What are your top 10 fuel economy tips?
 

I am currently writing an article about fuel economy tips and I wanted to touch base with the community to see what your top 10 tips are.

So, which tips do you think deserve a spot in the top 10?

Thanks,

Martin

Not in any particular order.

Reducing speed (not exceeding 55-60mph)
"Driving without brakes"
Maximum tire pressure
Engine Off Coasting
Pulse and Glide
Maintaining proper tune-up.
Driving smaller vehicles (just enough to satisfy your trip)
Driving less powerful vehicles
Smart trip planning (least amount of stops)
Tracking MPG average tank by tank.

I'd say this is kind of in order, but I think of it all as one thing, not 10 separate things to do.

1. FE Instrumentation
2. Drive slower (Use the speed limit as an actual limit)
3. Tire pressure
4. Stop sign/light planning, or driving without brakes
5. Drive in the highest gear possible
6. P&G
7. EOC
8. Route planning
9. Get rid of useless weight in the car
10. Basic aero-modding (grille block)

0 Learn as much as you can about your can and FE driving.
1 Drive as if your brakes don't work
2 avoid the need for stopping - adjust your speed to avoid red lights
3 don't speed
4 tires to tire listed max
5 hang time - once at speed back off as much as you can and still keep your speed
6 keep RPM's low (not so low that the engine lugs down)
7 plan your trips
8 avoid idling more than a few seconds
9 don't idle the car to warm it up, drive it to warm it up.
10 FE instrumentation

Note: 1-9 can be done with out instrumentation but you will have quicker and greater success with instrumentation. I listed instrumentation last even though it should be higher on the list as it is not Free.

Here are my biggest four, in order of importance.

1. Don't drive (bikes are far more fun and just as fast for ~2 mile trips).

2. Track your mileage when you *do* drive (knowledge is power).

3. Get into third gear as quickly as safely possible in city driving.

4. Keep just above your highest gear in highway driving.

These are for everyone who drives. Nothing difficult, drastic or scary about any of these:

- SLOW DOWN - Drive the speed limit or less depending on road conditions.
- Anticipate traffic. Keep a safe distance between you and the vehicle ahead, do not tailgate.
- Keep your vehicle in mechanically proper condition
- Properly inflate tires to sidewall pressure on tire, Not the door placard pressure. (I always thought this was a no-brainer. How would the door placard know what kind of tires you have anyway???)
- Plan trips. Do not make random runs to stores, plan a round trip to all the places you need to go.
- Plan not to drive at least one day a week.
- Just park and walk to the store don’t circle the parking lot looking for the closest spot.

For others who actually want to try for good mileage and are a bit more daring:

- DWB
- DWL
- FAS up to lights and stop signs
- Fuel economy instrumentation
- Warm-up driving not idling
- P&G
- Vehicle aero modifications

- Pump up your tires to max sidewall
- change good oils to your car engine and transmission 0W is the best for engine.
- DWB
- P&G
- ligthen up your car
- Bellypan
- rear wheel skirts
- other aero mods
- Scangauge
- Choose your "tank" max speed limit (and stick to it :D) and see how it affects to your tank consumtion.

I noticed that when already driven 900 km in a tank and the consumtion was 3.0l/100km my max trip cruising speed was 65 mph. When I drove 75kilometers at the speed of 125-130 km/h the tank sonsumption rose to 3.2 l/100km and only in that short distance and that long distance already driven!.

So the point is that you can ruin your tank consumtion in very short period of "high" speed driving.

1.Look far ahead when drivng
2.anticipate others driving badly around you and leave room
3. Beat you tanks' maximum range -then make it a game!
4.drive at a constant speed (if not attempting P&G or DWL)
5.look through corners and turn in once - don't turn a curve into a hexagon's edge
6.shift early and listen for laboring 9change down if it is)
7.Check your alignment and pressures
8.get you car serviced regularly
9.Lose weight (car and you)
10.cycle or walk

My main two (sorry, not ten):

1) Leave earlier in the morning to beat the rush hour stop-and-go traffic. Drastically fewer stops and a shorter trip time even when driving more slowly than normal.

2) Learn reference points far enough from lights so you can time them easily. There's one light I can see about a mile away when I come under a bridge: a) If it's red when I come under the bridge and there are at least five cars stopped, I go 5 mph over the limit, b) if it's red and there are no cars stopped (i.e. it just turned red), I do the speed limit, c) if it's green, I go 5 mph under the limit. Unless there's interference from other cars, I can get through on green.

I think GPS is the most under utilized tool for improving fuel economy. when I plotted all my normal routes I discovered that most of the time I was not going the shortest way. If you drive 7 miles to work every day and can find a route of 6 miles that is about 14% in fuel savings.

If you go to several places use your GPS to plot the most efficient route and order. Not all GPSs do route-planning but a lot do. You can easily save 20 - 25%.

1. Don't drive your car.
2. If you do drive, know your real MPG so you can have a baseline.
3. Keep your car maintained. If you keep up with it, you can use the cheap stuff :)
4. Remember that your car is only a tool to get your from one place to another.
5. Your tires are important. Keep them rotated, blanaced, inflated & aligned.
6. Coast whenever possible.
7. Turn off the car at railroad tracks and long red lights.
8. Simplify your intake. I've never seen a car that didn't improve FE by removing ducting.
9. Get some instrumentation to keep you honest with yourself.
10. Don't obsess about it. It's important, but not the end of the world.

I'm sure you already know this, but "shortest" is not necessarily the most efficient. Here's just one example based on real-world conditions:

Marietta, GA to Lawrenceville, GA: The shortest route is I-75 to I-285 to I-85, at 37 miles. The I-75 to I-85 route is 6 miles longer but takes 30-45 minutes less time in rush hour because you are stuck in traffic only on the section outside I-285, not the whole section of I-285 between I-75 and I-85 plus the section outside I-285.

I also take a route to work in the morning that is five miles longer than my return route, but I use less fuel because I get out early enough to avoid traffic on the highways, whereas the lights on the return route are there 24 hours.

The article got published today. It's been reduced to a top 8 by the editor. You can check it out at tdicurious.ca.

Nice list, tas. And congrats on getting on the TDI site.

My top 5
 

These are my top 5 in order of importance I believe:
Keep track of your MPG
Stop speeding all together
Pump your tires up
LRR tires are great
Coast whenever you can (possibly in neutral)

Thank you. So far it's been a nice experience dealing with them, and I'm looking forward to future projects.

It was initially a top 10. I find it weird they decided to left the driving without brakes and instrumentation parts out.

Of course you are right. Distance is not the only factor and long trips with no stops can be more efficient than shorter trips with lots of stops. An infallable rule can't be stated for all situations.

But still, efficiency isn't really the goal - using less fuel is. Driving ten miles at 20 mpg is more efficient than going seven miles at 15 mpg, but the seven mile trip still uses less fuel - and that's the real goal.

We all tend to get hung up on getting the best mileage, but that doesn't always translate into less fuel used.

You make a good point there instarx. I think I may pay a bit more attention to my total fuel consumed now, and weigh it in against getting the best mileage I can.