Getting Obsessive About MPG.

It seems ages since I talked about money, or to be more specific how to be thrifty.

Cars are a major cause of expense for most people and personally it costs me £200 per month just to get to work. A noteworthy percentage of my salary, exclusive of tax, insurance, and wear / tear.

So anything I can do to ensure I am getting the most out of my fuel consumption is always worth considering.

With this in mind, I have been keeping an eye on my mpg the last few weeks. It seems like I am getting roughly 43mpg on my little 1.2 POLO.

This is within Volkswagon’s parameters for urban fuel consumption.

I am pleased with this, but I thought you might be interested in noting a few ways of making sure you are getting the most out mpg out of your car.

1)      Check your tyre pressure regularly. At  least once per month. Suggested pressures will be written in your manual. In my POLO they also have them printed inside the fuel lid.

2)      Remove all additional weight from your car. Do you need all that junk you keep in your boot?

3)      Reduce your speed. Keeping to the speed limit is not only the safe way to travel but it also ensures that you are getting the most out of your engine in the most economic manner. Try using cruise control if your car is posher than mine. You may also discover it will save you points and fines in the long term.

4)      Drive smoothly. Pulling out at junctions in a smooth manner, reduces your RPMs and therefore your fuel consumption.

5)      Avoid breaking abruptly too, which just wastes the impetus from the fuel already burned, leading to burning more. It is also a safer way to drive.

6)      Keep your car properly serviced. An MOT is mandatory, but a service is not. By ensuring that your car is in good working order you keep the engine tuned and therefore at maximum efficiency. Delaying a service may seem thrifty, but in the long term it is not.

7)      Use the handbrake when at a junction. Keeping the car on the breaking point whilst waiting for a light to change only saves you half a second, but does mean you are using fuel when you do not need to.

There are so many ways to ensure you get best possible fuel efficiency.

If I could recommend one thing, it would be when you fill up your tank push the milometer to zero and see how many miles a full tank will get you.

You may be surprised going forward, how obsessive such a little change makes you.

More information, can be found here. http://www.wikihow.com/Increase-Fuel-Mileage-on-a-Car

Frugally yours

Abigail

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