With fuel prices always changing and the rise in living costs, it can be hard to find areas of your life to save money. For any driver, they know one of the constant costs is going to be filling up their car.

That’s why this month we’ve created this blog post to show you how to drive more economically, making your fuel last longer and helping to save you money in the long term.

Maintain your vehicle

As with all aspects of life, making sure something is properly maintained is key to extending it’s life. The same holds true for your car, especially if you’re trying to improve your fuel efficiency.

From ensuring your fluid levels are topped up to making sure that any filters are in top condition, you need to give your vehicle a regular health check to make sure it’s working at peak performance.

If you’re new to the world of vehicle maintenance, you’ll find this post we wrote on how to extend the life of your vehicle useful.

Cut extra weight

Whether you’re taking longer journeys or shorter trips, it’s always a good idea to cut excess weight before you leave.

Any additional weight that you’re carrying around is going to have an impact on your fuel economy, so all those extra boxes, bags and spare boots that you’re driving around, get rid of them.

Streamline your vehicle

Similar to de-cluttering your car, it’s a great idea to make sure that your vehicle is more streamlined. If you have a bike rack or roof rack attached to your car but it’s only used on rare occasions, store it at home instead.

This helps to decrease the surface area of your car, meaning that it’s more aerodynamic and will suffer from less drag when you’re driving.

Stick to the speed limit

We all know that making sure that you stick to the speed limit is one of the cardinal driving rules, but making sure that you keep your speed down also helps with your fuel efficiency.

Going faster obviously uses more fuel, so driving at 70mph means that you’ll be using 9% more fuel than driving at 60mph, and up to 15% more than 50mph. Take your speed up to 80% and you’ll be using up to 25% more fuel than at 70mph.

Maintain tyre pressure

Maintaining your tyre pressure will help to improve your fuel efficiency, especially if you’re planning on taking a longer journey. If you’re driving with under-inflated tyres, your vehicle is going to use more fuel compared to driving with the right pressure.

Plan your journey

This not only applies to the route that you’re going to be taking, but also the time of day or night. When you’re planning your journey, it’s worth taking into account rush hours, any specific roads that become congested and any local road works that might be happening whilst you’re travelling.

Think about your gears

There’s no rule that says you have to use the gears of your vehicle in the order that they’re already in. So for example, you don’t necessarily have to always go from first to second, third to fourth.

If you’re able to, why not go straight from first to third or second to fourth. When you’re using this technique, you need to make sure that you’ve revved your engine to the appropriate amount. Change into a gear that’s too high too soon, then your vehicle won’t accelerate as fast and this could cause an accident.

So there we have it, our top tips on how to drive more economically. What do you think? Are there any methods of driving that you use that we’ve missed out?

We’d love to hear your thoughts, so let us know in the comments below. Alternatively, you can find us on Twitter here and on Facebook here.

Remember, Fourways Self Drive are leading suppliers of self drive van hire, so if you’re planning a family holiday or need a car for a specific event, then get in touch with a member of our team here. We’re more than happy to help find you the ideal vehicle.