How to lower your Vehicle fuel Consumption?

Disclaimer:  the following methods were discovered via reading and have work for me, and my vehicle, it may or may not work for you or your vehicle,  use it at you own risk and at all times obey the traffic rules at all times, drive safe and defensively.   

Saving fuel is a major concern for most drivers,  some look for devices and / or fuel additives which may work for some vehicle or some driving skill level.  But frankly speaking the best fuel saver is you leg, common sense and your brain.

If you are looking for a new vehicle, start by looking for an Energy Efficient Vehicle, that match your needs, or that has low fuel consumption, You can check the internet for such information,  Such information change daily with new cars etc so there is no point for me to give you links.     

Next  Know Your Current Vehicle.

Read your Vehicle Handbook, Know the service interval and what to be change ( & the specification as well as lower specification of replacements eg Engine Oil can cause high consumption) 

Get to Know - What is the Most Fuel Economical Speed and Engine Rev?  For Perodua Alza it is between 60kmph to 80 kmph, approx. 1.5k to 2.1k rev.  This will be somewhere in the sales broucher where they will state the fuel consumption at that speed.   

Secondly, Maintain Your Vehicle  

Well maintain Vehicle, save fuel, as its operating at its optimum

•   Tyre Pressure, go for 10% above the recommendation
•   Tyre Alignment, Balancing, Rotation at least once a year, or 20k  
•   Service per schedule, get quality engine oil & check the engine oil expiry date
•   Change Spark Plugs 20 K or per schedule according to type  

Driving Skills and Style

Skillfull Drivers can “cut” corners resulting in KM save,  Hypermill by coasting on free gear etc. Not all drivers have the skill to do so .What you can do to save fuel 

• Gentle but Brisk Acceleration – Stomping on your accelerator is wasteful,  Imagine an egg between you foot and the pedal, but please do not be too slow to accelerate, I usually go around 2 to 3K rev,  If too slow you can cause traffic jams  
• Anticipation – Drive with an eye to what happening in Front, Anticipate conditions eg coming to a red light,  Let off on the Gas early and coast
• Defensive Driving -  Drive with an Eye all around you,  avoid sudden Braking  
• Choose Low Traffic Time,  Get up and Move Earlier if Possible,  a 10 min difference can mean 30 Min or more on the road stuck in traffic.  
• Where possible accelerate up to the optimum speed and let go the pedal before reapplying to maintain speed this will let the auto gear go to the highest gear possible.  

Others

• I use Waze to avoid Traffic & Find the Fastest / Shortest Route & Find car parks
• Use GPS to Go to new places to avoid “hunting” or driving around   
• If you change tyres, do consider the following, Rain Tyre typically do cause higher fuel consumption in exchange for better grip, but please do err for safety  
• Comfort Tyre do cause higher fuel consumption in exchange for a soft ride
• Switch Off your Engine while waiting 
• RON 97 vs RON 95, Some says RON97 save money,  Well, Paultan Blog have tested it out with mix results, but in terms of RM value, not much difference  see Link 1  See Link 2  For Me i will stick with RON95 
• Plan Your Drive, &  Avoid Congested Areas where possible, eg if you are picking up your children from school, park a bit further away, and walk or it the front of the complex is choke, dont go there.    
• Do Manual Calculation to get your fuel consumption, and keep a record with notes on service. change of tyre pressure, or tyre, new equipment.   
• Lastly but not least is Weight,  all the things you have in the car, like a golf set, that you do not need, take it out,  but dont remove safety equipment or your spare tyre, the more weight you carry the higher the consumption is going to be.  .  

A little test using my vehicle fuel computer.  

From the above screenshot,  i drove in 3 different manner, all along the same road / or return, 100% highway. obeying all regulations, and safety.  

From Left to Right 

First An "aggressive" drive, as stated 100% on the highway,  Rev hitting 4k while accelerating, Speed at Max when ever possible (110kmph), air condition setting at 1,  traffic condition :  moderate      

Result  5.8lt per /100 lts  

Middle : a "Moderate drive, all the above with the following,  Rev : 2.5k,  Speed at 100kmph for most of the distance, air condition setting at 1,  Traffic condition : moderate to heavy,  Result 5.5lt per / 100lts  

Cruise:  a "Grandfather" on the road drive.  all the above with the following.  Rev 2K,  Speed at 80kmph Max, air condition setting at 1.  Traffic condition :  Light  Result 4.4lt per / 100 lts .