owner's manual or on the data plate in the driver's door jamb.

Do not accelerate rapidly or brake hard 

In manual transmission one should shift early to keep the revs down without draging the engine. Downshift if required and accelerate gradually. An aggressive driving style can increase fuel consumption by 10% - 12% above average. Sudden acceleration injects more fuel than necessary. Maintain a steady speed while driving. Keep an eye down the road for potential slowdowns. If you accelerate to speed and then brake right away, you waste fuel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Move slowly in traffic 

A constant speed keeps gear shifting to a minimum and helps fuel economy. It takes much more fuel to get a vehicle to move from a stand still position than if you can keep it rolling at a low speed.

 

 

 

 

Avoid high speeds

As your speed increases, your aerodynamic drag increases in an exponential fashion. Driving at 70 kmph vs 100 kmph will reduce fuel consumption by about 15%. With high speed, although you might arrive early on a long trip, a car driven at a steady speed would be a little late but will save fuel and eventually save

 

 

 

 

Avoid high speeds 

As your speed increases, your aerodynamic drag increases in an exponential fashion. Driving at 70 kmph vs 100 kmph will reduce fuel consumption by about 15%. With high speed, although you might arrive early on a long trip, a car driven at a steady speed would be a little late but will save fuel and eventually save 

 

 

 

 

Clutch-riding costs more fuel 

Avoid using clutch pedal as a footrest. It is bad habit of apprehensive drivers. This causes loss of transmission and rapid wear of clutch components. Avoid holding the vehicle on gear too by pressing down the clutch – change to neutral.