Reduce fuel consumption by 10% with fuel-efficient driving

With the price of gas constantly on the increase, reducing your gas consumption by 10 percent sounds pretty darn good. You can immediately cut back on fuel consumption by putting into practice a few fuel-efficient driving techniques. Fuel-efficient driving, or “eco-driving,” involves making some simple changes to your habits.

Maintain a constant speed
Drive at a constant speed, avoiding unnecessary accelerations and sudden stops. Try paying closer attention to your driving environment so that you can anticipate slow-downs and avoid braking at the last minute. Increase the distance between yourself and other vehicles in order to keep constant speeds and avoid repetitive braking.

Reduce your speed
Air resistance is greater at high speeds, forcing your vehicle to consume more energy to keep moving forward. Reducing your speed from 120 km/h to 100 km/h uses 20 percent less fuel!

Maintain a low engine speed
Your engine speed, in revolutions per minute, is indicated by a dashboard tachometer or RPM gauge. Monitor this gauge because your engine will achieve optimum efficiency at a lower engine speed of 2,500 RPM.

Avoid unnecessary idling
Today’s car engines do not need to be warmed up in order to work well. That means there is no need to leave your engine idling for a while before you drive away in the morning. Unless you are in traffic, idling at a standstill is a waste of gas and money — your car will use more gas to idle for 10 seconds than it will if you stop and restart your vehicle.