Reducing diesel costs

[Julie and Archie]

hi

I’ve a new job and I’m driving 85 mile round trip on m60, m62 (resembles a car park in some places) and some urban inner city driving. My average mpg is about 30. I do drive with all my gear in (I’ve an SE so have kitchen gear, little oven, bedding, cushions etc. I’m wondering if I strip back will it make me more efficient. I do like the convenience of ‘getting up and going’ though. Will it make a difference?

Thanks in advance

 

[2into1]

I think you'll find some benefit if you are constantly speeding up then breaking. If you were just cruising as a steady speed then I don't think it would make a big difference, but for your stop / start, worth a test!

 

[motacyclist]

No point in lugging unnecessary weight about.

We split our gear up into different boxes. For everyday use it's empty apart from tea making stuff, walking boots etc. The loo is in but just a small amount of water in the top. Water tank nearly empty. With the van like thus it's handy for shopping trips to the garden centre etc.

For short term camping just the bedding, some clothes and enough food goes in. Loo & water tanks filled.

For longer term the hook up, electric kettle, fan heater, wedges, awning sides, various paraphernalia etc goes in.

I try to keep everything organised on different shelves in the garage when not in use. The its just a question of slotting it back in.

 

[Borris]

Whilst not an exhaustive list these are factors that will effect fuel consumption:

1. Speed and driving style - Try to drive at a steady speed avoiding unnecessary braking and accelerating. Anticipate and compensate for the changing road conditions ahead as sharp braking and hard acceleration are bad for fuel consumption. Experiment with driving each trip at different constant speeds. Record the MFD mpg results of each trip to establish the most economic constant cruising speed for your vehicle. Drive in the highest suitable gear.
2. Weight - Throw all unecessary items over board. All unecessary weight requires energy to move it and therefore leads to lower mpg figures.
3. Weather conditions - A Cali isn't the most streamlined of vehicles to start with so strong winds especially head winds will have a serious effect on mpg figs.
5. Traffic conditions - try to either plan your route or time of travel to avoid traffic jams and conjestion. Stop/start driving in heavy traffic obviously effects fuel consumption figures.
6. Tyre pressures - Regularly check that all tyres are at the correct pressure.
7. Roof boxes and roof bars - Always remove when not in use.
8. Cruise or not cruise - Depending on just how far you want to take the cost saving thing, consider whether you wish to use Cruise control or not. I have always achieved better mpg results with it switched off. Here's a couple of techniques. 1. Accelerate gently down hills then try to carry the speed up the next hill without resorting to using too much throttle. 2. Ease off on the throttle well before approaching a set of traffic lights at red as very often they will change and you can avoid braking or accelerating too much after the lights change. However this kind of parsimonious driving requires a lot of concentration and is quite tiring.
9. Keep your windows closed - It reduces drag.
10. Switch off all unnecessary ancillaries - All anciliaries use power which translates into lower mpg e.g if you don't need the aircon on, switch it off.
11. Servicing - Ensure your car is regularly serviced to maintain peak efficiency and optimum fuel consumption.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

As I commute the same route daily, it's been a battle of wills for me in my last 4 cars to see what I average and what i can squeeze from it. It relieves the boredom of the same ol' route (well ...before it becomes boring in its own right ).

Of the 4 cars, the California is the most inconsistent beast. I can get 36 and I can get 43 where as previous cars would stay within about 2mpg.
However...
If you use your the display behind the steering wheel to show you real time mpg and maximise your anticipation of traffic and read well all road situations you will find the coasting function (as opposed to brakes and accelerator) does a real good job. If you spend a few weeks of journeys with the display and keep your distance from the vehicle in front I think it starts to become intuative where the fuel savings can be nurtured whilst you stay in the flow of traffic without disrupting flow.
Yes!!! I thought I knew how to maximise fuel economy without that display too as I don't have a particulaly heavy right foot. Then I tried it.
I coast for miles now.

 

[sidepod]

Just buy a small car.

 

[motacyclist]

Just buy a small car.

Good idea, a 2 seater convertible!

 

[Hotel California]

....or get a petrol Cali...

Serious now , i never ride any verhicle thinking how to save fuel , if you drive with common sense you'l be ok .

Few years ago we went on to see my brother in law who lives in France . Also there was a other family member who drove a VW Touran , one with the removeble seats . It came to the point where we had to drive somewhere and he brought up the fact he could not take passengers as he took out all the seats in the rear ....saving fuel .
So we needed to drive with two verhicles getting the six of us to destination for a day in the city on where we could fit he's Touran with the extra seats in the back ...if he had them in.

Tip: the best way to save fuel is cycle your bike

 

[Velma's Dad]

Just buy a small car.

If you're doing 20k work miles a year in your Cali, that might be costing £4k a year in fuel. You could save maybe £1.5k a year of that by using a small 50mpg car. Depreciation, maintenance, tax, insurance on a second car is going to be more than that.

All weight savings will make some difference to mpg. But even if you sling out 100 kg of gear, that's only going to reduce the vehicle weight by about 4 percent, so probably not more than about a 2 percent gain in mpg would be my guess. Although it might add up to £50-100 a year, something of that order anyway.

 

[SimonB]

Like @2020 freedom I used to drive the same route every day and 'experimented' getting the mpg as high as possible.
The things that worked for me were having the MFD set to actual MPG rather than average. I realise that the actual MPG is not accurate, but if you are comparing the reading with other readings in the same car I think it is a valid comparison.
If you try lifting your foot off the throttle the MPG will increase but the speed won't decrease much. I lift my foot off the throttle every couple of minutes now.
I use the cruise control as much as I could on suitable roads as it stopped me being tempted to keep up with everyone and drive faster than was economical, between 55 & 60mph seemed best in my Golf.
I also wore lighter shoes, I had to wear steel toe caps at work, but they are heavy and thus your foot goes slowly down on the throttle, imperceptibly but you can see the MPG fall.
Finally there is a section of the M5 across the Somerset Levels that is totally flat. I would set the Cruise control for just under 60 and then try to see what effect AirCon on/off had, windows open/shut etc had on the MPG.
As @Borris says, reduce the amountof accelerating and braking you do by anticipating what is happening in front of you. We have all followed drivers who are constantly using their brakes. If you anticipate the corners, leave a gap you can greatly reduce the amount of braking you have to do, and save fuel.

All very sad I'm sure but I got my Golf up to high mid 50's MPG on the MFD. I passed the car onto my son when I bought the Cali and he has tried the same techniques, sometimes beating my record. It was particularly satisfying when I got the average MPG up to a high level over a number of trips.

 

[jts46]

i bought a 2001 passat estate for £700 2 years ago for use in the uk lovely car to drive and economical

 

[Ocean Spirit]

It seems there is some agreement that it is highly possible not to destroy the pleasure of driving your Cali yet improve your mpg sad though it may be if we over obsess.

 

[2into1]

If you're doing 20k work miles a year in your Cali, that might be costing £4k a year in fuel. You could save maybe £1.5k a year of that by using a small 50mpg car. Depreciation, maintenance, tax, insurance on a second car is going to be more than that.

If you go the ‘calculation’ route, you need to factor in the extra depreciation on your Cali of the higher mileage it will be carrying when you come to sell it, and then add back the “ welshgas factor “ which is the additional repair costs your Cali will incur if left unused for long periods of time.

 

[motacyclist]

There is some satisfaction in getting as high an mpg as possible, but watching the fuel consumption too closely does ruin the driving experience.

It would be more fun trying to get the average speed as high as possible. Tie down the cups and saucers and watch for safety cameras though!

 

[andyinluton]

I was doing about 120 miles per day in mine. Ended up buying a sports car to use for the summer months just keep the mileage down, & have ended up doing something like 15k per year in the van. Irrespective of the fuel costs I anticipate the difference in depreciation pays for the car.

It helps that I wanted the car anyway & this was just an excuse to buy it. I couldn't have the car if I didn't have the van as I occasionally need 4 seats, collect wardrobes from Ikea etc.

 

[Borris]

If you're doing 20k work miles a year in your Cali, that might be costing £4k a year in fuel. You could save maybe £1.5k a year of that by using a small 50mpg car. Depreciation, maintenance, tax, insurance on a second car is going to be more than that.

All weight savings will make some difference to mpg. But even if you sling out 100 kg of gear, that's only going to reduce the vehicle weight by about 4 percent, so probably not more than about a 2 percent gain in mpg would be my guess. Although it might add up to £50-100 a year, something of that order anyway.

Surely this is a excellent case for bangernomics. The small car doesn't need to be new or even nearly new. There are hundreds of thousands of very cheap second hand cars available out there, many of which are still in excellent mechanical condition. Maybe one of the many reliable diesels that the worried eco conscious are currently off loading in favour of new EV or Hybrid cars. Just take a qualified mechanic along to vet it before agreeing to buy. There's no reason why the right car couldn't save you a lot of cash over using your Cali.
With a cheap car depreciation shouldn't really come into it. Tax and insurance are of course an issue but depending on the car, that too could be kept right down.

If you really wanted to be brave you could try a good older classic car. Who knows, you might have some fun with it and the vehicle may just appreciate a little (if you look after it properly). They can be cheaper to insure and if it's more than forty years old the tax is £0. However, fuel consumption on classics isn't usually that good when compared to modern vehicles. Maintenance can be more involved and required more often with older vehicles. To conclude, you might not be any better off at all or it may just prove to be a fun way of saving a little cash in the long term.

 

[Amarillo]

I was doing about 120 miles per day in mine.

Wow! I thought I drove slowly, but that really is s l o w...


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[B J G]

Try slipsteaming an HGV. You get an air tow plus they generally drive steadily in congestion avoiding stop/start action wherever possible. They also have much better long distance vision on motorway congestion situations.
Your travel time will be only very slightly longer than normal.

 

[jts46]

Try slipsteaming an HGV. You get an air tow plus they generally drive steadily in congestion avoiding stop/start action wherever possible. They also have much better long distance vision on motorway congestion situations.
Your travel time will be only very slightly longer than normal.

They also have air brakes, dangerous slipstreaming HGV

 

[Bellcrew]

Wow! I thought I drove slowly, but that really is s l o w...


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Just come back from California, we needed at least a six seater whilst touring with our family, Hertz provided us with a Nissan Armada SUV, 5.5 ltr V8 petrol 8 seater, best I got was 17 mpg brim to brim. Worst in LA traffic was probably under 12. Our lovely vans are just amazingly economical.

 

[Pete_Hampton]

17 mpg brim to brim

And were they those smaller US gallons?

dangerous slipstreaming HGV

Maybe more stone chips too?

 

[Bellcrew]

And were they those smaller US gallons?


Maybe more stone chips too?

Yes I was using the US gallon, their mile is more or less the same as ours.

 

[Julie and Archie]

Thank you everyone. Really helpful. I’ll empty the van except for tea tuff and ‘light loo’. I’ll test all the advice on driving economically too. My nephew is a mechanic so I’ll apeak to him about a very cheap little car too

 

[Farley]

Slipstreaming? accelerate lightly down hills?? Really? For goodness sakes.... just enjoy your lovely vehicle. If you want high mpg then get a smart car or a bicycle!

A California is what it is. My T6 is better than my T4 was but I can’t be worrying about mpg. It is what it is and to be honest, it ain’t bad.
We all spend thousands on a lovely vehicle and shouldn’t worry about a few pennies. It’s just a game to play.
Farl

 

[Farley]

Each to their own Borris, enjoy the slipstreaming and freewheeling.
Farl