Are you struggling with an increase in your vehicles fuel consumption? It can be annoying, especially with fluctuating fuel prices, it can be a dreaded feeling turning into the petrol station to fill your car up. Some of us even leave it until the last moment when the vehicle is slurping up the last droplets of fuel, just to avoid the hefty bill (which is not recommended).

However, how can you reduce fuel consumption? Other than the ultimate fuel saving method of not driving your vehicle and using public transport instead. Well, have a read of a few tips we’ve compiled for you, on how to improve your fuel economy!

Keep Your Tyre Pressure At The Right Level

Your vehicle will suck more fuel if your tyres are constantly underinflated. Give your tyres a little bit of TLC and making sure that their pressure is at the recommended level that it states in your owner’s manual, as it can help you improve your fuel economy. So, make it a routine to frequently check your air pressure, to avoid your vehicle drinking more juice to make up for the lacking tyres!

Travel Light – Remove Any Excessive Weight

Just like how you would struggle to carry a heavy rucksack on your back everywhere you go, your vehicle suffers from being overloaded, as the extra weight increases the drag on it. Essentially, the heavier your vehicle is, the higher its fuel consumption will be. So, if your golf clubs live in your boot, it’s time to evict them, not only to improve your fuel economy but to also ease the burden of a high petrol/diesel bill on your wallet.

Additionally, if your vehicle carries a roof rack, remove it when it’s not needed. This is to, again, decrease the overall weight of your vehicle and to reduce the amount of drag.

So, have a survey of your vehicle and if you notice any unnecessary baggage, then you know it’s time for a spring clean!

Limit The Use Of Air Conditioning

Now, we’re not saying that you should just roast in your car on a hot summers day to save some fuel, but what we are saying is to only switch the air conditioning on when absolutely necessary. This is because AC does use quite a bit of fuel, thus decreasing your fuel economy. So if you find yourself to be a big fan of popping it on all the time, you might need to break this habit soon, or you’ll have to break the bank when you start having to fill up more frequently.

Be Smooth & Steady With The Acceleration And Brakes

If you’re a bit of a choppy driver, like putting your foot down and then braking harshly, you may need to think about altering your driving skills. Not only does harsh accelerating and braking cause your vehicle to gulp down fuel, but it will also decrease your mpg and over time, wear out your brake pads and discs. So to cut down on your fuel consumption, maybe put the brakes on the need for speed behaviour and learn to be a little gentler with your pedal interaction.

Plan Your Journey Around Peak Traffic Times

Being spontaneous and just getting in your car with a destination in mind makes you feel adventurous, right until you hit 10 minutes of traffic and that’s when you curse yourself, mentally putting a reminder in your brain to stick to planning. When planning a journey, you can anticipate any traffic jams and take another route, or find a quicker route that’s fewer miles.

Why avoid traffic? Apart from the inevitable road rage, when you’re in traffic, you’re continuously slowing, stopping and starting your vehicle, which wastes plenty of fuel. So actively trying to avoid traffic often will increase your fuel economy over time.

Back to planning, another way to save on fuel is to plan a day of errands, instead of a week. If you organise and complete all your little missions in one trip, you’ll not only save time but fuel too! By keeping your engine warm and running, opposed to multiple cold starts, you’ll avoid the excessive fuel consumption from heating the engine up at the beginning of each journey.

Use Cruise Control On Motorways

By travelling at a constant speed on flat grounds (the motorway), you’ll reduce fuel consumption. This is because you’re not constantly accelerating then braking and making your engine do extra work. So stick your cruise control on at the speed limit, to avoid getting into trouble with the cops and to increase fuel efficiency!

Maintain Your Vehicle

This one’s a no-brainer. By keeping on top of your vehicles service schedule and its maintenance, will overall improve the efficiency of your vehicle, thus improving your fuel economy! It’s essential to keep on top of your vehicle’s fluids, a few important checks include inspecting the levels of engine oil, coolant and brake fluid.

Undergo A De-Carbonisation Session

Do you feel like you do all of the above, but it’s not really making a big difference? Maybe your vehicle’s fuel system needs a thorough cleanse, which is what this de-carbonisation process is for.

The process includes connecting our special piece of equipment to your fuel system – the machine has a built-in fuel pump that will pump our special fuel into your vehicle. When you start the engine, it will run on our solution and work its way around the vehicles fuel system, including the fuel injectors and into the engine ports & fuel chambers. By doing this, it will remove all the stubborn carbon and lacquers that have built up over the years, to restore lost horsepower and efficiency.

After this process, the result is lower emissions, increased performance and of course, better fuel economy!

If you find your vehicle has quite bad fuel economy, then these tips should help you improve it. If you’re enticed by the last tip, book in today at Bodyteq for a de-carbonisation session!