OBSESSING OVER speed and power is very last-century; the latest car craze is all about economy. Hypermiling involves using a series of advanced driving techniques to extract the maximum mileage from every tank of fuel, write BEN OLIVERand KILIAN DOYLE
Some eco-geeks can get over 2.4l/100km from their hybrids, and the record is over 1.2l/100km, compared to the 6l/100km for the average car.
Techniques range from the nerdy to the mildly dangerous, and include drafting close behind trucks to cut wind resistance, switching off the engine when coasting downhill, taking corners at high speed to avoid accelerating again on the exit, and “ridge-riding”, or driving with one side of the car in the centre of the road and the other on the white line at its edge, to cut the drag created by grooves in the road, particularly in the wet.
But many techniques – like killing your engine if you stop for more than 10 seconds – can easily be adopted by “normal” drivers.
Here are Motors'Top 10 ways to cut your car costs.
1 Drive smarter
Simply put, better driving produces the biggest, easiest gains in fuel economy. So be smooth. Use small throttle openings and change up early to keep the revs as low as possible.
Accelerating like your trousers are on fire and aggressive driving are complete anathema to hypermilers.
Braking wastes energy, so try to anticipate slower traffic, and slow down by coming off the throttle rather than using the brakes.
Keep the speed down; exceeding the motorway speed limit by 15km/h can hit fuel economy by 15 per cent or more.
2 Go on a diet
Make sure you’re not carrying anything you don’t need. A roof rack can hit your fuel economy by 20 per cent. An extra 50kg on board will burn 2 per cent more fuel, so chuck the junk out of your boot.
Some hypermilers only half-fill their tanks to save weight, and dump their spare tyres. Others have even been known to strip out unused rear seats to shed those precious extra kilos, and tape cardboard across the front grille for aerodynamic reasons.
3 Keep an eye on fuel prices
Fuel prices can fluctuate wildly between service stations.
According to www.pumps.ie diesel prices in Co Dublin last Monday ranged between 94.9 cent and a whopping 114.9 cent, while the cheapest petrol, at 103.9 cent, was 16 cent a litre less than the most expensive.
A bit of planning and savvy shopping could save you a bucketful of money.
4 Change your tyres . . .
Switching to a tyre with lower rolling resistance – the energy-sapping drag created as the tyre turns against the tarmac – can cut 5 per cent from your fuel bill.
Michelin's award-winning Energy Saver range was among the first and is standard equipment on many high-efficiency cars; see www.michelin.ie
5 . . . and keep them pumped up
A recent report by the AA estimated that 40 per cent of cars have too little air in their tyres, hitting fuel economy by 20 per cent. Check yours every month.
Inflating them to the maximum recommended pressure can make the ride harder, but will cut your fuel costs further.
6 Do you really need a diesel?
Diesel in Ireland is about 10c per litre cheaper than petrol, and delivers better economy.
But diesel cars are more expensive to buy, and advances in petrol engine technology are rapidly narrowing diesel’s economy advantages. So before you automatically order another diesel, get the calculator out and work out how far you’d need to drive to recoup the extra purchase cost of the diesel car.
For example, a diesel returning 5l/100km compared to the 6l/100km of an equivalent petrol version and covering 10,000km per year will only save you around €140 annually, but might cost an extra €2,000 to buy.
7 Give her a regular servicing
Not servicing your car is a false economy; not only is your engine more likely to disappear in a shower of sparks, but clogged air, oil and fuel filters will thump your fuel economy.
Switching to a low-viscosity, synthetic engine oil can also seriously improve your consumption. Over a year's driving, Castrol Magnatec claims to give you 600 more kilometres for the same amount of fuel; www.castrol.com
8 Use gadgets wisely
All those cabin gadgets – air conditioning, heated seats and screens – can hit fuel consumption by up to 30 per cent, so kill them if you don’t need them.
But sat-nav is your friend; one US study shows that by working out the best route and avoiding congestion, it can cut fuel use by 9 per cent.
9 Admire your figures
Once you start tracking your fuel consumption, driving economically becomes oddly enjoyable, and even addictive. Keep a notebook in the car. Fill the tank to the brim and then note the mileage.
Every time you fill up, record the distance travelled and the amount of fuel you’ve put in, and divide one into the other to work out your fuel economy, and see whether all these cost-cutting measures are working.
iPhone users can even download an app called Accufuel that will work out and record your fuel consumption at every fill-up, and produce graphs showing how it’s improving.
10 A drop of the hard stuff
High-octane fuels are designed to help high-performance engines produce maximum power.
But because they burn more efficiently and have cleaning and lubricating additives, they can also increase your fuel efficiency; by as much as 10 per cent, one independent study suggests.
The effect varies between cars, and high-octane fuel is more expensive, but if you’re tracking your economy you’ll know whether you’re saving money.
Maxol’s E85 fuel has an octane rating of 104, considerably more than standard. Unfortunately, you’ll need a flexi-fuel vehicle such as Ford’s FFV models or the offerings from Saab and Volvo to use it.
While conversion kits or remaps can enable regular cars to run on E85, professional advice is recommended before going this route.
Maxol also sells Bioethanol E5, made up of 95 per cent standard petrol and 5 per cent bioethanol, which runs well in normal engines and has quite a high octane rating.
Go to www.hypermiling.comor www.cleanmpg.comfor more tips