Shell Uganda recently held a competition that was open to drivers who would come with their vehicles, get fueled by Shell and then hit the road to find out which driver could cover a distance of 190km with the best fuel consumption.
Unfortunately, some of the drivers appear not to have understood the logic behind the challenge as they rushed to find vehicles with the smallest engine capacity. They figured that with that small engine capacity they could win the challenge easily. Unknown to them, the essence of the competition was to gauge how efficient your vehicle’s fuel consumption is, no matter what engine capacity. The challenge was all about how best you service your vehicle and how good the engine oil and service parts you use are. These include spark plugs, oil filters, fuel filters, air filter, and the transmission oils that would not hinder the performance of your vehicle giving it a good fuel economy and excellent output.
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Are you one of those people who are concerned about the price of fuel and want to cut your expense on fuel? Are you concerned about the impact of your vehicle emission on the environment? Do you fear that in order to achieve environmental friendly fuel efficiency, you need to switch your vehicle for another vehicle with an engine of a smaller engine capacity, a fully electrical engine, or a hybrid engine vehicle?
Did you know that a vehicle can burn up to 30% more fuel if proper maintenance service is not done and right service parts are not used?
Anyone who buys a vehicle should be in position to know the importance of regular vehicle maintenance service. However if, for whatever reason, we do not service the vehicle, we should know that it often results into high fuel consumption and later leads to very dangerous exhaust emissions.
Many people drop by my garage asking whether I could help them cut the fuel consumption of their vehicles because they have heard stories of tricks that cut down the fuel consumption of vehicles. These interventions are unfortunately not easy as requested except for vehicles fitted with a carburetor on their engines. In carburetor engines, you can try to fit jets with smaller orifices. This is not possible for vehicles fitted with EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) engines. For these engines, here are some tips you could follow to control your fuel consumption.
Always have enough fuel in your vehicle. Do not drive with the fuel gauge pointing at empty. This will ensure that your engine has sufficient fuel supply.
Do routine maintenance service on time as specified by service technician using the correct grade of oil and genuine service parts which include spark plugs, air filter, oil filter, and fuel filter.
If you have a recent model vehicle then you should have it scanned regularly at least whenever you do a routine maintenance service to check the condition of the sensors and their performance.
Driving in the highest gear possible without labouring the engine which is a fuel-efficient way of driving and if it is appropriate when driving on a highway use your cruise control this can save you up to 6% in fuel consumption on the highways.
Think ahead of your journey and drive smoothly by applying light throttle. Do not press the accelerator pedal to the floor and also avoid heavy braking. This will reduce both fuel consumption and wear.
Always fuel a particular and right octane fuel for your vehicle. Mixing fuels in your vehicle is not right if you fill V-Power in you tank, leaded or unleaded fuel just maintain that fuel. Find out the right type of fuel your vehicle uses from a workshop manual or a professional mechanic.
Avoid rough roads because they increase the frictional resistance and also these roads do not enable you drive in top gear so you have to only drive in high torque gear ratios which consume fuel.
There are many other ways to save or economise fuel consumption. But having heavy loads in your vehicle, revving the engine especially just before you switch off, resting your foot on the brake and clutch pedal will also increase fuel consumption.
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