Ways to save money on fuel??

[Deleted member 2227]

With prices fuel prices pushing 130p already and looking at 140p by April, filling the fuel tank is becoming less and less amusing. So the question is, how can you save money on fuel - can you tune for economy, can turn your supercharger off, turbo charger off, can you switch a couple of cylinders off on the big engines..... fire away with your fuel saving ideas!

 

[Bellow]

Half brick under one of the pedals. The brake pedal! An instant 10mpg extra!

 

[renault12ts]

Drive less.

 

[Meldrew2]

Hitch a lift.......

.

 

[flango]

Gas Conversion

 

[corned]

Walk, cycle, public transport, cadge a lift off someone, get a company car, distil your own fuel, etc...

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Move to Venezuala.....

 

[travelininstyle]

Well there are the obvious ones like...
1.remove unnecessary items - its surprising what crap people put in their boot/car.
2. driving style,put in 'c' mode and read the traffic to coast up to junctions and lights
3. Check tyre pressures and keep car well serviced/maintained.
4. switch off aircon/radio/heater etc is you can manage without
However - I have to say for a while now,I have started to seriously think about whether certain journeys are necessary ? - just like the ads say,I have started to change my shopping habits - instead of firing up the car from a cold start on Sat/Sun mornings to launch at Tesco/Sainsburys - I go on the way to work whilst engine is hot,its located in the last 1/2 mile of my 12 mile commute.
Finally,much to the consternation of our canteen chef,I now bring my own food about 2/3 of the week and frankly,I am using the savings to offset the rises - so I guess it does affect your habits

 

[christopherwk]

Get a cashback credit card, saves you about 1%, making sure you pay the balance off in full otherwise the interest will negate any savings.

Join the retailer's reward/points scheme if they got one (Shell Pluspoins, BP/Sainbury's Nectar, Tesco clubcard etc...)

Cheap Petrol & Diesel: Cut your fuel spend by a third... for more ideas

 

[LTD]

Buy a V8.

The pleasure of it outweighs the cost of the fuel.

 

[Cabe]

I have found using the cruise to be more efficient, and certainly less likely to get me into trouble with the law.

Those 500RPM's will make a difference in the long run and the time difference between 70 and 80 MPH is only a couple of mins on my 55 mile commute. Which thanks to working shift means the roads are always clear, no stop start traffic!

As above, sometimes you just can't save on fuel, but there are other ways. I save at least 15 quid A WEEK by making coffee in a travel mug and not buying one from the garage on the way into work. Same with things like cans of Pepsi, I buy a slab of 24 from Tesco which lasts me a month, about 20p per can verses 60p from the garage.

On that score I also use pay at pump whenever I can, I am too weak to not buy chocolate bars at the counter, especially now its Creme Egg season.

 

[wemorgan]

R2D2: of relevance to your C180K which you've spent a lot of time modifying I'd:

Car share to work if possible, or even cycle/walk.
Look at buying a small diesel car for the commuting. Do the sums to see if owning and running a 2nd car is cheaper than having just the C-class.
Last resort, sell the C180K and buy a diesel. But suspect the pay back could be a year or two at least, depending what you buy.

 

[JohnDeere8530]

I always drive to work, and so does a neighbour of mine. We work 5 miles apart and 40 miles away. He know keeps his car at home and I pick him up and drop him off each day, he can fit in with my sligthly longer working day since he is on flexi time.

I charge him £0.15/mile, so collect £60/week of him. This helps immensely and I guess he gains too.

 

[oldcro]

With prices fuel prices pushing 130p already and looking at 140p by April, filling the fuel tank is becoming less and less amusing. So the question is, how can you save money on fuel - can you tune for economy, can turn your supercharger off, turbo charger off, can you switch a couple of cylinders off on the big engines..... fire away with your fuel saving ideas!

Stay well away from Shetland, diesel currently 145.9p per litre so not looking forward to April.

 

[dvb247]

What about 99ron rather than 95ron, does it save you money????

 

[Blackman]

Buy a VW Polo BlueMotion...85mpg

 

[rf065]

What's the problem? I rarely put fuel in my CLK!

Russ

 

[wemorgan]

Let's see if you can do that for the full tank of diesel

Those Polo BlueMotion's look ideal, but at £13k second-hand it's a big investment, where the depreciation could be greater than the fuel to be saved.

 

[st4]

I know fuel is back, but on a C classes tank, its an extra tenner. Bad but still if you go through a tank every 2 weeks its not worth thinking about or adjusting any habits (I still went out for a pleasure run). Driving is fun, fun costs money.

If you go through a tank every 3 days yes by all means consider a more economical car, taking the bus (yuk), but then you would run a clatter wagon like me instead who burns about £300fuel a month. An E500 would see that rise to £500 so well worth me driving something diesely. I could take the train, but I hate them so would have a nice diesel car and drive over a petrol one and a train for the 5 days of the week.

 

[flango]

If you go through a tank every 3 days yes, but then you would run a clatter wagon.

Like I do