Fuel efficient driving

Advice to improve fuel consumption in everyday driving

	See our fun green driving infographic to see how the fuel saving tips below can add up.    Find out more >

	Simple changes to your driving habits and regular vehicle servicing will save you thousands of dollars a year and help the environment.    Find out more >

1. Avoid hard acceleration and braking - "flow" with the traffic. Try and smooth out speed variations in traffic ahead of you and read traffic lights and lane congestion as far away as possible to anticipate traffic movements. If other vehicles cut in ahead of you, don't worry - you'll only be a few car lengths behind at the end of your journey. Comparative tests by NRMA in the same vehicle model using "aggressive" compared with "smooth" drivers showed differences in fuel consumption of 35 per cent.

2. You don't have to travel at the speed limit on motorways and other multi-lane roads. NRMA has demonstrated that travelling at 90 km/h rather than 110 km/h reduced fuel consumption by 16 per cent. If you do travel at less than the speed limit, keep to the left hand lane as much as possible - it's a legal requirement to do so unless you're overtaking and it's courteous to other drivers.

3. Don't keep heavy gear like golf clubs, scuba equipment or tools in your vehicle if you're not using them. NRMA tests demonstrated that loading a vehicle up to its rated maximum increased fuel consumption by 24 per cent.

4. In urban areas when the weather is fine, switch-off the air-conditioning and open the windows - this reduces fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent. At higher speeds, open windows can create as much drag as air-conditioning so there's little advantage in turning air-conditioning off.

5. For that short trip to the shops when the weather's fine, try walking or riding a bicycle - besides reducing fuel consumption and emissions, there are well documented health benefits from exercising regularly. If it's too far to walk or cycle and you have several places to go to, try and plan to visit them all in the one trip.

6. Take off roof-racks and bullbars if they're not required - they increase aerodynamic drag and weight, which, depending on the type of driving you do, increase fuel consumption by up to 5 per cent.

7. Check your tyre pressures regularly and keep the pressure towards the top of the manufacturer's recommend range. This will reduce rolling resistance and fuel consumption by up to two percent and maximise tyre life.

8. Have your car serviced regularly. Older (generally pre-1986) cars can go out of tune between services which can increase fuel consumption, and even on newer vehicles with electronic engine management, neglecting simple things like replacing a dirty air-filter can increase fuel consumption by up to 5 per cent .

9. When refilling with petrol, fill only to the first "click off" of the pump and ensure that the fuel tank cap is replaced securely. More recent vehicles have a ratchet mechanism which freewheels when the cap is tight enough.

10. When stuck in traffic for any length of time switch off the engine. Turn the key to the "accessory" position, (not completely to "off") and if an automatic transmission, shift to "park". This way, when the traffic starts moving again, you can start the engine straight away. Vehicles fitted with this feature as standard typically reduce fuel consumption in urban areas by up to 15 per cent.

11. If driving a manual vehicle, learn to "synchronise down-changes by revving the engine gently with the clutch disengaged before the lower gear is engaged - you'll drive more smoothly, reduce fuel consumption by a small amount and be kinder to your vehicle's clutch and gearbox.

12. Don't rest your left foot on the brake pedal of an automatic vehicle. The extra drag increases fuel consumption by perhaps 5 per cent, causes more rapid brake wear and confuses the driver behind who can't tell when you're really braking.

Read The Real Deal - NRMA's seven car fuel consumption comparison test.

By NRMA Motoring, April 2011.