Six things you can do to cancel out petrol price increases

Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Following the drone attacks in Saudi Arabia that cut off an estimated 5 per cent of global oil supply, prices jumped by 18 per cent, leading to local fuel retailers suggesting pump prices here might rise between 5 and 10 cents a litre.

BP and Z increased their prices by 6 cents a litre, but oil prices have since eased, leading to uncertainty.

Six cents is roughly a 2.5 per cent increase - or $2.50 for every $100 you put in your tank - which is less than a good cup of coffee.

No-one wants to give up a good cup of coffee, but luckily it is very easy to save 2.5 per cent on your fuel consumption instead - here are six things you can do right now to beat rising fuel costs.

* Are New Zealand drivers thankless?

Worried about rising petrol prices? Here are six easy ways to reduce the cost.

* It's hot: is it more efficient to drive with the windows down or air conditioning on?**

Remove that roof rack and any unnecessary weight.

This one is pretty obvious - anything that creates more drag or adds more weight will cause you to use more fuel.

Even roof racks with nothing on them create massive amounts of drag - a roof rack or bike rack can account for anywhere between 3 and 10 per cent of extra fuel usage - so take them off when you aren't using them.

That basically means spending a few minutes removing unused roof racks will cancel out the current price rise immediately.

Removing unnecessary weight from you car will also pay dividends - just 20 kilograms can add an extra 1 per cent to your fuel consumption.

Even empty roof racks can drastically increase your fuel consumption.

In previous articles we have recommended you carry a winter survival kit - which is still a sensible thing to do - but with winter coming to an end, ditch it. This is a good example of not leaving items in your car when they aren't immediately needed.

Reduce idling time and avoid short trips.

If you know you are going to be there for a while, turn your engine off. The general rule of thumb is that anything more than about 10 seconds idling will cost you more than turning the car off and back on again will, and that includes the extra cost of wear and tear involved.

Modern stop/start systems address this effectively enough at traffic lights and the like, but even though it might save fuel, we don't recommend doing this manually at traffic lights for the obvious safety reasons.

If you are idling for more than ten seconds it is cheaper to turn your engine off.

However when safely parked, shutting the engine off when you know you will be stationary for more than 10 seconds will save you quite a lot fuel over the course of a week.

Short trips also come at a high fuel cost, so just walking down to the nearby dairy to get milk or combining errands into one bigger trip will also see significant savings.

Make sure your tyres are at the correct pressure.

Keeping the correct pressures in your tyres will not only keep your fuel use down, your tyres will also last longer.

Tyres lose air over time, and tyre low on pressures will cause you to use more fuel. Under-inflated tyres can add up to 2 per cent to your fuel consumption, as well as wearing them out sooner, which costs you even more money.

Making sure your tyres are running at their correct pressures is not only a fuel-saver, it can also be a life-saver too, so checking them regularly is always a good idea.

Wheel alignment can also make a difference to your fuel consumption as well, so make sure that is correct too.

Keeping your engine in good shape will also keep your fuel costs down.

Keep you engine properly tuned.

Keeping your engine well maintained with regular services not only improves you peace of mind, it will also pay off at the fuel pump.

This might be fun, but it is incredibly inefficient - a gentle driving style can save you lots at the pump.

It goes without saying that a well-maintained engine will be more efficient than a poorly maintained one, but did you know that a poorly maintained engine can use up to a whopping 20 per cent more fuel than one that is regularly serviced and properly maintained.

Using the correct oil recommended by your car's manufacturer can also improve fuel consumption, as will making sure it is at the correct level and changing it regularly.

Be gentler on the throttle and brakes.

Comfort or low consumption? The choice is yours, but air con can add up to 8% to your fuel consumption.

Testing by the AA found that a poor or aggressive driving style can use 20 per cent more fuel than a smoother, more relaxed driving style - this doesn't have to mean creeping slowly around well below the posted speed limit, though.

Rather a smoother, gentler approach to throttle applications - easing on and off the gas as opposed to slamming your foot to the floor - will yield a noticeable reduction in fuel usage, as will looking ahead and judging when to brake, as opposed to slamming on the brakes late and then having to accelerate again.

The air conditioning question.

Using air conditioning uses fuel - it will add up to 8 per cent to your fuel usage - so simply turning that off will save you more than the price increase straight away.

But of course there are both comfort and safety reasons for using it - it is, after all, the best way to keep your windscreen clear. But as we head into summer that is less of an issue, with the major reason for air con then becoming comfort. Turning it off and on throughout the course of a trip won't help, and may even increase your fuel usage, so it really is an 'all on' or 'all off' choice.

Winding the window down instead will also increase fuel usage - possibly even more than using the air con, but this does depend drastically on you car's aerodynamic efficiency; a big, boxy SUV will see a relatively minimal decrease in efficiency, but a sleek, swoopy sports car will see a much bigger one.

However, combining elements of all of the above tips to a smaller degree will easily offset the current fuel price increase without drastically changing the way you use your car, so you can still afford to spoil yourself a bit by using the air con or dropping a window.

Do you have any tips for saving fuel as the regional fuel tax hits? Share them in the comments below!