Running On Empty

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday June 6, 2008

Conrad Walters

With fuel prices through the roof, here's how to save up to 40 per cent on consumption.

You may not be able to alter the direction of world oil prices but by applying a few clever strategies to the way you drive, you can easily stretch your petrol budget by

40 per cent or more.

Many people are responding to the strain of high fuel prices by fleeing to public transport - CityRail is carrying a record 1 million passengers a day - but this is not a practical solution for everyone. For those who have little choice but to drive, a little bit of planning can make a big difference to the petrol budget, says motoring industry commentator and former engineer John Cadogan.

"You save 100 per cent of the fuel for trips that you don't make," he says, explaining it's wasteful to make three round trips from home to different shops rather than a single journey.

For many people there may also be discretion about when you work and

even how.

Working from home one day a week, for example, could reduce the amount of driving for many people by 50 kilometres a week, Cadogan says. But if that's not possible, your working arrangements might still leave some latitude for savings by changing your working hours.

"If you drive in the peak, your fuel consumption goes up by something like

50 per cent for the same journey," he says.

That's the difference between spending $100 in petrol during off-peak times or $150 during peak hours.

Such strategies can make a big difference but they won't suit everyone's working arrangements. However, there is another piece of advice that, if applied, can deliver enormous savings for anyone: "Don't drive like a goose."

For Cadogan, that means not constantly jockeying for position and avoiding unnecessary jumping between the accelerator and the brake. Instead, look ahead for traffic conditions and slow as green lights turn amber and accelerate steadily rather than aggressively.

To prove the validity of this advice, Cadogan made six consecutive trips from his Hornsby home to Parramatta and back. On three of those journeys he drove legally but "assertively"; on the others he did his best to respond to the conditions. Give or take a few minutes, all six trips took the same time - and the quickest was one of the more gentle drives, he says. "This is because traffic lights are the great leveller."

More importantly, Cadogan also recorded a saving of 40 per cent, simply by driving with an eye on the road ahead.

"I'm just talking driving assertively versus driving aggressively."

Jeff McDougall, manager of Trent Driving Schools, says students are not specifically taught strategies for driving economically but they are a product of safe motoring. If people look properly, aim their vision high and keep their eyes moving, they naturally make the necessary adjustments that save fuel, he says.

"If you're doing that properly, then you're going to be able to save a lot of fuel because there's not much good in accelerating like mad if you're going to have to stop at the next red light," he says.

To date, driver training has focused exclusively on safety but McDougall suspects it may soon include fuel-saving skills.

"I reckon there will be more call for it as time goes on because [petrol] is certainly going berserk," he says.

On its website (www.mynrma.com.au; go to motoring, driving advice, all about fuel), the NRMA urges drivers to get petrol when prices are low, not necessarily when the tank is empty. The organisation says fuel is often cheapest on Tuesdays and the strategy can save motorists $200 a year.

Other NRMA advice includes removing unnecessary weight from your car.

"Reduce golf clubs or tools if you're not using them," it says, claiming this can increase fuel economy by 5 per cent further.

It also suggests drivers roll down their windows in summer rather than use an air-conditioner when the temperature outside is only marginally higher than inside.

Other options include car pooling. Sharing the drive to work with a neighbour immediate halves your fuel bill for that trip.

A different option is car sharing through a company such as GoGet, which maintains a fleet of vehicles for hourly or daily rental.

"People are reassessing their transport needs and the cost of fuel is feeding into that," says Bruce Jeffreys, co-founder of the company that claims 2500 members in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

He says the service has attracted people who use a car infrequently and may own an older, less-efficient vehicle.

Concern about prices at the bowser has prompted some people to take more dramatic steps to economise on petrol. Cadogan, though, has mixed feelings about many of those. For example, the NRMA says driving at 90kmh rather 110kmh on the freeway can reduce fuel consumption by 10 per cent. But Cadogan is quick to point out some things are more important than economising on petrol costs.

"It's patently unsafe to drive at 90 when the traffic is flowing around you at 110 or faster," he says. "Some of those people closing on you at high speed are not paying attention."

Addressing what he considers an urban myth, he says that for most drivers, roof racks have no appreciable effect on fuel efficiency.

"If you're driving across the Nullarbor with 12 Sealy Posturepedic mattresses strapped to the roof, that's going to make a difference. But if you're just an average commuter stuck in Sydney traffic, the roof racks are not costing you anything.

"You're not going fast enough for aerodynamic drag to be a factor."

Ensuring your car has its tyres inflated to the recommended pressure also attracts a fair bit of attention as a fuel-saving tactic. Cadogan says, yes, it can help but only marginally. For a car with all four tyres at 25 per cent below the recommended pressure, the extra fuel use is about 5 per cent.

His final rebuke, though, is for so-called miracle fuel-saving devices. "They don't work," he says flatly.

More at www.drive.com.au/green

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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