Fuel Efficiency Now Top Priority for New Car Buyers
The currently increasing fuel prices are forcing many motorists to take a hard look at their fuel efficiency. The most expensive petrol in the UK, this weekend, was selling at 129.9p per litre and for diesel the price was a staggering 144.9p.
Those considering a new vehicle are now having to think hard about whether to go for diesel or petrol as diesel prices are rising faster than petrol. Fuel efficiency, along with CO2 emissions and insurance group, are now the primary factors that will affect how much it costs to run a particular vehicle.
Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com has provided a top 10 list of tips that will help to reduce your fuel consumption. These are summarised as:
- Where possible, walk. Only use your car if it is essential
- Keep your engine maintained and tuned
- Plan your journey in order to avoid wrong turns
- Remove roof racks, cycle racks and the like as they increase drag
- Filling up in the morning or evening, when its cooler, means you can get more into the tank as fuel is denser
- Keep your tyres at the correct pressures
- Don’t use air conditioning as this will increase fuel consumption
- Drive at the optimum speed for best fuel efficiency which is around 56mph
- Don’t accelerate quickly only to brake hard. Increase speed gradually, read the road ahead and slow down using the gears.
- Make your car lighter by removing all unnecessary junk from the boot.
If you are looking for a new vehicle here are a couple of suggestions:
The Renault Grand Scenic 1.5 Turbo Diesel: Good for up to 7 people this is a great family car. With CO2 emissions of 140g/km and fuel consumption of 52mpg. You could be driving one of these excellent cars for only £229.95 per month (plus VAT).
If you are looking for something more compact and economical you might like to take a 1 litre Citroen C1 Vibe. This will give you around 61.4mpg with CO2 emissions of only 99g/km which means no road tax. You could be driving one of these outstanding cars for as little as £109.95 per month plus VAT.
Written by Hybrid on June 16th, 2008 with
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