Keep Your Car Performing

Tips for looking after your car

Avoid cold starts

Cold starts are where the journey that we drive is too short for the car engine to warm up to its optimum temperature, such as a short trip down to the shops and back. Short trips use up more fuel, produce more emissions and cause more wear and tear on your vehicle engine. The recommendation? Try and plan your trips so that you get your errands done in one trip rather than multiple smaller ones. 

Look after your car

Maintenance is a key factor to ensuring your car runs efficiently and effectively. A car that is properly tuned with correct tyre pressure will reduce your fuel consumption and in turn, save you money. 

Filling the car up at the petrol pump

When filling your car with petrol, only fill it to the first click - overfilling can lead to spillage or loss through the overflow pipe when going around corners. Also, make sure you have a properly fitted petrol cap - this will help prevent evaporation of petrol especially in the summer months. 

Driving tips for enhancing fuel efficiency

Try and avoid peak traffic where possible

Stop-start driving leads to very poor fuel efficiency so avoiding the situations that can cause this can help ensure better fuel efficiency. 

Drive in the right gear 

Inappropriate low or high gear driving causes over-consumption of fuel. Change into the most appropriate gear as quickly as possible without accelerating any more than necessary.

Keep to the speed limits

Just in case you need another reason to stick to within the speed limits, higher speeds result in higher fuel consumption levels, so stick to the speed limits. 

Aim for smooth driving

As in peak traffic, repetitive braking and stopping wastes fuel so try and keep your travel smooth and constant where possible. This will enhance your fuel efficiency. 

Air conditioning

While in summer it may be necessary in some areas, try and use it sparingly as these will run up your fuel usage. Read more about the science behind air conditioning >>

Keep your car light and slim

The heavier your vehicle and the less streamlined it is, the more fuel it will use. Where possible, remove heavy items from your vehicle and remove unused external items such as roof racks.

Change your oil

Regularly change your oil to look after your engine and increase safety.