User talk:Johnadkins33

Beat the £5 gallon: top 10 fuel-saving tips
The price of petrol at the pumps has soared to a new high, according to new figures from the AA. Based on recent price checks, the average cost of a litre of unleaded is now 114.00p while diesel has soared to 126.4p, very nearly £6 per gallon. This means that UK unleaded prices are now the ninth highest in Europe while diesel is the second most expensive. However, with petrol prices hitting new highs it’s perhaps best to think of how to save fuel as you drive. Employ all of our tips to minimise the effect of shortages – and probably save a bounty of cash in the process!

Check tyre pressures 50% of tyres in the UK are under-inflated; 2psi below the recommended pressure can increase consumption by 1 per cent. Don’t trust pump forecourt gauges though, as they’re often incorrect. A £5 pressure gauge will help keep your tyres spot-on. Close windows Cruising along with your arm and the dog’s head in the wind looks good, but the increased drag will have your car’s aerodynamic designer holding his head in his hands. Close them to please him, reduce drag, ease the body’s passage through the air and improve economy.

Use higher gears Third-gear fiends should change up to fifth even at lower speeds, to improve economy by 20%. Don’t labour the engine though – incorrect use of higher gears does nothing for efficiency, either. Use the rev counter as your guide.

Turn off the engine You’d be surprised how long you can wait at some traffic lights – save fuel for those minutes by flicking off the engine. The Citroen C2 Stop & Start, which does just this, can improve economy by 10% in town. Do it yourself, without the expense of buying a new car.

Drive smoothly Boy racers, take note. Instead of charging between lights, stopping and starting continuously, try to look ahead. Anticipate the lights, don’t stress the car unduly, predict the traffic flow – anything you can do to make the same progress for less work on the accelerator. Now that’s cool.

Drive more slowly We’re not talking 25mph everywhere – but the difference between 70mph and 80mph on the motorway is considerable. Up to 5mpg in some cars, sometimes more. And really, many motorways are so crowded, going faster doesn’t mean better progress, anyway. You simply arrive at the congestion more quickly.

Turn off air-conditioning With our climate there really isn’t too much need to operate the air-con continuously. As it eats 5% of fuel (and on some cars considerably more than that), turn it off for an easy saving. But don’t open the windows instead. You’ll increase drag and, ironically, return worse economy figures than with air con on.

Avoid short journeys Cold cars, even modern ones, have an insatiable thirst for fuel when cold. A car capable of 40mpg on a gentle motorway run can plunge to 15mpg or less on a few-mile run in town. By walking short distances, you’re saving a tremendous amount of fuel.

Use cruise control Set it at 70mph on the motorway and it’ll maintain your speed while using not a drop of fuel more than it has to. Computers are far more sensitive than a human’s right foot, so let the car do the calculations and watch the savings on the fuel economy meter. If it's "adaptive cruise" which uses radar to keep a set distance behind the car in front, then so much the better.

Share a car Want to improve economy by 50 per cent? Share a car with a friend! A little organisation with work colleagues and you’ll also benefit from all the gossip, better social skills and maybe even a date and subsequent marriage. Who says saving fuel is dull?