A guide to saving money on petrol and economical driving techniques You can find the full guide here: http://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/guides/vehicle-maintenance/fuel-economy

1. How to Save Money on
Petrol
By Nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk

2. The best things in life are free, and if you’re
wondering how to get more miles to the gallon,
you’ll find that many of the most dramatic
benefits come through learning how to drive
economically

3. • Your bike rack and other non-essential accessories are just
dead weight when you’re not using them
• This isn’t just about the weight: roof racks also cause a great
deal of wind resistance
Lighter vehicles use less
Remove your roof rack

4. • Keep safety equipment and supplies only if they’re
appropriate to your journey: keeping heavy snow chains in
your boot will slow down your summer motoring for no good
reason
Lighter vehicles use less
Have a good clear out

5. Lighter vehicles use less
Drive with less fuel
• It’s technically more economically sound to go more regularly
to your petrol station, keeping your tank between half and
three quarters full
• A full tank contributes significant weight, thus hindering
efficient movement

6. Economical driving techniques
Avoid unnecessary acceleration and sharp braking
• Travelling slower and anticipating safe breaking distances
early is more efficient than fast acceleration followed by sharp
braking
• You use more fuel the faster you go, and abrupt braking only
wastes energy you’ve already put your foot down for.

7. Economical driving techniques
Switch your engine off
• There is no need to ‘warm up’ your engine, unless you’re
driving a vintage car enthusiast and you’re trying to get your
Model T off of the driveway

8. Economical driving techniques
Changing gear earlier
• Most drivers could make savings by changing up gear earlier,
thus giving their engines less work to do

9. Economical driving techniques
Turn off the air conditioning
• Only use air conditioning when you absolutely have to, and
always turn it off when driving at lower speeds
• Don’t get uncomfortable though: consider whether fuel
economy is really more important than a sweaty hour in a
M25 jam

10. Economical driving techniques
Keep your windows closed
• However, opening your windows to keep cool and save petrol
by not running your air conditioner at all is actually
counterproductive
• At high speed, you’ll actually be wasting more fuel thanks to
air resistance (and you’ll be slightly warmer and more
uncomfortable to boot)

11. Economical driving techniques
Sharing is caring
• The more people the better. Yes, technically this contradicts
all said above about weight, but four people in a single car are
going to use far less petrol than four drivers in four separate
cars
• Even asking for a ‘small contribution’ to the operating costs
should cover the inefficiency. Get everyone to pay an equal
share, and you’ll all save a substantial amount.

12. • Your car may be technically compatible with premium quality
petrols, but that doesn’t mean that it actually benefits from
being filled up with them. Only high performance cars – such
as sports cars and upper tier luxury vehicles – need to be filled
up with premium fuel. Otherwise, you are just paying extra for
no extra benefits
• A recently serviced vehicle with no mechanical problems or
developing aches and pains will be a lot more efficient than
any car or van that is slowly starting to fall apart
Additional tips

13. • Over-inflate your tyres and you can expect to see handling
problems. But if you fall below the recommended pressure,
you will see your miles per gallon (MPG) start to plummet.
Save on petrol: check your tyres
• Planning a journey so that you always take the shortest route
(with the least time spent idling in queues) will always mean
greater efficiency. Use Google Maps or the AA’s route planner
Additional tips

14. Pay less

15. Ensuring greater fuel efficiency through best practice will only
get you so far. In fact, those pennies you save may well be
completely irrelevant if you’re filling up at an expensive petrol
station
How do you find the best deal on petrol in your area? We have
briefly reviewed some of the petrol pricing options currently
available on the internet and on your phone
Pay less:
Finding cheaper petrol

16. Petrolprices.com
• Signing up is free and will ensure you receive free email
updates on prices in your area on a schedule of your
choosing. The site additionally plots stations on an interactive
map, as well as providing in-depth analysis of where you are
in relation to each station, the price of fuel there and the date
that data was last updated
• The site claims 8,000 daily updates
• A comprehensive app is available for iOS and Android,
currently priced at £3
Pay less:
Finding cheaper petrol

17. Whatgas.com
• Offers up all its information without the need to register
• Petrol station locations are positioned on an interactive map
• Prices are generally updated every week, but a few more
remote stations may remain out of date for some time. While
full of useful information, Whatgas.com does lack deeper
functionality – it won’t tell you where the best prices are for
fuel in your area, you’ll have to manually look for them
yourself
• There is an app version with the same functionality
Pay less:
Finding cheaper petrol

18. • Avoid going too far out of your way for small savings
• It’s pointless to think about where it’s cheapest to fill up if
you’ve only got 10 miles worth of fuel left to get there – leave
about 25 miles at least, 50 for long journeys
• Supermarkets often provide cheap petrol, and offer the
convenience of getting petrol with your shopping, as well as
coupon and reward incentives
• Sign up for loyalty schemes, but remember to shop around:
reward points rarely cover the differences in cost
Pay less:
Further petrol pricing tips

19. Pay more to pay less

20. Buying the most economical car or van
Just ten years ago, fuel efficiency advice would have been limited to the (still perfectly true) facts
that:
• Small cars and smaller engines have better fuel efficiency than bigger cars and bigger engines
• Diesel engines are more fuel efficient than petrol
However, fuel efficiency is now sufficiently important that car adverts and showrooms make MPG
more visible. A simple ‘band A’ to ‘band G’ fuel rating, accompanied by expected road tax will be
displayed on most new models
You should always read and compare specifications for MPG ratings – always ensure that the
specifications are specific to the precise model you are shopping for (two identical looking
vehicles can sometimes have very different specifications)
Of course, the most ‘fuel efficient’ vehicles on the market currently are those that are not using
petrol at all or at least only partly using petrol. Electric and hybrid vehicles are providing a far
cheaper way of filling up. However, it’s open for debate whether it is actually cheaper to own one
of these vehicles when all of the costs of running them are taken into consideration as purchase
prices still remain high
Pay more to pay less:
Premium fuel economy tips

21. Want more information?
Check out the full guide here:
www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/guides/vehicle-maintenance/fuel-economy
facebook.com/NationwideVehicleContracts
-----------------
twitter.com/car_lease
-----------------
plus.google.com/+nationwidevehiclecontracts
Ask us a question?