Fuel saving tips

[Solo Man]

Bad idea to shift to neutral when idling at robots. Many auto gearbox expers warnings against doing just that. Better to keep it in drive. Stick to the speed limit, you will save fuel and money doing that and a lot more on speeding fines, especially here in the Western Cape where they have cameras all over the place. Keep tyres inflated to the correct pressure. Accelerate gently when pulling away. Look at the flow of traffic and anticipate when the next robot is turning red/green and make appropriate allowance to stop in time and try not to have to alter your cruising speed too much. Drive like an old man but be awake! Remove the roof rack when not in use! But i am sure you guys all know this!

 

[Klaustreich]

Bad idea to shift to neutral when idling at robots. Many auto gearbox expers warnings against doing just that. Better to keep it in drive. Stick to the speed limit, you will save fuel and money doing that and a lot more on speeding fines, especially here in the Western Cape where they have cameras all over the place. Keep tyres inflated to the correct pressure. Accelerate gently when pulling away. Look at the flow of traffic and anticipate when the next robot is turning red/green and make appropriate allowance to stop in time and try not to have to alter your cruising speed too much. Drive like an old man but be awake! Remove the roof rack when not in use! But i am sure you guys all know this!

Im glad you brought up the "shifting to neutral" thing. I was having a conversation with a friend because I wanted to know what is better (safer) neutral or park? So thanks for that.:thumbs:

 

[ChefDJ]

Yeah, rather stick to Drive at robots. Have heard the shifting to Neutral bit too often can cause kak. Also safer, in case you need to pull away quickly...

 

[Klaustreich]

If driving an auto:
- Stick it into "N" when at a robot

I agree on maintaining constant speed.

Always be aware of you car's eco gauge.

Make sure tire pressure is optimal.

Now I'mconfused. Solo man said on the next page one should not shift it into neutral.:flyfun:

 

[Philip Foglar]

I have also heard about the story that it's not ideal to put an auto in neutral when sitting at the lights, with a petrol it will save some fuel, but really can't think very much for a diesel since a diesel generally uses so little fuel when idling compared to a petrol (the new Start/Stop system is so stupid with the diesels).

But, if your car has an econometer, use this to gauge how much fuel you are using, I generally try and keep the needle as much below 10 l/100 km as I can for the majority of the time. Obviously on pull-off and lower speeds, or going up hills it will climb above and maybe hard over, so the trick is to use off throttle in gear as much as you can when going down hills, and try and make less use of your brakes. May sound strange, but brakes generate heat which is energy lost, and a sign that you could be driving more efficiently in terms of speed management. So try and anticipate when you are going to slow down or stop, and try and use more natural engine braking than brakes to slow down.

 

[ChefDJ]

Thanks Philip :thumbs:

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

I will never sit at a robot in N or with the engine off.. Too risky.. That said Start/Stop aint all bad, highly annoying in stop and go traffic. Sometimes I am stuck for more than a minute at a time so I guess it switching off then makes some sense..

Yes braking is a bad idea, your BMW was built to corner so think of the fuel savings and throw it into the corners instead of braking like a maniac.. :thumbs:

Fuel's going up on avg 50c/l each month now that seems to be the trend? I can't see it dropping again ever.. :fencelook:

Almost forgot.. I second the tyre pressure advise, check often and correct!

 

[ashley]

RE: Fuel saving tips "
What I'm doing :
Moved shifts around to miss peak traffic times, going to work half a hour earlier :argh: In my case saves 45 minutes of crawl and stop traffic, vs 15 minutes of easy driving.

Sad point "down graded" from a 4.4 to 3.0i and dropped two seats and 1/2 a boot :rollsmile: also changed over to a manual :argh:

and yes trying very hard to avoid all boy racers - not easy
also started taking my "happy Med's" before driving

:roflol:

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

Happy meds :roflol: awesome.. I'm stressed out like crazy on each day's commute!

 

[Fraser]

I checked for horses on Gumtree and nothing.

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

I checked for horses on Gumtree and nothing.

We will then start complaining about the price of hay and carrots.. Haha :rollsmile:

 

[LordPhoenix]

We'll I've found slight over inflation in the tires helps consumption but obviously. Wear gets affected.

 

[Ralf*]

We'll I've found slight over inflation in the tires helps consumption but obviously. Wear gets affected.

as a tyre dealer I cannot complain about this peace of advice.

 

[Klaustreich]

Happy meds :roflol: awesome.. I'm stressed out like crazy on each day's commute!

Almost scared to say this with some people commuting so much.... I only drive 1,5km to work....:rollsmile:

 

[Clownshoe]

Smooth driving. Anticipation. Plan your route. Fuel management, the less fuel you have in the tank the lighter it is. Coasting downhill in gear saves more fuel than coasting in neutral.

Stay behind big vehicles. If you spot a speed demon big express delivery truck... get behind him.

Plan your trip with plenty of time to get where you are going. My mad dash back from Namibia cost me 40% more in diesel than the leisurely drive up.

---

Speed up down hill and back off slightly going uphill. let the next downhill drag your speed up rather than putting foot. It takes a bit of practice but the econometer helps a lot.

---

Don't buy am e39 M5
Don't buy a 635csi
Don't buy a Mcoupe
Don't lift, put big wheels and muds on your Jeep.

 

[ChefDJ]

We'll I've found slight over inflation in the tires helps consumption but obviously. Wear gets affected.

as a tyre dealer I cannot complain about this peace of advice.

:biglol::roflol:

 

[tcal69]

Don't drive:fencelook::roflol:

But seriously, my driving is to keep constant speed and don't accelerate hard:thumbs:

 

[sash]

i second some of the stuff mentioned already including:
planning - leave early, drive slowly
planning - accelerate less going uphill, user speed gained on a downhill
planning - look ahead at traffic and robots and minimise stopping

I cannot stay behind big vehicles though, mainly cos i like to see the road, and i'm sure what debri might be thrown up from them.

as an example, i drove yesterday with a full boot to my sons birthday party, with food, dessert and other items and had to drive as carefully as possible, plus was in no hurry. I managed 7.6 on the urban run, albeit it was only about 20km, but with all the robots in Lynwood i think it was excellent. On the flip side, i dont think i can contain my driving to that extent that often... lol

 

[tmoney85]

leave home early and avoid as many stop and goes as possible thats what i do