How to save fuel

Duh, ain't this topic get bored after being talked over and over again in tons of blog? Seriously, whether this topic will get bored or not, we still need to face the fact that our petrol price is unstable from time to time (good news is the world crude oil price is USD$50++, 17 Nov 2008) but still we need to do something to fix it. When I say "fix it", I don't mean that we going to the United Nation conference congress and yell at those people that manipulating the world oil price. We can't control what we can't control - ugly true fact of life. But we can change the way we control our vehicle - the way we spend on our petrol, the way we maximize our petrol usage, and etc. All these ideas are shared with some of my personal experience.

1. Drive slower

I used to drive really fact - whether it's in city area or the highway. Not to say I'm in rush in time, just that I don't like to drive slow - it's just pathetic (i guess tons of people out there would agree with me on this). Reality bites. Petrol price hike bites. Make sure your RPM is not above 4K RPM, if it's more, lower down your speed. Keep it below 90km/h. If it's hurry or urgent to get to the destination, you would have gone out earlier instead of rushing at the last minutes, right? Last time I used to drive 120km/h in city area (ops, don't catch me) and now? 70km/h for highway and 50-60km/h in town area.

2. Turn off the air conditioner

Air conditioner drains your petrol real quick. I know that weather in Malaysia is really hot but sometimes the weather is just right and nice. If the weather permits, why not try to turn off your air conditioner for a while when you're driving? I don't really drive with my air conditioner on nowadays. I actually saved up quite a lot with that technique. It actually increase the total distance my car can go by roughly 80-90km. (I'm driving Myvi) *it might vary for your situation depending on your car petrol consumption and other factors.

3. Be gentle to your brake

Be gentle to your brake - try not to brake harshly. Hard break will cause more fuel consumption and even worse, it might cause the passenger's and your life as well. Imagine you're driving real fast and out of sudden, there's a car coming out from a junction? Or the traffic light just went red and you need to brake all the way to avoid being caught in those police traps? How to do this efficiently? Just try not to tailgate someone way too near or try not to chase for the last 5 seconds of the traffic light. Be gentle, brake gradually and let your car glide till it stops.

4. Less weight

Overloading your car is a big no-no unless you're shifting house, otherwise, forget about loading your car with massive junks. More weight will cause the car to need more power to accelerate - it's just law of physics. So, be light and you'll be happy to see the result. My car? A pair of sneakers in the boot and nothing else. Everything are just light decoration stuff in my car.

5. Check the fuel consumption

Everytime you pump your petrol, try to check your milage. Try to calculate how much you spent versus the total distance that you have travel. A sudden drop of number might hint you that there's something wrong with the car - whether it's mechanical or sudden change of car usage behavior (maybe someone else or you drive extra fast for that particular period).

Actually, there's tons of useful information on how to save fuel out there. Most of the articles are being repeated over and over again with the same pieces of information. Google "save fuels", "how to save petrol" and etc. etc. will give you thousands of result on this.

Remember, you can't change the fact that the world crude oil price is unstable, but you can change how you maximize your cents and sense in making the best of what you have. Feel free to share out any ideas and experience on saving fuels.