•A vehicle in idle mode is just burning fuel yet not moving.
•For a non turbo engine you will have no issue switching it off in traffic, however for a turbo engine you will need to give it 1-2 minutes before switching it off.
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Apart from competitive driving, any other driver’s dream is to use less fuel. Almost all Kenyan drivers have mastered how much their reserve tank can hold before getting the next refill. This tells you how much calculation has been put in action in terms of how many kilometers per litre.
Most of the time if a car is driven by different drivers for the same distance on different days, it is easier to notice the difference in consumption of each driver. Some drivers will consume less fuel while others will consume more. This only explains that there are several things that one driver does better than the other ones. Apart from carrying out periodic service and maintenance of your car, below are some of the small things that would help you improve on fuel efficiency.
TIGHTLY CLOSED FUEL CAP
Electronic fuel injection works better in a sealed fuel system. Every time the fuel shakes in the tank, fuel fumes are produced and through a special system called purge control valves, the fumes are redirected to a charcoal canister where they are stored and later allowed to mix with the incoming air before getting into the combustion chamber. The air that is mixed with fuel fumes will only need a small fraction of fuel molecules at the injector nozzle to burn. Loose fuel cap or no cap at all makes the fumes escape into the atmosphere hence calling for full-time fuel at the nozzles thus making the car burn more fuel.
AVOID IDLING FOR LONGPERIODS
A vehicle in idle mode is just burning fuel yet not moving, for a non turbo engine you will have no issue switching it off in traffic, however for a turbo engine you will need to give it 1-2 minutes before switching it off. Only make good use of the engine power when you need the turning force at the wheels, otherwise you are burning fuel capable of propelling you for 10km or more.
AVOID HARD ACCELERATION
On hard acceleration; you are likely to get a wheel spin (Wheel spin is energy gone to waste). Being gentle on your accelerator pedal gives you gradual/steady power to the wheels which means the forward motion is well utilized thus giving you better millage on your clock.
CHECK YOUR TYRE PRESSURE
Avoid under inflating your tyres and over inflating them. Correct tyre pressure equals stability and good ability to free roll hence less resistance, which means less effort from the engine to keep the car going forward. Steering angles (wheel alignment and wheel balancing) must also be correct in order for the driver to have less effort in maintaining the car on the road.
ANTICIPATE TRAFFIC
Whenever you are driving, it is always advisable to see more than three cars ahead. By so doing, you correctly judge when to reduce your speed without hard braking (emergency brake).
For instance, if the traffic is about to stop 100 metres ahead, you will just let off your accelerator pedal and leave the vehicle to stop by losing momentum. By the time you are getting to the 100 metres mark, your vehicle will almost be stopping, instead of accelerating, only to slam on the brakes hard at 20 metres ahead. This way you will save on fuel that would have been wasted for unproductive acceleration.
AVOID TOO MUCH LOAD
A heavy car will take longer periods to accelerate to higher gears. Lower gears consume more fuel. This is self-explanatory.
AVOID FULL TANKS
Apart from acting as unnecessary load, full tanks are well known to deceive car owners on the actual fuel consumed. This is a bit technical but we shall try and explain it in a simple way.
The fuel gauge has got a floater that meters the fuel level for the driver. This floater is just similar to the one in the toilet reservoirs. The floater only tells you the fuel below it and not fuel above it. When the floater drops down, the fuel gauge on the driver’s display also drops. Depending on its construction, if you fill up your fuel tank to the level that you are able to see the fuel, chances are that you have gone above the floater by almost 3 litres or more.
Your car will have to consume the 3 extra litres before the gauge can start metering the fuel. This is the main reason why many drivers will argue out that if they fill their fuel tanks they use less fuel in a week compared to if they did half tank. The truth of the matter is they use almost 3-4 L of fuel that is not metered which makes them believe full tank works better than the rest of the tank from 3/4 and below.
This becomes even worse if you get your car to step on a small fabricated chocking block so that it tilts to one side for you to fill up more fuel. This calls for more unmetered (almost 6 litres) fuel to occupy the space left for fumes breather and expansion. This technique will always make you believe that full tanks last longer than half tanks but the truth is, you are not being smart enough to think outside the box. The extra fuel you put above the floater is the main reason the 1st quarter of your fuel gauge lasts a century before dropping down compared to the rest of the quarters.
These are just a few tips on how to improve your fuel consumption.
For more insights on your car, keep it here next week on Thursday.
The writer is the owner of Boosted Auto automotive repair shop
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