Saharaman (aka Geepeem) replied:

Hi All,
I don't know how accurate this info is that was emailed to me recently but its probably relevant to this post:


Tips on Filling your Vehicles...

I don't know what you guys are paying for petrol... but here in Durban, we are also paying higher, up to 47.35 per litre. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every litre.
Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline, where I work in Durban, we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.
One day is diesel; the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 litres.
ONLY BUY OR FILL UP YOUR CAR OR BIKKIE IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND TEMPERATURE IS STILL COLD. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the denser the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening.... your litre is not exactly a litre.
In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products play an important role. A 1degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
WHEN YOU'RE FILLING UP, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER OF THE NOZZLE TO A FAST MODE. If you look, you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low,
middle, and high. In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created, while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIPS IS TO FILL UP WHEN YOUR TANK IS HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.
Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated, so that every litre is actually the exact amount.
ANOTHER REMINDER, IF THERE IS A FUEL TRUCK PUMPING INTO THE STORAGE TANKS, WHEN YOU STOP TO BUY, DO NOT FILL UP - most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.
Hope, this will help you get the maximum value for your money.
DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS! LET’S SHARE INFORMATION AND BENEFIT ALL.
***********************

Make of it waht you will....
Cheers,
Glen

Member - Serg (VIC) replied:

Landy,

This is exactly what I was talking about – lets discuss what we can influence and change. Those tips as new as cars and well known. But what do you think is worst offender in your situation?

In my case I have two things what I figured out. Forget to unlock front hubs and it drink 1 l more per 100km. Ditto to roof rack – thus now I am thinking to put easy removable one. In petrol sedan worst offender in city is aircon – a liter or more IMO. 80 vs 100 km/hr been discussed many times and it is true, but we always in hurry. Also I figured out that in EFI cars system is clever enough to shut fuel completely if you slow down in gear, because engine gets rotated by kinetic energy of the car. If you slow down in neutral, then it consumes more juice to idle engine.

Share yours.

Serg

Shaker replied:

One top tip to cut fuel costs .....

Slow down a little.

troopyman replied:

Dont drive .

Member -Signman replied:

And another one..
Make your vehicle as light as possible.
I see so many 4bys running around fully decked out/ full time with all the stuff needed ..when, in fact, they only get used for a 3 or 4 week trip once a year (plus the occasional weekend of course)..

Member - Phil G (SA) replied:

I ride a bike to work these days.
I can ride along the Linear Park bikeway to get there, so I'm busy mowing down pedestrians and dogs, rather than having cars mow me down.

Its about 5k for me, takes about 20minutes and I'm not wasting money on gym membership to do it (say $500 saved). That's 2500km per year of fuel saved (+$500), and I don't trash my motor with short trips. No parking costs (+$1500), and the vehicle doesn't get attacked by lowlife in North Adelaide.

The money saved means I can go an extra 10,000km on trips each year :-))

dedabato (SA) replied:

Hi Landy, Totally agree with the fuel saving tips but No: 5 could be drastically improved by " Don't drive your car at all - full stop "

Kind regards
dedabato

Steve replied:

some of these tips remind me of some "handy household hints" I read in a comic yonks ago.

eg: "to prevent your carpets wearing out, simply roll them up and put them in the loft"

tongue firmly in cheek ;))

V8Diesel replied:

or you could all just make a decison to stop worrying and enjoy life instead.

Forget about it. It cost what it costs - end of story. Concentrate on what's REALLY important in life and move on. Focus all that mental energy you're wasting on trying to save a few measly bucks and 'spend' it on your family and friends instead......you'll get a lot more value out of it, trust me.