eco:Tips
These driving tips are designed to help you gain the maximum fuel efficiency, CO2 savings and cost savings from your car.
1. Planning ahead
2. Correct tyre pressures
3. Good maintenance
4. Overloading your car
5. Aggressive driving
6. Driving in the wet
7. Keeping windows up
8. Your car’s electrics
9. Using the trip computer
10. Using CNG
1. Always plan ahead
Why?
Making lots of short journeys through congested urban areas burns fuel unnecessarily. Your mileage soon tots up and the traffic encourages ‘jack-rabbiting’ - accelerating and braking quickly and regularly in a low gear. It all combines to create large amounts of CO2 and costs you dearly at the fuel pump.
What to do
Plan ahead and combine errands into one sensible trip, always taking the shortest route where possible while avoiding congested areas. If you can travel outside of peak times, you’ll spend less time stuck in queues. If you do have to sit in a jam, remember to turn your engine off while the car is stationary.
Try to keep to main roads where you can. More freely flowing traffic will result in less accelerating and braking, and improve your fuel economy by helping you to keep to a more constant speed (optimum speeds for fuel economy differ between cars, but it’s likely to be somewhere between 55-65mph).
2. Keep a constant check on your tyre pressures
Why?
Under-inflated tyres increase ‘rolling resistance’ – the lower your tyre pressure, the harder the engine has to work to push the car forward, and the higher your fuel consumption.
What to do?
Check your tyre pressures once a month, preferably when ‘cold’ (handy pocket-sized tyre pressure readers are readily available in most garages or car accessory shops). Correctly inflated tyres mean less energy is used to move your car, so always keep your tyres inflated to the recommended pressures.
3. Keep your Fiat well maintained and regularly serviced
Why?
Cars that aren’t maintained and serviced regularly tend to have engines, gearboxes, air conditioners and moving parts that aren’t working to their maximum efficiency. This causes the car to burn more fuel than necessary and creates more CO2. In some instances it can also cause engine damage.
What to do
Make sure your car is regularly serviced by professional mechanics, so that every part is working efficiently, helping to reduce fuel consumption. Keep your tyre pressures to their recommended levels. Don’t forget - a well-maintained car will be more reliable and could be worth more when you come to sell it.
Always use the grade of oil recommended specifically for your car, and aim to change it as often as your car maker suggests. Spend a little more on higher-quality motor oil and save a lot on engine efficiency and fuel burn.
Regularly check that your car’s air filters are clear. If you’re unsure how to do this, a professional mechanic will help you. Don’t forget, the filter’s job is to prevent impurities from entering the car’s engine – a clogged or damaged filter won’t do this so well.
4. Don’t overload your car
Why?
Two reasons. The first is weight - the heavier your car, the harder the engine has to work to move the load from A to B. The second is drag – carrying luggage of any sort outside of the car (on a roof rack, for example) makes the car less aerodynamic, causing the engine again to work harder to move it forward. Both reasons result in extra fuel consumption.
What to do
Avoid keeping unnecessary ‘stuff’ in the car, especially heavy items - lightweight cars are more fuel-economic. And although a roof rack can provide extra carrying space, it increases drag and can dramatically decrease your fuel economy. If you do have things to carry, keep them inside the car.
5. Don’t be an aggressive driver
Why?
Aggressive driving, especially tail-gating, means speeding, rapid acceleration and sharp braking. It burns fuel, wears out your engine, tyres and brake pads, and costs you money.
What to do
Drive sensibly. Look ahead as far as possible and anticipate the surrounding traffic. Keep a good distance from the car ahead of you to maintain a constant speed, and avoid unnecessary braking and accelerating. When you see brake lights or traffic lights ahead of you, coast to a stop gently (still in gear) rather than using your brakes hard when you reach the obstacle.
6. Drive carefully in poor weather conditions
Why?
Your car can burn up to 50% more fuel on a short trip in the winter due to the engine having to work harder with colder, thicker lubricants. Water sitting on the road causes ‘rolling resistance’ too, so the faster you drive, the more effort that’s needed to push your car forward.
What to do
When starting from cold - even in wintry conditions - drive off immediately. Don’t wait to warm the engine up; it will heat up quicker while driving. Drive slowly to reduce resistance against the wheels from water or ice sitting on the road. Never sit idle for more than a minute – even if the engine’s just ticking over in a jam. It will always will be more fuel-efficient to turn off the engine altogether. And make sure your tyres are pumped up to the correct pressures.
7. Keep windows closed at high speed
Why?
An open window or sun-roof causes ‘drag’ above 30mph, requiring the engine to work harder to move the car forward and burning more fuel.
What to do?
Keep your windows up when driving at high speed, using your car’s flow-through ventilation to keep cool. Only use the air conditioner when you really need it.
8. Use your car’s electric devices sparingly
Why?
From the cigarette lighter to the defroster, any in-car device that runs on electricity sucks power from the battery. This is recharged by the alternator, which in turn is powered by the engine. The more electricity you use, the more fuel the engine burns.
The air conditioner is particularly costly to run. It refrigerates air via the compressor, which takes power directly from the engine and then circulates it around the car by means of an electric fan run by the battery. On a hot day your air conditioner can increase fuel consumption by up to 25%. A damaged or leaking air conditioner can increase it by even more.
What to do
Take it easy with the electric devices. Listen to your favourite radio programme by all means, but not at the same time as you’re charging a phone and you’ve got the fan blowing at full blast.
If it’s cool enough, don’t use the air-conditioner, use the car’s flow-through ventilation instead. Below 30mph, opening the window will not affect fuel consumption dramatically. At high speeds, however, air conditioning will be more efficient, as an open window will increase wind resistance on the car.
If you suspect your air conditioning unit is leaking or damaged, take it in to be looked at by a professional mechanic straightaway. Otherwise, a regular service should keep any damage in check.
9. Make good use of your ‘trip’ computer
Why?
Your car’s ‘trip’ computer is a very useful ally - it gives you constant feedback on your eco:Driving.
What to do
Each time you start your Fiat, press the ‘trip’ button until “Instant consumption” appears in front of you. You will now get live fuel consumption readings throughout your journey.
Keep an occasional eye on the dashboard (while still watching the road ahead) and you’ll notice your mpg decreases dramatically each time you press hard on the accelerator (be a little gentler, and the numbers won’t drop to the floor). When you decelerate by taking your foot off the accelerator with a gear still engaged, your readings will fly upwards, reaching a maximum of 99.9 mpg (2 l/100km or 50 km/l). This effectively means you’re not burning any fuel at all.
The trip computer is useful for learning the effect your driving has on your fuel bill. By keeping your speed more constant, your mpg will stabilise and your car will be much more fuel efficient.
10. Using CNG Why?
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is one of the most eco-friendly fuels around. It’s also one of the most economical, costing up to 50% less than petrol. Because it’s so environmentally friendly, you can drive CNG-powered cars in places where petrol cars aren’t permitted.
What to do
With a CNG powered car you can cut your emissions by 23% compared to a normal petrol engine. All Fiat cars powered by CNG are bifuel, so you get petrol performance when you want it - for example on the open road - and CNG economy when you don’t. If you run out of CNG, your car automatically switches to petrol. And you can be sure Fiat CNG cars are safe and reliable: we design and build them ourselves, and guarantee every CNG car. And, for further reassurance, CNG has been tested as the safest fuel after diesel. If you’re interested in trying a CNG car, there’s plenty of choice. You can now buy CNG versions of the Grande Punto, Panda, Punto, as well as the Multipla and Doblò.
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