Economical Driving Tips
Planning the trip ahead of time
It’s always good practice to plan your trips ahead of time. Always check for road conditions to where you are heading, especially in the wintertime! Roads can be closed, so you might have to go for a different route and avoid heading somewhere that you can’t. Avoid stop-and-go traffic in heavily congested or construction areas, this will save you both time and fuel. As well as trying to minimize the number of trips you have, try combining multiple shorter trips into one longer trip. Heating the engine takes energy and that means while it’s heating up, you get less gas mileage.
Driving behavior
Aggressive driving, rapid acceleration, speeding, and extended idling increase your fuel consumption. Generally, the smoother you drive the more economical the car is, and it also has less wear and tears on the car. Try to not floor the gas pedal between stoplights but rather gently increase your speed. Try to keep engine revs down. Sometimes it’s even better to drive a little bit under the speed limit, as it can decrease your fuel consumption depending on the engine RPMs.
Tire pressures
Having the recommended pressure in the tires can save you on fuel. Having underinflated tires, increases drag which decreases fuel efficiency. Underinflated tires also decrease the traction the tires have on the road, making it also safer. The recommended tire pressure for your vehicle is normally found on a sticker inside the driver’s door.
Weight and drag
Pack efficiently and try to only bring with you what you need on your trip. For approximately every 25kg of weight in your vehicle, the fuel economy decreases by 1%. This is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle's weight and therefore affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones. Adding a roof box to the vehicle will also decrease fuel efficiency due to the increase in drag. Typically, adding a roof box to the car can decrease fuel efficiency somewhere between 10 – 25 %.